Newham Council - Assistant Director

Newham's corporate plan, Building a Fairer Newham, sets out how they will transform the Borough and, as a Council, provide consistently excellent resident experience. At the heart of their ambition is a commitment to improve how they communicate with residents, from how we publish information so it is easy to find and understand to ensuring people are aware of key services, and increasing levels of participation in Newham activities and events.

The Council's Marketing Directorate sets how we present ourselves to residents and position ourselves with partners, winning the hearts and minds of local people with a clear Newham brand and narrative, and motivating staff to become ambassadors for the Council. It leads our communications, content, research, and partnerships work. In addition, they are seeking to find new and better means to promote a positive picture of Newham on the national stage, including to partners and potential investors.

The Assist Director of Strategy and Impact is a senior leadership position providing the strategic underpinning for the Council's communications activity. In this role you will provide the strategic positioning so the Directorate focuses on what really matters, owning the forward plan of integrated campaigns and ensuring the council's messaging is cohesive, consistent across campaigns and with the overall vision, and aligned with the broader organisational goals and priorities.

You will hold responsibility for protecting Newham's brand identity through providing sign off and quality assurance, and promoting adherence to brand guidelines both within the Directorate and across the Council. You will be responsible for refreshing the brand, working with the Chief Marketing Officer to secure agreement and understanding for proposals and any strategic develop of the brand narrative and visual identity.

You will lead on strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and brand development and implementation. The role oversees the strategic running of the Council's communications, directly managing a portfolio of disciplines that provide the framework for the delivery of goal orientated integrated campaigns and communication. These include:

• Integrated Campaigns | In an increasingly interconnected world, integrated campaigns across media and digital platforms and other public affairs and partnership channels are crucial for the Council to reach our target audience and achieve our corporate plan. This discipline is responsible for the planning, development, and execution of integrated campaigns to drive engagement, increase awareness, and influence public behaviour. They develop a forward plan of integrated campaigns and coordinate the resources across the Marketing Directorate to deliver each integrated campaign, unlocking the full potential of people's technical skills. (These resources cover the disciplines set out here in the Strategy and Impact function and those in the operational Communication function including media relations, social media, production and content, and internal communications).
• Public Affairs and Partnerships | This discipline is responsible for delivering a strategic approach to building effective engagement and the forming of strong relationships across UK Government, with MPs and their offices, and with local stakeholders and partners, including universities, businesses and the voluntary, community and faith sector. The aim is to boost the profile of the Council, encourage partners to amplify and validate our message, and drive forward collaborations.
• Research and Evaluation | Great communication starts with an insightful understanding of our communities, including the challenges they face, their relationship with the Council and its services and the way in which they consume information. Engaging with our communities to gauge their views, having meaningful two-way conversations, and researching what local people think, feel, need and want, drives the development of messages and campaigns that have a real impact. The discipline also lead the evaluation of integrated campaigns to understand what people think, feel and intend to do as a result, and whether the desired goals have been achieved, which informs the planning of future campaign strategies.
• Policy | This discipline develops the Council's position on important issues affecting the Borough including areas of challenge for Newham service provision. Their work informs strategy and communications priorities, and underpins our integrated campaigns. It covers the development of thought leadership that positions Newham as an expert in a key issue, as well as policy briefings, reports, and presentations for integrated campaigns.

If you are interested in this role please send your updated CV in the first instance.