Senior External Affairs Advisor

Are you a communications professional interested in policing and the railway?

British Transport Police have an excellent opportunity for a Senior External Affairs Advisor to join the Communications Team. As a Senior External Affairs Advisor with BTP, you will provide direct support to the External Affairs Lead in enhancing engagement with the rail industry, UK and devolved Governments, and other key stakeholders.

The Senior External Affairs Advisor will play a central role in helping build collaborative and strong partnerships between BTP and its stakeholders, manage and review the stakeholder engagement plan, brief Chief Officers and senior management ahead of stakeholder meetings, and identify trends and risks across the stakeholder matrix.

As Senior External Affairs Advisor you will also act as the first escalation point for the External Affairs Advisors, providing advice and guidance and signing off lines.

Participating in the 24/7 on-call rota, the Senior External Affairs advisor needs to be able to confidently respond to incidents and enquiries out of hours. This involves quickly researching information and making decisions, and being accountable for those decisions, on responses to a wide range of often complex issues and critical incidents.

• Support the External Affairs Lead in delivering effective engagement building positive working relationships and advocacy with key stakeholders across the rail industry and political arena
• Line manage the External Affairs Advisors and act as an escalation point for Government/Industry issues, deputising for the External Affairs Lead when necessary.
• Build and maintain new relationships as key stakeholders change and new stakeholders emerge in the operating environment.
• Lead on the implementation of the Force’s Stakeholder Engagement Plan ensuring that it is regularly reviewed, developed and updated.
• Produce clear and concise briefings, responses to reports, correspondence and presentations for stakeholder meetings, events and speaking appearances, and responses to requests for information for senior officers, including the Chief Officer group.

• Degree educated or equivalent
• Experience of working in Government and/or stakeholder relations and providing support to colleagues who engage with a range of stakeholders (rail industry / political environment would be an advantage)
• Experience of working with stakeholders (rail industry / political environment would be an advantage)
• Experience of developing and delivering plans to engage with external stakeholders.
• Experience of advising colleagues, either through direct line management or by leading them through projects or campaigns to deliver specific objectives.
• Experience of supervising the work of others
• Demonstrable ability to deal with colleagues at all levels of seniority, building relationships of trust
• Demonstrable passion for communications, and a track record of being creative and imaginative in finding new ways to engage audiences
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise work, deliver to tight deadlines, respond to changing situations and use personal initiative.
• Ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders and identify, develop and maintain a strong network with those stakeholders
• The confidence and gravitas to offer advice to senior management and other members of the Force and Authority – including the ability to challenge decisions when in the force’s best interests.
• The ability to act, particularly out of hours, without having to seek advice each time, on breaking incidents and incoming media queries.
• Proven influencing, engagement and stakeholder management skills
• Flexibility to deal with ambiguity and a fast-moving environment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days after 5 years.
• Family-friendly policies, including up to 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave.
• Bespoke benefits platform and Blue Light Card access.
• Salary sacrifice options for cycles, home technology, gym membership, and electric vehicles.
• Interest-free annual rail season ticket…