Uk Covid 19 Inquiry Team Correspondence And Engagement Manager

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In December 2021 Baroness Heather Hallett, a retired Appeal Court judge, was appointed by the Prime Minister as Chair of the independent public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry was formally established with full powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 in June 2022. The Inquiry sits independently of the Government with the Cabinet Office acting as the sponsoring department.

Following an initial set up phase the Inquiry began hearing evidence in May 2023. We are now looking for an energetic and collaborative senior leader to join the excellent team that is delivering the Inquiry.

This is an exciting role, offering the opportunity to join an innovative team, in fast moving circumstances, to ensure lessons are learned from the UK response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Further information about the Inquiry can be found on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry website.

Conflicts of interest

Please note that candidates invited to interview will be invited to declare any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interests which could affect the independence of the Inquiry, in confidence, to the senior conflicts of interest recruiting manager. This may include current or prior work undertaken on the COVID-19 pandemic response. Decisions on any potential conflict of interest will be made before an appointment to the role is confirmed.

The Team

The work of the Inquiry team is diverse and as such you will need to be a great team player with a can-do attitude, who is prepared to jump in and assist with a range of challenging tasks

As the Correspondence and Engagement Manager, your role will have two distinct parts working across the wider External Affairs Team, the main public facing team within the Inquiry, sitting within the wider Communications and Engagement Directorate.

Reporting to the Head of Correspondence, and leading a small team of three EOs, your dual role will see you engaging with people and organisations face to face, and handling complex and sometimes difficult written queries from the public, MPs, organisations and others. The amount of time given to each of these roles will vary according to the workload and priorities throughout the year, so you will need to be adaptable and able to manage your workload effectively.

About Your Role

The work of the Inquiry team is diverse and as such you will need to be a great team player with a can-do attitude, who is prepared to jump in and assist with a range of challenging tasks.

As the Correspondence and Engagement Manager, your role will have two distinct parts working across the wider External Affairs Team, the main public facing team within the Inquiry, sitting within the wider Communications and Engagement Directorate.

Reporting to the Head of Correspondence, and leading a small team of three EOs, your dual role will see you engaging with people and organisations face to face, and handling complex and sometimes difficult written queries from the public, MPs, organisations and others. The amount of time given to each of these roles will vary according to the workload and priorities throughout the year, so you will need to be adaptable and able to manage your workload effectively. Frequent travel to London will be required.

In your correspondence role, you will support the team leader to Identify and implement improvements, ensuring Inquiry processes relating to correspondence reflect best practice and result in consistently high-quality responses, and ensure these are maintained across the team. You will provide a high level of support to the team, providing ongoing feedback through clearances and ongoing guidance as needed, and maintaining a positive team culture. You will need to use your judgement where appropriate, and escalating emerging issues in real time to the Head of Correspondence and / or the Inquiry Senior Leadership Team.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Line management a team of 3 EOs, often with varied roles across the directorate.
• The use and improvement of the Inquiry’s correspondence management system, including working with colleagues on any future roll-outs as needed.
• Managing protocols and policies to ensure all correspondence is processed efficiently, whilst applying the key principles of empathy and respect.
• Assisting with the work of the wider team, as needed to contribute to Inquiry priorities as a whole.

In your engagement role, you will support the Inquiry’s UK-wide ‘listening exercise’ - Every Story Matters. You will be delivering engagement events across multiple sectors, with organisations and individuals, to ensure that the Inquiry hears from those most impacted by the pandemic. Within this role you will be supporting and delivering an events programme and building relationships with external organisations.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Supporting the Deputy Head of Engagement and Engagement Leads to deliver an ambitious programme of engagement events across multiple sectors representing those most impacted by the pandemic.
• Mapping of and outreach to specific organisations to recruit organisational representatives and people with lived experience to join events and share what they think needs to be learned from the pandemic.
• Providing support across the team to ensure the successful delivery of Every Story Matters and the wider work of the Inquiry.

This new role in the team will suit a self-starter who is comfortable working at pace, balancing multiple projects at once, with excellent leadership, communication and management skills.