Regional Engagement Officer ED

We’re looking for a passionate Regional Engagement Officer – South Wales to join out Group Corporate Affair team! The External Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement team is accountable for managing and leveraging relationships with political, business and media stakeholders across the region, telling NGEDs story and creating a favourable policy environment for the company’s priorities. 

The Corporate Affairs department is responsible for protecting, preserving, and enhancing the reputation of the National Grid. Whilst a group function, Electricity Distribution Corporate Affairs (EDCA) act as a dedicated support service to the Electricity Distribution Business (NGED), serving 20m customers across the Midlands, South West and Wales.  

This role is based out of our Cardiff or Bristol office, and we’d hope to see you at least two days per week but you’re welcome to be in the office more often if that would work best for you. We’re happy to discuss any additional flexibility in working patterns or requirements that you feel could help to make this job work for you!

What You'll Do

• Support the delivery of public affairs and community engagement campaigns, including Support the delivery of the day-to-day engagement across the NGED region with external stakeholders such as MPs, Senedd Members Metro Mayors, Councillors, trade associations, and business groups to improve National Grid’s reputation and influence.
• Manage MP, MS, Councillor and stakeholder casework, ensuring issues are resolved quickly and satisfactorily and that the stakeholder management system is routinely used to track incoming and outgoing stakeholder communications.
• Represent NGED in Wales and the South West at events, conferences, and public meetings, making sure the company’s voice is heard and reputation is protected.
• Maintain an up-to-date stakeholder map of Welsh and South West licence areas, ensuring the business is aware of the influential figures who the business should be engaging with.
• Support the Stakeholder Engagement team in maintaining and managing a network of external contacts to help deliver the company’s priorities and pro-actively share intelligence back into the business.
• Draft and edit messages and produce engaging content for business-wide and local employee communications channels, including blogs, Intranet copy, speaking notes, Q&A materials, telephone and video scripts and presentations.
• Support the delivery of public affairs and community engagement campaigns, including messaging, stakeholder mapping and engagement, forward planning, and supporting the wider team to deliver across all communication channels.
• Input, where required, to Government and regional consultations, and parliamentary inquiries, and prepare executive briefings, board papers, and other information materials as required.
• Prepare written materials to support the business to make representations to relevant select committees, parliamentary debates, APPGs and other influential events.
• Maintain an up-to-date stakeholder map of the Welsh and South West licence areas, ensuring the business is aware of the influential figures who the business should be engaging with.
• Work with the wider Corporate Affairs function on campaigns, projects, announcements and issues, producing clear and compelling colleague communications content.

What You'll Have

• Educated to degree/postgraduate degree level or equivalent career experience is preferred but not essential.    
• Strong understanding of politics in Wales and the Southwest, and stakeholder networks within the NGED operational area.
• Strong knowledge of the UK political environment, both local and devolved, and the machinery of UK and Welsh governments.
• Experience of working with and influencing key internal stakeholders in a large, complex organisations, working in a collaborative manner to reach shared objectives.
• Demonstrable experience delivering high quality and effective public affairs activities.
• Support and manage the delivery of stakeholder events (such as receptions, party conference activities, and organising site visits for MPs/officials), from logistics to content creation and where required working with third party suppliers.
• Experience supporting responses to public policy consultations and parliamentary inquiries, with the ability to identify key priorities and ensure the company’s interests are represented in a clear and effective way.
• Strong track record of successfully communicating complex policy solutions in a clear and concise manner to multiple audiences.
• Able to prioritise and manage competing issues, working with and through others – maintaining high and consistent standards and alignment, working at pace and with minimal guidance. 
• Strong writing and editing skills with the ability to produce high quality content within tight timescales and under pressure.
• Creative and innovative and demonstrates the ability to adapt the content and style of communication messages to appeal to specific audiences.
• Team player with excellent interpersonal skills, able to actively build and maintain strong working relationships at all levels within the designated business area.
• Proven experience of working with senior managers within a large, global organisation with a multi-stakeholder environment.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At National Grid, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one.

What You'll Get

Competitive Base Salary dependent on experience.

Plus:

• Annual Bonus (based on personal and company performance) and annual salary review.
• Competitive contributory pension scheme (we double-match your contribution to a max company contribution of 12%.
• 26 days holiday (plus the opportunity to buy more each year)
• Life Insurance at 10 x your basic salary.
• Financial support to help cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions, course fees, books, exam fees and time off for study leave – relevant to your role.
• Family care benefits including a back-up care service for when your usual care arrangements fall through (six paid days each year as standard with the option to purchase further days).
• Access to apps which support health, fitness and wellbeing.
• Career development, ongoing training and support, career progression and plenty of opportunity to progress!

Further Information

This is a hybrid working role from our Cardiff or Bristol office with circa 2 days in the office. The closing date for this vacancy is Midnight 16 May 25, with interviews due to take place w/c 26 May 25 onwards. We encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible and not to wait until the published closing date. National Grid’s recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

About us

Every day we deliver safe and secure energy to homes, communities, and businesses. We are there when people need us the most. We connect people to the energy they need for the lives they live. The pace of change in society and our industry is accelerating and our expertise and track record puts us in an unparalleled position to shape the sustainable future of our industry. To be successful we must anticipate the needs of our customers, reducing the cost of energy delivery today and pioneering the flexible energy systems of tomorrow. This requires us to deliver on our promises and always look for new opportunities to grow, both ourselves and our business

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office. Our goal is to drive, develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, the innovation from diverse teams & perspectives and business need. We are committed to building a workforce so we can represent the communities we serve and have a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

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