paul hamlyn foundation - director of policy and communications

Director of Policy and CommunicationsAppointment Brief | April 2016

Image: ArtWorks Alliance. Photo: Brian Hartley

Director of Policy and Communications | April 20162

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for taking the time tofind out more about Paul Hamlyn Foundation and for your interest in applying for this job.

In June 2015, we launched a bold new strategy - one that builds on our history and values, but that looks to the future and, we believe, represents a step change in our reach and impact. I hope when you read it, you will be excited about the opportunity to come and work with us.

Our mission remains ambitious and has never been more relevant. Austerity continues and our support to help people overcome disadvantage and lack of opportunity, so that they can realise their potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives, is needed as much as ever. We need people within our organisation who are committed to our mission and can bring their expertise to help us create change.

At the heart of the strategy is a commitment to back people with great ideas, and I am clear that we need to invest in great staff as well as great grants if we are to make that commitment a reality.

I hope to play my part in making Paul Hamlyn Foundation a wonderful place to work. We are a small and welcoming team, based in a beautiful building, and it is our intention to develop everyone, personally and professionally, whilst they are with us.

The job description and person specification should give you a really good idea of the skills and experience that we are looking for - I think it has the potential to be a great job, which builds on strong foundations, and has space for the right person to shape and influence our work. If you feel you fit the bill, we will look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Moira SinclairChief Executive

Welcome Messagefrom the Chief Executive


The Paul Hamlyn Foundation is an independent grant-making foundation set up by Paul Hamlyn, the publisher and philanthropist. It aims to maximise opportunities for individuals and communities to realise their potential and experience and enjoy a better quality of life. The Foundation supports charitable activity in the areas of arts, education and learning and social justice across the UK. It also supports local charities in India that help the poorest communities get access to basic services. It has a board of unpaid trustees and a staff of 37. For further information about the Foundation’s work please see the website: www.phf.org.uk

The Foundation is based in light and recently refurbished offices near Kings Cross in London. The design and facilities, we hope, foster collaboration and networking between the staff and amongst grantees.

Our grant making work is overseen by a series of panels, made up of trustees, staff and external advisors.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation launched its current strategy in June 2015. We aim to be more than a grant-maker in that, as well as providing funding, we endeavour to develop excellent relationships to work with and alongside those we support. Our guiding principles are to:

Support innovation: We are interested in finding innovative ways to address long standing and emerging social issues and to create new opportunities.

We recognise the need to take risks to achieve results and the probability that not all innovations will succeed.

Give people a voice: We want to give people greater control over the decisions which shape their lives. We want to help people and groups, especially those experiencing disadvantage, to speak out and be heard, including by those who make policy or provide services.

Work with others: We believe that it can be, and often is, more effective working with others, not just those we fund. Accordingly, we welcome partnerships and aim to build communities of interest around the activities we support. We look to exploit the synergies between the different areas of our grant-making and expect to make much more of our ability to convene.

Make a commitment: We believe that we can best achieve lasting change by committing for long periods to issues and causes. We recognise the value of long-term relationships as one way of providing support to organisations to consolidate and develop their work.

Be open: We strive to be open in our grant-making and relationships. We endeavour to operate a straightforward, transparent process for those seeking grants from us. We welcome feedback.

Introduction

http://www.phf.org.uk


Have an impact: We seek to achieve the greatest possible impact with our resources. We strive to learn how to improve the outcomes of our work and encourage those we fund to do the same.

Use evidence and learning: We recognise the importance of learning from actions that have evidence of success, and of gathering data about untested approaches. We seek to do this in a systematic and proportionate way, and to use what we learn to improve the way we work. We believe that we can add value by building and sharing our knowledge and experience with others and we aim to support this approach across the sectors in which we operate.

Work across the UK: We want to make sure our work benefits communities throughout the country and in areas that are least well connected or least able to access resources. Because of this, we actively seek to support work outside London.

Be an effective organisation and fair employer: We set ourselves high standards for how we operate. We aim to ensure the responsible investment and effective deployment of our endowment. We strive for fairness, efficiency and effectiveness in our internal processes and we seek to support and develop our staff so they can play a variety of creative roles as well as managing grants and our resources efficiently. In return, we expect our staff to contribute to our vision of the Foundation as an energetic, innovative and exemplar organisation.

We have six strategic priorities for the period 2015 - 2021:

• We want to support the creation of exciting ideas by helping imaginative people to nurture them.

• We want to widen access and participation in the arts.

• We want to improve people’s education and learning through the arts.

• We want to show that the arts make a difference to people’s lives.

• We want to support and strength the work of organisations working with young people experiencing disadvantage.

• We want to improve support for young people who migrate and for receiving communities to support better integration.

These six priorities support and influence each other. For example, our analysis of evidence to show how the arts can make a difference will help our work on access, participation and learning. Over time, our work supporting individuals and ideas will fuel all the other areas where we want to see change. By making the commitment to share learning from activity within these priority areas, and by encouraging our staff and those in receipt of grants to meet and exchange knowledge more, we believe together we will achieve greater impact overall.

Further information about our work can be found on the Foundation’s website at www.phf.org.uk

Introduction

http://www.phf.org.uk


You will set the strategic direction for our policy development and advocacy activity, capitalising on our current policy positions and identifying new avenues and partnerships, so that we can make the most of our influencing of key opinion leaders and of supporting the sectors we work with to achieve the change we want to see. This role is not about aggressive PR, marketing or spin; rather it is about the Foundation doing more to support organisations working in those sectors to have a louder voice, or to be more involved in influencing and shaping policy thinking and responses to the sort of social and sectoral challenges we are engaged in.

This is an opportunity for someone to grow our work in this area, building on current activities and the new strategy, identifying areas of innovation, scanning the horizon for emerging thinking and bringing fresh insight to develop a robust approach for future communications and policy activity. You will be our lead for digital innovation, helping us to identify and support best practice amongst our grantees and in our own grant making and our communications effort, and committed to growing our in-house capacity in this area.

One of your first tasks will be to design and present a communications and advocacy strategy, one which takes account of trustees’ views and previous feedback from grantees and stakeholders and explores the most effective way for the Foundation to support change.

This should be about amplifying the work of grantees to achieve greater impact as well as agreeing a shared set of key messages for the Foundation to use and could encompass: using our positive name and reputation to share and advocate for the benefits of the work we support; building an engagement plan for stakeholders; doing more ourselves to intervene in societal and sector debates through issue-based publications, speaking on public platforms and dissemination of our work; a support programme for staff to be better storytellers and advocates.

The position requires an experienced and dynamic communications and policy professional, committed to the continued and successful development of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and its values, strategic priorities and grant making programmes.

The role will be externally visible and you will act as an influential ambassador, helping to set the pace and agenda for our work from arts access and participation to social justice work in the fields of migration and support for young people.

As a line manager, you will have a responsibility to help set the ‘cultural tone’ - one where people feel supported and thrive to deliver their work plans, achieve personal satisfaction in their work and can see and value the impact that it is having and you will support an atmosphere of collaborative working through shared objectives and learning.

As part of the Senior Management Team, you will contribute to the overall strategic direction and effectiveness of the Foundation.

What will be my main contribution?


Director of Policy and Communications

Who will I report to?You will report to the Chief Executive.

What level of budget responsibility will I have?The Foundation makes grants of up to £25m per annum and, as a member of the Senior Management Team, you will have significant influence on how that funding is deployed. You will have a budget of c £300,000 to support the delivery of our policy, communications and advocacy programme (permanent staff costs are covered elsewhere).

Who will I line manage?• You will line manage a

communications officer, an assistant and an intern (to be recruited).

• You will be able to draw on up to 2.5 days a week Research and Policy Officer time, liaising closely with the Director of Impact and Evaluation to whom this post reports.

• You will be able to draw on up to 1 day a week (x12) Senior Grant Manager and Grant Manager time, dedicated to support policy development work, liaising closely with the Director of Grants to ensure co-ordination. This time is likely to be focused particularly on providing policy support to grantees working in specific areas and to working with you to feed in thinking and develop our understanding of context etc.

• You will be expected to work in a small and fully interconnected structure that relies on collaboration, flexibility and the ability to operate within both formal and informal reporting relationships.

Director of Policy & Communications | April 20166

Q&A


What other key internal relationships will I have?• With the Chief Executive and

Trustees - to establish a key influencing position in the policy arena and in doing so, to extend and amplify the work of those we fund and the change that we want to see.

• With colleagues in the Impact and Evaluation team - to share intelligence and develop an understanding of the impact that our funding and support is having.

• With the Grants team - to understand the issues and challenges facing those we fund and to inform the programmes that they deliver.

• With the Director of Finance and Resources to set budgets and manage resources.

Director of Policy & Communications | April 20167


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Main ResponsibilitiesProvide the strategic leadership and vision to deliver the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s policy, partnership and advocacy ambitions at a national level.

Communications and advocacy• Design and deliver a communications

and advocacy strategy which supports our ambitions and strategy delivery.

• Develop a stakeholder engagement plan, that identifies those across government, not for profit and business that we should be working with and the routes to reach them.

• Ensure that the Foundation’s brand, house style and public presence is reflective of our mission, values and strategy.

• Prepare and/or have oversight of press releases, briefings, presentations and associated written materials.

• Develop and use a range of channels and information products directly, and through working closely with partners with whom we have common interest.

• Ensure best use of new social media to reach those we would wish to work with and/or influence.

• Support the Grants team in developing networks and meetings – both physical and virtual – which support our aim of maximising their opportunities for grantees to learn from each other and contribute to our policy and programme development.

• Developing a leading web presence which visibly embodies our approach and focus, as well as provides high standards of customer service to those who would wish to apply.

• Represent the Foundation at various forums and in high level meetings with existing or potential delivery partners and with other diverse stakeholder groups.

• Manage the internal communications resource to help develop and actively contribute to cross-departmental and multidisciplinary working for enriched outputs and activities and to deliver continual improvement and professional development.

Job Description


Policy• Engage with the wider team to determine

where we can make a difference and have impact, defining clear policy outcomes and objectives and ensuring these are monitored.

• Prioritise our resources - paying attention to our core strengths and track record, the interests of partners and the environment - to maximize focus and impact by agreeing a small number of critical issues/questions.

• Work with the Grants Team to develop appropriate strategic applications where relevant.

• Ensure our policy work is grounded from the bottom up by supporting the Senior Grants Managers in enabling Grant Managers to develop areas of particular interest and/or enable shared learning.

• Track national policy developments relevant to our specific priorities and ensure we make focused contributions to the policy issues in which we have an interest.

• Identify relevant opportunities for the Foundation to contribute to a wider debate where we can draw directly from our work and experience, for example on wider grant making, philanthropy, voluntary sector resilience and leadership.

• Uphold and promote the aims of the Foundation’s equality and diversity policies in the course of all our work.

Partnerships• With the Chief Executive, build

relationships with other national funders, charities and relevant national organizations with whom we may be able to partner to leverage further impact.

• Develop partnerships which deliver tangible added value for our policy and advocacy work by sharing or matching resources; drawing in relevant knowledge, or providing clear benefits which increase our effectiveness and the potential to make a difference.

• Work with the Grants team to bring local partners and grantees to the table to contribute to our development and thinking ensuring that, wherever we focus, it is rooted deeply in what those who are delivering tell us.

• Identify and build partnerships with digital innovators who can assess the viability and efficacy of digital solutions that are presented to us by grantees and who can help us build such capacity internally.

Job Description


Essential Experience & Knowledge• Significant policy, communications and/

or campaigning experience in one or more of our strategic priority areas and with charities, third sector and/or arts and cultural organisations at a senior level.

• Significant experience of managing a communications and/or public affairs function.

• Proven track record of developing and executing well-evidenced policy strategies and approaches that have far reaching and demonstrable impacts. Using best available data and commissioning additional research as necessary.

• Experience of managing, motivating and developing teams.

• Intellectually strong with the ability to analyse and synthesise complex information quickly and effectively

Essential behaviours and ways of working• Effective in developing relationships with

organisations at all levels and with the personal credibility, communication and analytical skill to provide advice and support on the challenges they face.

• Sympathy with the values and aims of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and in particular its commitment to social justice and equality, to tackling disadvantage, fighting prejudice, supporting youth voice and participation.

• Exceptional influencing and negotiation skills, able to build collaboration across diverse functions, roles and levels of seniority.

• Articulate, with excellent written and oral skills, and the ability to communicate with a range of audiences.

• Confident, resourceful and proactive, with initiative, curiosity and a problem-solving disposition.

• An ability to work effectively with a range of stakeholders, internal and external, including senior staff, trustees, grantees, policy makers and practitioners, and young people.

• An ability to work creatively and flexibly in a small team, supporting other colleagues, and with a strong personal commitment to learning and improvement.

Desirable• Knowledge of and networks to support

a step change in organisational digital capacity.

• Understanding of a range of business models and strategies for sustainability that are of relevance to organisations in the cultural, education and voluntary sectors and the ability to design and test solutions to some of the intractable problems they face.

• Understanding of policy and/or practice in more than one country of the UK (i.e. England, Wales, Scotland and/or Northern Ireland).

• Experience of managing contracts with external consultants.

Person Specification


Terms and Conditions• Salary band: Circa £60,000 pa.

• There will be a probationary period of six months. Subject to satisfactory completion of this period, the contract will be a permanent one which can be terminated by either party on giving three months’ notice.

• Full time post, 35 hours per week. Office hours are normally 9am – 5pm Monday - Friday, but flexible working is possible; some flexibility is required from team members around evening work and travel to and from events and meetings.

Staff Benefits• Twenty five days leave per annum,

plus statutory holidays.

• Employer pension contribution (once probation period passed) 15%.

• Medical, permanent health and life insurance (once probation period passed).

Image: Fevered Sleep. Photo: Keith Pattison


To apply, please forward a comprehensive CV together with a supporting statement which should be no more than two sides of A4. Please evidence your suitability against the criteria in the Person Specification in your statement and explain why the position is of interest to you.

You should give the names, positions, organisations and telephone contact numbers of two referees, relevant to this role. References will only be taken once your express permission has been granted.

Finally please ensure that you have included mobile, work and home telephone numbers, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the recruitment timetable.

Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at:https://prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/hq00165220

Recruitment Timetable

Published closing date: Friday 20th May

Preliminary interviews with Prospectus: 2nd-8th June

Final panel interviews with PHF: Friday 1st July

These dates may be subject to change and candidates will be advised in advance should this happen.

If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, or need additional information please contact our retained advisors at Prospectus; Sara Livesey or Tokunbo Makinde.

Phone: 020 7691 1920

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

How to Apply

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paul hamlyn foundation - director of policy and communications

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