External Affairs Manager

Job Introduction

What you’ll do

As an External Affairs Manager, you’ll lead NHG’s public affairs and stakeholder engagement programme, building trusted relationships with MPs, councillors, government officials, and industry bodies. You’ll ensure NHG is seen as a credible, collaborative partner, influencing policy and shaping conversations about housing and community investment. This is a key role in strengthening NHG’s reputation and delivering our social purpose.

How you’ll do it

• Develop and deliver a public affairs and stakeholder engagement programme aligned with NHG’s priorities.
• Provide proactive briefings to MPs, councillors, and London Assembly members.
• Shape policy positions that reflect business objectives and stakeholder expectations.
• Monitor political and sector developments, providing insight and briefings to senior leaders.
• Prepare tailored briefings for stakeholder meetings and support operational teams.
• Collaborate with casework teams to ensure elected representatives receive excellent service.
• Manage NHG’s memberships and engagement with industry bodies to maintain sector influence.
• Contribute to crisis and incident response, including participation in out-of-hours press office rota.

The ideal candidate

We believe great service starts with great people, and we are committed to recruiting and developing passionate, enthusiastic, and talented individuals who can add value to our thriving organisation. 

Essential:

• Strong experience in public affairs, government relations, or political engagement delivering effective public affairs activities and programmes.
• Relevant recent experience gained in an in-house role, agency, civil service, or parliament, with the ability to apply insights quickly and adapt to a complex, regulated environment.
• Proven ability to manage casework and prepare high-quality briefings for senior stakeholders.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with confidence advising senior leadership.
• Deep understanding of the UK political landscape and ability to translate developments into actionable insight.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to distil complex issues into clear messaging.
• Ability to scan the horizon for political risk and anticipate reputational challenges.
• Collaborative and organised approach, with experience working across functions.
• Digitally savvy and resilient in a fast-moving, regulated environment.

Desirable:

• Experience in media relations and crisis response.
• Knowledge of housing or regulated sectors.

What’s in it for you?

Once you join us, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to grow within our organisation. You’ll also have access to a wide range of learning opportunities to help you achieve and maximise your potential.   

Benefits include:  

• Excellent annual leave allowance and flexible working opportunities (qualifying period may apply)  
• Generous pension scheme  
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption pay in addition to statutory entitlements (qualifying period may apply)  
• Employee assistance - free confidential advice and counselling services provided by independent specialist organisations.  
• Health cash plan  
• Staff discounts - we give our staff access to discounts at hundreds of major retailers, gyms, restaurants, entertainment, days out, insurance, and much more.  
• Interest free loans - season ticket loan, tenancy deposit loan, and training loan  
• Cycle to work scheme.  
• Life Assurance x 4 annual salary

All about us

Notting Hill Genesis is a not-for-profit organisation providing affordable homes for Londoners and it is now one of the largest housing associations in London. We are both a landlord and a developer, with more than 60,000 existing homes and 10,000 more in our pipeline and we employ around 1,500 staff.   

For more information on what we do and what makes us different please visit:https://group.nhg.org.uk/careers/   

We welcome applications from everyone. We actively monitor the diversity of our workforce and strive to show equal representation throughout all levels of the organisation. We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident employer amongst other diversity commitments. 

To find out more about our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion please visit: https://group.nhg.org.uk/careers/diversity-is-our-strength/  

Selection Process

Step 1: If you are interested, please send your application now! Closing date is 1 February.  

Step 2: Successful candidates will be asked to do an assessment  

Step 3: Successful candidates will be invited to interview  on the 12th or 13th February.

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Please apply for this role online. If you are not able to apply online or if you have any reasonable adjustment requirements arising from a disability or medical condition to fully participate in the recruitment process, please discuss this with our hiring team via jobs@nhg.org.uk.  

 NHG reserves the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role, so we advise you to submit your application at your earliest opportunity.