Change & Communications Lead

Full Time – 12 month FTC – (Hybrid)

Closing Date: 04/06/2024

Our offer to you

We pride ourselves in being a great place to work, providing a supportive culture with opportunities to grow and develop your career, achieve a healthy work life balance and to be recognised for the great work you do. You will receive:

• Competitive salary and pension scheme
• 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) - increasing to 38 days over 5 years
• Hybrid, Flexible working
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Electric Vehicle Scheme
• Health and Wellbeing portal – access to financial, health and wellbeing support and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounts – you will have access to Blue Light and NHS Discounts as well as discounts on mobile phones, gym membership, cinema tickets, restaurants, holidays and shopping

About Us

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a team of over 1,700 employees and over 29500 volunteers, united by our goal of saving lives through essential first aid services, training and campaigning.  As a charity with rich heritage and a long history of serving humanity, we are proud of our past and excited about creating a healthier, safer, more resilient future. 

St John Ambulance works at the heart of communities, supporting and enabling them to access and receive physical and mental health first aid. We do this through developing and providing effective community response and outreach services (e.g. Ambulance response, Falls response, Night Time Economy and Homelessness outreach) and using our longstanding expertise to empower people with vital clinical skills and the confidence to use them (e.g. our Volunteers and Community Advocates, NHS Cadets and Young Responders programmes). There is also a buoyant social enterprise network which delivers first aid training and supplies medical consumables to businesses and consumers.

Job Summary

St John is embarking on a significant period of change for both St John Ambulance and the Priory of England volunteers. Community First Aid Networks (CFANs) is a new operating model for local volunteering which aims to deliver a simpler, leaner structure, save money and deliver a better volunteer experience with more locally empowered leaders. Externally, we are targeting more impact in communities, especially amongst those who need our support the most. The Change & Communications Lead will play a pivotal role in supporting our volunteers through this change, ensuring effective communications strategies are implemented. You will collaborate with various stakeholders to drive change management efforts and foster a culture of openness and transparency. This role requires a blend of strategic thinking, communications expertise and project management skills to effectively navigate through transitions and drive successful outcomes.

Required Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in change management, organisational development or related field
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously and meet deadlines
• Experience developing and executing communications plans across various channels
• Knowledge of change management methodologies and best practices
• Experience of working with volunteers at a regional or local level.

 About the Role 

• Design a comprehensive communications plan and develop communication strategies that go beyond just informing, but also aim to inspire, motivate, and build a strong community first aid movement.
• Create engaging content, including newsletters, emails, presentations, videos and intranet updates to communicate plans, progress and key milestones effectively.
• Support change management processes by providing clear, concise, and timely communication, assessing the impact of planned changes and develop plans to mitigate resistance and facilitate acceptance.
• Support the People & Culture team to deliver sessions to build change management capabilities in our volunteer leadership network.
• Working closely with the EDI team to influence our approach to Diversity & Inclusion across all areas of the programme and affect real, positive change.

Please see the job description for more detail (this can be viewed on our website or once you click apply) 

Find out more about us at www.sja.org.uk

If you are a current St John Ambulance employee, please apply here:  Click here

For all other candidates, or St John Ambulance volunteers wishing to apply please apply below

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive high volume of applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Please note: St John does not accept speculative CVs and will only review CVs sent in application for an advertised vacancy.

St John Ambulance are committed to increasing the diversity of our team and making sure we best reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.   At St John, everyone is valued and supported to thrive, we have several networks including Multi Culture, Disability and Accessibility, Pride, Family and Carers and Women’s groups.  We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and engender a sense of belonging for all, by creating an environment of mutual respect, where we value unique differences and demonstrate authentic allyship. We believe passionately in equality, diversity and inclusion.