Head of Engagement

Job summary

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) is a new arm’s-length body set up, at unprecedented pace, to administer compensation to people whose lives have been impacted by the infected blood scandal.

IBCA will ensure payment is made in recognition of the wrongs experienced by those who have been infected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, as well as those who love and care for them. They have been frustrated and distressed by the delays in achieving proper recognition, and we must help put this right.

We are committed to putting the infected and affected blood community at the centre of every decision we make and every step we take to build our organisation to deliver compensation payments.

IBCA employees will be public servants. If successful in this role you will be appointed directly into IBCA, on IBCA terms and conditions as a public servant.

Successful applicants will join the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be fully operational for a period of approximately up to 5 years, after which IBCA will become a smaller residual service. When IBCA’s work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.

Job description

Building and maintaining relationships

• You'll lead IBCA's approach to building open, respectful and useful relationships with the infected blood community, representative organisations, parliamentarians, partners and other interested organisations.
• You'll make sure our contact with people is well-coordinated and tied to key moments and community priorities, so engagement feels purposeful and ongoing, not just something that happens when IBCA needs to tell people something.
• You'll build partnerships with the NHS and other public and voluntary organisations to help us reach, inform and support people who may be eligible for compensation.
• You'll work with the campaigns team to secure low or no-cost partnerships that raise awareness among possible claimants.
  Creating opportunities to listen.
• You'll lead IBCA's programme of community and stakeholder engagement, including drop-ins, round tables, meetings and events where people can speak to us directly.
• You'll make sure this engagement is genuinely two-way, giving people space to ask questions, raise concerns, share their experiences and tell us when things aren't working.
• You'll make sure the right people from IBCA take part, and that colleagues understand what communities are telling us.
  Community contact and correspondence.
• You'll provide senior leadership for IBCA's community contact and Customer Relationship Management work, including the helpline and other ways people get in touch.
• You'll oversee how we handle correspondence from communities, stakeholders and parliamentarians, making sure responses are timely, accurate, clear, empathetic and consistent.
• You'll use what we learn from enquiries and correspondence to spot where people need better information, where problems keep recurring, and where IBCA needs to change how it works.

External affairs

• You'll lead IBCA's relationships with parliamentarians, representative organisations and other external stakeholders, making sure they have regular chances to understand our work, raise issues and give feedback.
• You'll make sure MPs and other stakeholders get accurate, helpful information, and that concerns raised through parliamentary and stakeholder engagement are understood and properly responded to within IBCA.
• You'll advise senior leaders on significant external issues and on what we're hearing from the people and organisations we work with.
  Listening, learning and acting.
• You'll lead how IBCA brings together everything it hears through community contact, correspondence, meetings, events, feedback and partnerships.
• You'll spot recurring questions, concerns and themes, and make sure senior leaders and teams across IBCA see them, so they can inform service improvement, communications and decision-making.
• You'll develop and oversee how IBCA publishes the themes we hear from the community, helping people see what others are telling us and what we're doing about it.
• You'll make sure feedback leads to action where possible. You'll help people see where their feedback has made a difference, and be honest about where we can't make a change, and why.
• You'll represent what we're hearing from communities within IBCA, constructively challenging the organisation where people's experiences or feedback suggest we need to communicate or work differently.

Leadership

• You'll lead and develop a multidisciplinary engagement team, setting clear priorities and creating an inclusive environment where colleagues can do their best work.
• You'll work closely with colleagues across Communications and Engagement, and the wider organisation, so engagement supports both the delivery of compensation and the experience of people using our service.
• You'll provide trusted advice to the Director, Deputy Director, Chief Executive and other senior leaders on community and stakeholder relationships, emerging concerns, and opportunities to improve engagement.

Person specification

• Lead IBCA's relationships with the infected blood community, representative organisations, parliamentarians and partners, ensuring engagement is purposeful, ongoing and genuinely two-way.
• Ensure community and stakeholder feedback, whether from events, correspondence or the helpline, is captured, understood and used to improve how IBCA communicates and delivers its service.
• Oversee IBCA's community contact, correspondence and external affairs functions, ensuring everyone who contacts IBCA receives a timely, accurate and empathetic response.
• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary engagement team, providing trusted advice to senior leaders on stakeholder relationships and emerging concerns.
• Regularly travel to IBCA's Newcastle office and to stakeholder events across the country, acting as a visible ambassador for the Communications and Engagement team.

Essential Criteria

• You've led community, stakeholder or public engagement at a senior level in a complex or high-profile environment, building trusted relationships over time.
• You've worked constructively with a wide range of people and organisations, including communities, representative groups, parliamentarians and public bodies, including where trust in institutions may be low.
• You've brought together feedback from different sources, spotted themes, and used what people tell you to shape communications, services and decisions.
• You've worked in a politically sensitive or highly scrutinised environment, with strong judgement and the ability to navigate different perspectives while keeping relationships open and respectful.
• You've led or overseen public-facing contact, correspondence or engagement services, and understand why clear, accurate, accessible and timely communication matters.
• You've built productive relationships with external organisations and used partnerships to achieve things one organisation couldn't do alone.
• You've led and developed multidisciplinary teams, setting direction and priorities and supporting people through change.

Desirable criteria

• Experience working with people or communities affected by trauma, injustice or significant loss, or in another context where trust in public institutions may be low.
• Experience of parliamentary engagement and correspondence.
• Experience leading customer or community contact functions, including CRM systems and using contact data and feedback to improve services.
• Membership of, or a relevant qualification from, a professional communications, engagement or public affairs body.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Acting as an expert practitioner in strategic relationships across complex landscapes
• Presentation at Interview

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• Acting as an expert practitioner in strategic relationships across complex landscapes

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,262, Infected Blood Compensation Authority contributes £21,803 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Premium allowance paid monthly after probation
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%
• 32.5 days of paid annual leave plus 8 bank holidays
• Family friendly policies to support you and your everyday responsibilities
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave, up to 12 months shared parental leave

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Application information

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete an anonymised CV, which should include your career history, skills, experience and qualifications.

You will also be asked to complete a Personal Statement, of no more than 750 words, that demonstrates how you meet the Essential Skills for the role.

At sift, you will be assessed on your CV, Personal Statement and a Technical Question.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Should you be successful at sift, you will be invited to attend an interview where you will be assessed on experience, behaviours, technical skills and a presentation.

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – week commencing 9th November 2026

Expected interview date/s – week commencing 23rd November 2026

Interview location - Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via IBCA.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further Information

PLEASE NOTE: IBCA employees are public servants, therefore the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNR) do not apply. Candidates who do not meet the CSNR are welcome to apply and applications will not be rejected: successful candidates however will be subject to a Right to Work check to work within the UK.

Sponsorship

IBCA recruitment policy limits Skilled Worker visa sponsorship solely to roles designated as business-critical (internal role not prioritised as hard to fill). Because this position does not fall into that category, we will not be offering sponsorship. Therefore, to be considered for this role, you must be able to demonstrate your right to work in the UK without requiring employer sponsorship.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to IBCA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service / Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the IBCA if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

PLEASE NOTE: IBCA employees are public servants, therefore the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNR) do not apply. Candidates who do not meet the CSNR are welcome to apply and applications will not be rejected: successful candidates however will be subject to a Right to Work check to work within the UK.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : IBCA Recruitment Team
• Email : ibca.recruitment@ibca.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : IBCA.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment on the basis of merit by a fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact the Resourcing Team at IBCA.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Attachments

Employee Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1851kB)