Head of Public Affairs - LNER

£76,000 - £81,000 • LNER • London or York

Why LNER?

We go beyond. For everyone. Our vision is to be the most loved, progressive and responsible way to travel for generations to come. Now we're looking for the people who can deliver this, every day.

Since we took over on the East Coast mainline, we've been changing the face of rail travel. Our new Azuma train has brought faster journey times, more space and greater reliability. Our exciting plans to embrace new ideas, experiences, backgrounds and ambitions make this the ideal time to join.

Bringing passion. Being bold. Always caring. Owning it. They're the values that make us LNER.

Are you on board?

We're looking for a strategic and dynamic communicator to join us as Head of Public Affairs - where you'll play a central role in shaping and delivering LNER's strategic business plan. Working closely with key stakeholders including politicians, local communities and project partners, you'll ensure our reputation is protected and enhanced every step of the way.

This is more than a traditional public affairs role – it's about building trusted relationships, navigating complex landscapes, and turning insight into action. You'll lead on the development and execution of a joined-up stakeholder communications strategy, ensuring our voice is clear, consistent and influential across all the right channels.

As the strategic lead for stakeholder mapping and intelligence, you'll provide expert advice to senior colleagues across the business, helping LNER stay ahead of emerging opportunities and challenges. You'll also head up a brilliant, collaborative team, guiding and inspiring them to deliver best-in-class communications and engagement. You'll also lead our Community team, engaging with charities, local groups and schools based close to our line as well as oversight of our Customer and Community Investment Fund.

Within this role you'll also be involved in;

• Lead the development and delivery of a forward-looking, impactful stakeholder communication strategy that supports LNER's long-term business goals.
• Build a culture of intelligence gathering across the business – creating systems and practices that keep us informed, agile, and ready to respond.
• Collaborate closely with project partners, aligning strategic communications and representing LNER at key governance boards and senior forums.
• Oversee a targeted stakeholder engagement programme – reaching national, regional, local and industry audiences across our network.
• Develop relationships with political and civic leaders, including MPs, metro mayors, MSPs, local authorities, transport bodies and industry groups along the LNER route.
• Lead the creation of a Community Engagement Plan, ensuring it is integrated into the broader stakeholder strategy and reflects our commitment to the communities we serve.
• Shape and embed a compelling narrative for LNER, ensuring our vision and key messages are used consistently and creatively across all communications.
• Work closely with internal communications, media and regional teams, ensuring key stakeholder activity is integrated and understood across the wider business.
• Provide inspiring leadership to a talented and high-performing team – supporting their development, managing performance, and fostering a collaborative, high-trust culture.
• Support business continuity planning, including maintaining a secondary competence role to help ensure service resilience during times of disruption.
• Stay current with training and competencies to support the ongoing delivery of stakeholder communications in all circumstances.

What you'll need:   
You'll be a confident communicator and strategic thinker with a passion for building relationships and making an impact. You'll bring a mix of political insight, leadership ability, and hands-on experience in stakeholder engagement.

Skills and Competencies

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor complex messages for different audiences, lead meetings, and produce high-quality reports and strategy documents.
• Strategic planning and delivery skills – able to turn objectives into clear, actionable plans.
• Strong time management, with a proven ability to juggle priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent stakeholder and relationship management, with the ability to influence, negotiate, and build trust across internal and external networks.
• Confident decision-making and problem-solving, using sound judgement and creative thinking.
• Proven leadership, with experience managing and developing high-performing teams and working collaboratively across departments.
• Resilient and adaptable, able to manage risk and thrive under pressure.

Experience and Qualifications

• Significant experience in stakeholder engagement, public affairs or communications at a senior level, ideally in a complex or high-profile setting.
• Strong understanding of political, economic and social trends affecting business and reputation.
• Trusted adviser to senior leaders, with experience influencing at executive or board level.
• Confident using digital tools and Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Good knowledge of communication channels, including community-level engagement.
• Experience in strategic project delivery, and budget oversight.
• First class leadership skills able to work collaboratively and inclusively.
• Willing to maintain a secondary competence role and contribute to business continuity planning.
• A degree (or equivalent experience) in Politics, Communications or a related field; professional membership (e.g. CIPR) is desirable.

What you'll get:

• Free travel on LNER + 75% off other companies' tickets (for you & dependents)
• Discounted international train tickets (after one year's service)
• 50% discount on LNER tickets for friends & family
• Generous pension scheme
• Annual cycle to work schemes
• Discount, savings and cashback scheme from top retailers
• Health & wellbeing schemes and discounts
• Host of training opportunities to help further your career
• Rewards & awards to recognise when you shine

What we believe:

To be the most loved, progressive and responsible train operating company, we must make a meaningful difference – always doing what's right for our customers, our people, the communities and destinations we serve, the future of the industry we lead and the environment we cherish.

We know that our people are the beating heart of everything we do. We are committed to creating an inclusive, engaged culture that supports everyone at every stage of their journey – and ensures that when you're at LNER, you can always be you. No wonder most people never want to leave!

Diversity and inclusion
We are passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive workforce, representative of the communities we serve, and are creating ways to inspire diverse talent to join LNER.

Developing our people
We are focused on creating a learning culture, to support our people to be the best they can be at work by providing them with the tools and resources to navigate their development and career journey.

Health & wellbeing
To create a culture where our people can perform at their best, the physical health and mental wellbeing of our people is of paramount importance to us.

What next?

Start your journey here - Apply now! 

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

If you are successful in your application and are new to the business, we will undertake a basic DBS check as part of our pre-employment checks. This only happens once we have conditionally offered you the job.  Here we check for any unspent convictions and conditional cautions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. If there is evidence of an unspent conviction or conditional caution, the details of these are reviewed internally by a cross functional panel on a case by case basis before a final offer of employment is issued. This however may result in any offer being withdrawn. Further information on how we collect and use this data is available on our privacy notice.

Medical screening

We're a safety conscious business so for all roles you'll need to pass a medical screening and a drugs and alcohol test before we send you an unconditional job offer. For our safety critical roles, you'll also need to have a safety critical medical. Our friendly, in-house Health and Wellbeing team will book a time and place to suit you. The sooner, the better, so please be flexible with your availability. Once your medical gets the thumbs up, we'll finalise any last details and look forward to you joining our team.