Policy and Public Affairs Lead

​​​London or Leeds based (hybrid working with 8 office days per month)
Permanent (1 year fixed term also considered)

Full time or part time (4 days a week)
£50,000 - £55,000 per annum(depending on experience) 

Organisation:

​Our client is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. They know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic and more creative. They form stronger bonds and relationships. They do better at school and are more creative. They enjoy more success in life. Their evidence-based behaviour change programmes are delivered by thousands of local partners, bringing the magic of reading to children in every community in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This is an exciting time to be joining our client. They are evolving their external influencing work to deliver on new organisational objectives and have a compelling story to tell across their work. New programmes based on a strategic shift to working more intensively with families on low incomes in the early years are delivering results, they have a pipeline of research which is becoming publication-ready and their cutting-edge design and innovation work is developing a new range of products to test with delivery partners and children from vulnerable family backgrounds.

The new external political landscape presents new opportunities for them – much of their work aligns with the new Government’s priorities. Embedded in every local community in England, Wales and Northern Ireland they are well placed to support local policy makers in their work.

Role:

In this role you will:

• Lead and embed public affairs and policy activity within the existing staff team and planning and implementation processes in support of organisational objectives
• Build senior policy and political buy-in to the vital importance of early years shared reading for children aged 0-7 with a particular focus on children from vulnerable family backgrounds (inc. those in foster care, kinship care and adoption) and on children growing up in low-income households
• Increase positive profile and visible support for the organisation and for shared reading among early years, health, poverty reduction, arts and culture and children’s social care organisations – at senior stakeholder level
• Support the partnerships team in their work to secure buy-in and support from local and regional delivery partners to enable continued delivery and growth in impact and reach
• Ensure that they maximise the value of their policy and public affairs work to drive income generation and meet organisational needs.

Candidate:​

Our client is looking for an experienced policy and public affairs professional, who is committed to and passionate about closing the disadvantage gap for children. You will have delivered successful public affairs campaigns or policy strategies in other roles. Ideally you will have some experience of working on issues related to children, families and disadvantage. You will also enjoy working as part of their policy and public affairs project group with experts from research communications and partnerships teams.  

Specifically, you will need to demonstrate:

• An in-depth understanding of the UK political system, legislative process, and regulatory environment
• Excellent understanding of devolved and local government
• A strong network of contacts within government, parliament, and relevant stakeholder organisations
• Proven experience in public affairs, government relations, or advocacy roles
• Developing and delivering successful influencing a using a range of approaches,
• Producing high quality, impactful products and communications for different audiences
• Excellent communication, negotiation and influencing skills
• Strategic thinking and analytical abilities to assess policy implications and develop effective advocacy strategies
• Ability to simplify complex issues without losing essential information in the process
• Flexible, adaptable and curious.

Apply:

To be considered for this role, please send a copy of your CV to 

​Candidates with relevant skills and experience will be contacted and a full Job Description shared. You will then need to write a supporting statement as part of the application. Our client is considering applications on a rolling basis so please apply as soon as possible.
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If you choose to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) (eg Chat-GPT) to assist in writing your application, we ask that you declare this clearly on statement. 

Candidates applying for this role must already have the right to work in the UK

​​As specialist recruiters we are committed to building inclusive and diverse organisations, and welcome applications from all sections of the community.