Senior Public Affairs Officer

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The opportunity

Do you have previous public affairs experience delivering change for a cause? Would you like to make a difference at one of the country's largest charities taking on one of the UK's biggest killers?

If so, you may be the Senior Public Affairs Officer we're looking for!

About the role

Our Policy and Public Affairs team exists to engage, inform and influence key decision makers in the UK Government and health system in England to help ensure the UK remains a global leader in heart and circulatory research, and improve treatment and care for the 7.6 million people living with cardiovascular disease across the UK.

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our award winning and high impact team during a very exciting time in politics. As our Senior Public Affairs Officer, you'll take a leading role in specific areas providing public affairs expertise to influence UK Government policy and legislation and forge relationships with the new Parliament.

You'll deliver a programme of activity and engagement that contributes to our wider Hearts Need More campaign, which aims to make cardiovascular disease a key priority in the upcoming 10-year health plan.

You'll support the Public Affairs Manager by promoting the BHF to Parliamentarians and civil servants in Westminster, ensuring key decision-makers consider the BHF the expert on medical research and heart health. You'll also lead on developing influencing plans which engage parliamentarians at national and constituency level.

About you

With a detailed knowledge of the workings of government and parliamentary procedure as well as a working knowledge of the devolved administrations, you'll have an understanding of the external political environment. You'll also have a good understanding of the role of BHF and other health and medical research charities in general, and particularly in the political arena.

You'll have experience of working in the UK Parliament or within a public affairs consultancy and will possess excellent communication skills. Having previously successfully influenced political stakeholders you'll be able to build strong relationships with key internal and external colleagues.

With a proven ability to write clearly, concisely and persuasively for political audiences in a variety of formats, able to summarise complex information swiftly and accurately for a variety of audiences, you'll be able to plan your own workload, ensure effective time management and meet deadlines.

With a commitment to high standards of relationship management in order to achieve the best outcome, you'll be able to work on own initiative, proactively seizing opportunities to benefit the BHF.

Working arrangements

This is a blended role, where your work will be dual located between your home and our London office. At BHF we believe in the power of being together, so our colleagues on blended contracts can expect to spend some time in their office, at least one day each week, on average. The use of our office spaces is driven in part by your role and the activities you need to do. This may vary from time to time, so you will need to work in a flexible way to unlock your best work for our cause.

Need more help balancing your work and home life? Talk to us about what flexibility is available at the application or interview stage.

About us

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. By funding research across six decades, we've helped keep millions of hearts beating and millions of families together. We're investing in ground-breaking research that will get us closer than ever to a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases.

We value and respect every individual's unique contribution, celebrate diversity, and make inclusion part of what we do every day. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, Igniting Change, along with our internal EDI group, Kaleidoscope, and a growing number of employee network groups (our Affinity Groups), help us create an environment where all our colleagues and volunteers can succeed.

What we offer you

To find out more about benefits available at the BHF please download our benefits document at the bottom of this page.

Interview process

Interviews will be held in person at our London office during w/c 21st April.

How to apply

It's quick and easy to apply for a role at the BHF. Just click on the apply button below. All you'll need is an up to date CV and a supporting statement, outlining your interest in the role and how you meet the role's criteria. As part of our commitment to be an inclusive employer and ensure fairness and consistency in selecting the best candidate for this role, the BHF will use anonymous CV software as part of the application journey. Should you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us.