Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Nationwide Foundation - Communications Policy and Public Affairs Officer R00AOR04624

The Nationwide Foundation is looking for a talented public affairs officer to join our external affairs team. The individual will support the delivery of our policy and public affairs work, which underpins the successful delivery of the Nationwide Foundation’s strategy.

The Nationwide Foundation is a charitable foundation, funded by, but independent of, Nationwide Building Society. We are committed to improving the lives of people in need in the UK by funding charitable causes and influencing change.

At the heart of the Nationwide Foundation’s approach is a commitment to tackling the root causes of the social issues that lead to disadvantage, poverty, and inequality. Since 2013, our Decent Affordable Homes strategy has been supporting the Nationwide Foundation’s vision for everyone in the UK to have access to a decent home that they can afford.

We do this through influencing systemic changes to the housing system. Our activities include:

1. Engaging with Government and cross-party policymakers to advocate for change
2. Convening coalitions to bring different voices and call for change
3. Building an evidence base by commissioning groundbreaking research
4. Investing long-term in campaigning groups
5. Testing new ideas to build understanding of what works
6. Building new narratives to change how people think about housing (public and policymakers)

Our three current programme areas are:

1. Backing community-led housing
2. Transforming the private rented sector
3. Nurturing ideas to change the housing system

The Foundation is looking for an individual who can support our work engaging with government, parliamentarians, and a range of stakeholders. You’ll need to be proactive, politically astute, have strong communication skills, and the ability to work at pace as part of a team.

For this job you'll be located in Swindon or London whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems and there will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration in one of our office sites, particularly Swindon and London. The team works together in Swindon on Tuesdays. The role will also involve travel to London for meetings. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works.

What you’ll be doing:

1. Working closely with the external affairs manager and programmes team to support the Foundation’s policy and public affairs engagement with a range of stakeholders, including politicians, civil servants, funders, industry bodies, charities, and housing sector experts.
2. Maintaining and continually updating the Foundation’s stakeholder database.
3. Monitoring the external environment and ensuring the Foundation team stays up-to-date with policy, parliamentary, and sector developments relevant to housing and our work.
4. Preparing briefings for colleagues ahead of meetings with key stakeholders.
5. Providing administrative support for influencing activities, including managing events and arranging meetings and roundtables.
6. Digesting and interpreting complex information, then communicating it clearly and concisely in appropriate formats.
7. Drafting and coordinating responses to government consultations, in collaboration with programme managers.
8. Identifying and acting on opportunities to influence, with the support of the external affairs manager.
9. Supporting the communications manager by monitoring and drafting social media posts and blogs on policy content, political events, and public affairs activity.
10. Supporting any other activity within the external affairs team, as needed.

About you

We'd love to hear from you if you have:

1. Experience in a policy or public affairs role
2. Strong ability to build and maintain constructive relationships with a range of stakeholder groups, sometimes with differing views
3. Good research and analysis skills
4. Excellent oral and written communication skills, which can be adapted for different audiences
5. Accuracy and strong attention to detail
6. A proactive mindset
7. Experience of working on housing or a related issue
8. An interest in and commitment to social justice
9. Flexibility and organisational skills to manage and enjoy a diverse workload

The extras you’ll get

In this role you will be employed by Nationwide Building Society and seconded to the Nationwide Foundation on a permanent basis. As an employee of Nationwide, you’ll benefit from Nationwide’s employment package.

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

1. A personal pension – if you put in 7% of your salary, we’ll top up by a further 16%
2. Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year
3. Life assurance worth 8x your salary
4. A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
5. Wellhub – Access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness.
6. Access to an annual performance-related bonus
7. Access to training to help you develop and progress your career
8. 25 days holiday, pro rata

What makes us different

Nationwide is the world’s largest building society. With over 15 million customers, we have a relationship with almost a quarter of the UK’s population. We’ve got the scale to compete with the big banks, but we’re not a bank.

As a building society, we’re owned by our members – that’s our customers who have their current account, mortgage, or savings with us. It means we can do things differently to deliver our Purpose – Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.

When you work at Nationwide, you can experience that difference for yourself. You’ll be part of a high-performing, purpose-driven organisation that offers rewarding career experiences and a highly competitive range of benefits to match. You’ll also be joining us at an important time as we seek to reach more and more people in the UK. We want everyone in the UK to know that they don’t have to bank with a bank. They can choose a modern mutual instead.

To apply, please visit our website via the button below.