Public Affairs jobs in United Kingdom

The Role

CoppaFeel! is looking for a Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager to lead the organisation’s influencing activity, including the development and delivery of an overarching influencing strategy. This is an exciting time to join the team as we refresh and relaunch our policy and public affairs focus.

The Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager will play a pivotal role in positioning CoppaFeel! as a key voice in influencing policies to improve breast cancer education, awareness, diagnosis, and treatment for young people. Through this work, they will help us achieve our mission: ensuring that all breast cancers in young people are diagnosed early and accurately.

The postholder will ensure that CoppaFeel!'s policy and public affairs activities are data- and insight-driven, centring the voices and experiences of young people, those who have had a breast cancer diagnosis, and healthcare professionals. A key focus of this work will be to highlight the health inequities and unique challenges faced by young people—particularly those from underserved groups—and ensure these are reflected in policy development.

The Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager will be based within the Education team and will collaborate closely across the organisation to achieve these objectives.

This is a hybrid role, with the expectation that you will attend the London office 2 days per week. You will be required to attend the office for quarterly team meetings, department meetings and in person training, we will provide plenty of notice for when you are required to be in for these purposes.

Duties & Responsibilities

Policy

• Lead on the development, implementation and evaluation of CoppaFeel!’s influencing strategy aligning it with our EDI commitments.
• Research, develop and update evidence-based policy positions on key breast cancer issues which impact people between 18-35, and seek to influence policy development on these positions.
• Produce high quality, evidence-based policy outputs, including briefings, responses to consultations and policy publications.
• Liaise with key influencers, including civil servants, policymakers, other charities and healthcare professionals, in order to influence policy.
• Ensure key internal and external stakeholders are updated on policy developments and provide support for senior staff as required.
• Support policy input into media responses and act as a media spokesperson on policy related issues.
• Represent CoppaFeel! on relevant working groups.
• Draft articles and updates about key policy activities for CoppaFeel!’s audiences.

Public Affairs

• Develop and deliver impactful public affairs elements of CoppaFeel’s influencing strategy working with the Head of Policy and Engagement.
• Research and identify opportunities to engage Parliamentarians in health and education related issues and develop and maintain relationships with key politicians.
• Organise and lead CoppaFeel!’s public affairs events, including parliamentary receptions and roundtables and party conference activities.
• Lead on the monitoring of legislation and parliamentary activity relevant to CoppaFeel!
• Suggest PQs and prepare briefings for Parliamentarians.
• Represent CoppaFeel! at parliamentary events and relevant public affairs working groups.

Campaigns

• Lead on the development of campaigning activities that relate to the influencing strategy and resulting policy and public affairs work.
• Utilise campaign tools to deliver influencing objectives.
• Work closely with relevant departments and key stakeholders, such as young people and/or the breast cancer community to deliver co-created campaigns that meet goals successfully.
• Future Line Management: as the organisation evolves may take on line management responsibilities, overseeing team members and fostering their professional growth.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the role.

Skills, experience and qualifications

Essential

• A minimum of four years’ experience in a policy or public affairs related environment, delivering impact and notable change.
• Experience of undertaking research and analysing complex data to support policy development.
• Experience of managing projects, including producing plans and working across teams to lead their implementation.
• Experience of producing evidence-based policy and public affairs related materials, including briefings and reports.
• Knowledge of UK political processes and the policy environment.
• Strong working knowledge of parliamentary procedure.
• Ability to think strategically, with strong analytical judgement and decision-making skills.
• Ability to analyse and summarise policy information and assess relevance.
• Ability to use own initiative and work independently.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• A team worker, able to work well with a wider variety of people.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work to tight deadlines.

Desirable

• An undergraduate degree, preferably with a political, public policy or another relevant component.
• Experience of health and/or education policy.
• Experience of working in Parliament or with MPs.
• Experience of working in, or with, the charity sector and/or campaigning to influence public policy.

Application information

Applications will close on the 21st November with the aim to commence interviews on W/C the 25th November.

CoppaFeel! reserves the right to close the vacancy early in the event that we receive a high number of applications before the closing date.

Main benefits, Terms & Conditions

Annual Leave: 22 days pro rata (plus public holidays).

Additional Leave: 1 day of leave on our Founder’s Cancerversary, birthday leave, plus office closure over Christmas.

Flexible working: A hybrid working arrangement, working from home up to 3 days per week (pro rata) and Core hours between 10am and 4pm.

Training: We have a budget each year for employees training and development plans.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement

At CoppaFeel!, we support a diverse range of communities and we understand that diversity within our team is central and crucial to meeting the needs of the young people we exist to serve. We strongly encourage applications from Black, and people of colour, LGBTQIA+ candidates, candidates with disabilities, from men, and from those with a lived experience of cancer because we would like to increase the representation of these groups within the charity.

We promote equality, diversity and inclusion in our workplace and make recruitment decisions by matching the charity's needs with the skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We recognise the value in encouraging a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge at the charity.

While the successful candidate will be selected purely on merit, in the event of a tie between two candidates with equal suitability, we may select a candidate with lived experience of the issues we are seeking to address through our work.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and we commit to offering an interview for all applicants with disabilities who meet our required criteria for the role. If you have any accessibility requirements or need any adjustments for the interview process please get in touch.