Job Description

Policy and External Affairs Officer

Job Description and Person Specification

Job title Policy and External Affairs Officer

Hours 35 hours per week

Salary £26,000 per annum

Location Home based with travel to our London office for team and other meetings

Reports to Communications Manager

National Voices

Making what matters to people matter in health and care

National Voices is the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England. We have more than 200 members covering a diverse range of health conditions and communities, connecting us with the experiences of millions of people. We work together to strengthen the voice of people: patients, service users, carers, their families, and the voluntary organisations that work for them.

Our Vision:

People shaping their health and care.

Our Mission:

We advocate for more inclusive and person centred health and care, shaped by the people who use and need it the most.

We do this by:

· Understanding and advocating for what matters to people especially those living with health conditions and groups who experience inequalities.

· Finding common cause across communities and conditions by working with member charities and those they support.

· Connecting and convening charities, decision makers and citizens to work together to change health and care for good.

The Role

The purpose of the Project and External Affairs Officer role is to:

• Communicate National Voices’ policy positions and project work to members, decision makers, external influencers and media
• Assist senior members of the policy team to develop policy positions and communications materials which support the adoption and spread of equitable and person-centred health and care services and help deliver National Voices’ five year strategy
• Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs to develop National Voices’ policy positions and deliver funded project work

The role will predominantly be a mix of communications and policy-focused work, with a larger share of the work likely focused on communications.

Support our communications work

· Develop engaging content that conveys National Voices messages to members, external stakeholders, and media (including managing the day to day running of social media platforms) to maximise the reach and impact of the organisation’s policy messages

· Create National Voices’ membership content, including members communications, managing the National Voices’ blog and draft website content

· Support the maintenance of National Voices’ website, keeping the site up to date and coordinating input and content from National Voices staff. 

· Coordinate the production of key publications, from liaising with partner organisations to overseeing design and production, ensuring final documents are accessible.

· Support media relations activity by drafting media statements, liaising with journalists, developing and maintaining press lists, and other activity as required

· Track press coverage and other analytics where needed

· Help build and maintain relationships with external stakeholders relevant to policy and communication work, through networking and participation in advisory groups and within alliances.

Support the policy team

· Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs to understand their experiences, perspectives and ambitions, for example via workshops, focus groups and in-depth interviews.

· Draft policy briefings, position papers, consultation responses, blogs, reports, letters and other policy and communications documents that capture agreed positions.

· Work with senior members of the team to organise, deliver and facilitate events and post event analysis, both large and small, online and in-person.

· Assist senior members of the team on a range of short-term and long-term policy and insight projects, by horizon scanning, scoping and developing ideas for future projects and new business.

· Read and analyse the influencing work our members undertake (reports, events) and share content with the National Voices team, identifying and making connections.

General

· Take a pro-active approach to including our members and people with lived experience in all areas of our work.

· Support the senior team in identifying potential new members and funding opportunities where possible.

· Support good project, financial and data management.

· Follow processes set out to measure, monitor and communicate the impact of our work.

· Contribute to the National Voices’ team planning activities where relevant and undertake other relevant duties as appropriate.

Person Specification

Essential values, attitudes and behaviours

· Passionate about National Voices’ mission and work.

· Proactive, flexible and responsive.

· Able to work as part of a team towards a common goal.

· Committed to reducing inequality and embracing diversity.

· Comfortable with a range of views and perspectives and keen to make connections and build relationships.

· Willing and confident to assert views and constructively challenge others.

Essential skills, abilities and experience

· Strong communication skills, both written and oral.

· Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills.

· Strong organisational and project management skills, including demonstrable ability to prioritise workload and maintain quality.

· Able to synthesise complex information and present it in simple and impactful ways.

· Strong listening skills and ability to identify themes within interviews, focus groups and workshops.

· Strong attention to detail

· Strong IT skills including Microsoft Office programmes, CRM systems, online conference/meeting software and other programmes where required.

· Able to work well under pressure and to tight deadlines.

· Experience of working under pressure and to deadlines in a high performing team.

 

Our approach to hybrid working

We recognise the importance of coming together regularly, in-person, as a team, so we can share learnings and spend social time with each other. We also recognise that people need flexibility, and that homeworking enables focused work and can fit well in people’s lives.

We ask all staff to take part in pre-arranged team meetings which take place every six weeks in our office space. We also might ask you to meet in-person with members of your team from time to time, or to be available for face-to- face meetings with clients and partners where this enhances the work.

We assume that this would usually not amount to more than one day per fortnight for people who work full time. We are happy to discuss how this sits in your life. This can be agreed by your line manager.

Application guidance

Please submit a cover letter along with a CV to apply.

Applications should be addressed to our Director of Policy and External Affairs, Sharon Brennan, and submitted through CharityJob.

Please specify any access or other requirements of which we need to be aware for the online interview.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 2 February at 11:59 pm.

The interviews will take place the week commencing Monday 10 February 2025 on Microsoft Teams and please expect to complete a written assignment

Details of an interview task and interview questions will be emailed to you prior to the interview.

We are committed to diversifying our team in order to broaden the insight and experiences we can draw on, and to do our work more credibly. So we strongly encourage people from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, and people who live with health conditions or disability to apply. Our offices are fully accessible and we are an LGBT+ friendly employer. Men are currently underrepresented in our team so we would welcome applications from men and non-binary people.

You can find our workplace policies on our website under Work with us>Vacancies>Our workplace policies