Job Description

Public Affairs Manager (Fixed term contract)

Salary: £34,237pa

Your purpose 

This is a critical role in the Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs Department. As Public Affairs Manager, you will support the Head of Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs to make oracy education ordinary, co-ordinating and  project managing and delivering public affairs work as well as leading public relations work that increases our profile with policy makers. In doing so, you will play  an integral role in ensuring all children, regardless of their background, find their voice for success in school  and in life.

Your responsibilities 

This is a senior role in the Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs Department, as part of the wider Learning, Impact and Influence Directorate 

Public Affairs (80%)

• Drive forward Voice 21’s public affairs strategy, building key relationships, understanding and momentum that develops Voice 21’s influence with Government and non-parliamentary policy makers, ensuring that we have a meaningful role in shaping an oracy entitlement for every child, and appropriate mechanisms for its implementation

• Deliver Public Affairs business as usual work, for example; organising school visits, leading political and parliamentary monitoring, stakeholder mapping and horizon-scanning and organising events in parliament and at party conferences

• Work with policy makers on local, regional and national level to influence those responsible for the delivery of education at primary and secondary level

• Engage and manage stakeholders and other key people across and beyond the organisation who work with the Learning, Impact and Influence directorate to leverage relationships in pursuit of our organisational strategy and mission

• Lead on Voice 21’s role as secretariat to the Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) 

• Produce/co-produce consultation responses, blogs, internal and external briefings, parliamentary questions and other related communications in line with our content strategy

• Act as an internal expert consultant on public affairs, decision makers and implementation of our agenda

Public Relations (20%) 

• Deliver public relations activity to raise our profile and support our brand, including through awards, events and speaking engagements 

• Spotting reactive communications opportunities in line with the public affairs strategy 

Your progression

Within 1 month, you’ll have:

• Started building strong working relationships with the team, warm policy makers and sector partners

• Created a database of influential head teachers

• Helped refine our policy asks in key areas into easy-to-communicate goals

Within 3 months, you’ll have: 

• Used analysis and polling to build reports on key advocate groups who can help spread our messages

• Launched our Oracy APPG

• Refined our monitoring and reactive opportunity spotting systems

From 6 months onwards, we expect for you to be:

• Have worked with our research team to develop a literature review of oracy education policy at local and national level

• Migrated our contract tracking to Salesforce and expanded it to capture relationships help at local and national levels

• Having developed a public profile among education policy makers 

This job is for you if you… 

Have experience in these areas

• Creating tangible policy impact through public affairs activity 

• Building and nurturing relationships with policy makers at national, regional and local levels

• Creating public affairs strategies with clear objectives and KPIs

• Delivering eye-catching PR work such as award entries, speaking events and receptions

• Using research to create strong and compelling narratives

• Communicating externally about policy positions

• Ability to form excellent working relationships, internally & externally with sector colleagues 

You may also have experience in these areas 

• Relevant experience in and a strong understanding of the education sector 

Reporting lines 

Reporting to: Head of Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs 

Managing: None 

Where you’ll work: Remote, with travel to our London office and elsewhere for meetings. Occasional  overnight stays may be required depending on where you are based. 

Contract: 12 months

Application details

To apply: 

Closing date: 25th August 2025

Interview date:

First round interview: 3rd - 5th September

Second round interview: Week commencing 8th September

Start date: ASAP 

Questions:  Head of Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs, Elizabeth Somerville;

Valuing every voice

Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Voice 21.