Public Affairs Officer

Department: Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs
Location: hybrid (minimum one day in our Aldgate, London office each week)
Hours of Work: 37.5 hours per week
Contract: full-time, permanent
Salary: £33,000 – £35,000 per annum
Closing date: Tuesday 10th September at 10.00am

Expected interview dates: Wednesday 18th September or Thursday 19th September

Annual Leave: 33 days (plus eight bank holidays)

Benefits:

• enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption, and shared parental pay
• family friendly policies
• 8% employer pension contribution (Aviva) or opportunity to continue NHS Pension
• free health cashback plan (Medicash) employee cover plus up to four dependent children)
• 24/7 virtual GP access (UK registered), plus access to Best Doctors
• free, confidential employee assistance programme (Medicash)
• access to wellbeing app (healthy living tips and Bright TV )
• flexible working options; including hybrid working, flexible working patterns such as part-time, compressed hours and more*
• learning and development committed (bespoke training, LinkedIn Learning etc.)
• employee health and wellbeing committed (menopause friendly, disability confident employer etc.)

Background

Every three minutes someone in the UK develops dementia; a progressive and complex condition that can be devastating for the whole family. One in two of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime – either by caring for someone with the condition, developing it ourselves, or both.

Dementia UK is the specialist dementia nursing charity that is there for the whole family. Our specialist nurses, known as Admiral Nurses, provide free, expert advice, support and understanding to help families care for their loved one. Every day, Admiral Nurses help families up and down the country to have the best life possible for as long as possible.

Purpose of the job/About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join Dementia UK as a Public Affairs Officer where you will play a crucial role within the Policy, Campaigns, and Public Affairs team to drive our long-term policy and influencing strategy.

Working closely with the Policy and Public Affairs Manager, you will be pivotal in leading impactful initiatives across Westminster, the devolved nations, and local government. Your primary objective will be to raise the profile of Dementia UK, Admiral Nurses, and individuals living with dementia and their families among parliamentary and elected decision-makers. By working to improve legislation, public policy, and statutory services, you will directly influence and enhance the lives of those affected by dementia.

In this role, you will support the development and dissemination of briefings and materials for parliamentary debates and other related activities. You will also stay informed about the political landscape, providing regular updates to colleagues through a weekly political monitoring report and briefing documents as needed.

To succeed in this role you will have previous experience in a parliamentary, policy, or related environment, with a solid understanding of national, devolved, local, and parliamentary processes. You will possess excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to identify and capitalise opportunities to build and maintain strong relationships. You will have previously organised and delivered impactful events and ideally have some project management skills with an ability to prioritise workloads effectively and meet deadlines.

If this sounds like you, join us now and be part of a team dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of those affected by dementia.

Our Culture

In addition to a competitive salary and a generous benefits package, we truly value our people. It’s important for us to create a working environment that looks after our workforce to achieve their full potential. You will become part of a diverse and dedicated team who are supported to use and develop their skills. We recognise and value the key role you will play in delivering our strategic plans for the benefit of those living with dementia.

Our staff have a voice. Representatives from different roles and levels across the organisation positively contribute and lead on our working groups around health and wellbeing, menopause, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Dementia UK is proud to welcome everyone, we aim for a truly inclusive culture with talented, diverse teams that represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We celebrate differences and individuality and encourage everyone to join us and be their whole selves always.

How to apply:

Your supporting statement should include why you have decided to apply for this role at Dementia UK, how you meet the person specification, and answers to the following questions (maximum 250 words per answer).

• The Public Affairs Officer has an important role in pushing for improvements to post diagnostic dementia support. Please provide an example of when you have successfully influenced for a positive outcome.

• Having read the job description, what do you think are the three strongest qualities that you could bring to this role?

• Can you tell us a time when you demonstrated one of Dementia UK’s values in a work setting, project or campaign?

*Please note that any decision on flexible working is based on business need