Project and Policy Officer

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 Policy Officer role is to:

• Provide vital project management support to some of the large projects that National Voices runs, such as the Health and Wellbeing Alliance which connects the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector with government stakeholders.
• Assist senior members of the policy team to develop policy projects and outputs which support the adoption and spread of equitable and person-centred health and care services.
• Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs to ensure they are engaged in National Voices’ work.

Responsibilities

 Project organisation and administrative

·       Support and coordinate the project management of significant high-profile projects, such as the national Health and Wellbeing Alliance. 

·       Maintain records of activity, an online resource library, minutes etc as required.

·       Lead on collating evidence of activity and its impact to support evaluation.  

·       Support the planning and facilitation of online and in person events such as working days and webinars.

·       Support stakeholder management, particularly via email and diary management using electronic systems.

·       Maintain lists of stakeholders and contacts to aid dissemination and networking.

Insight, engagement and communication

·       Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs in the coordination and support of workshops, focus groups and in-depth interviews.

·       Read and analyse the influencing work our members do (reports, events) and share content with the National Voices team, spot and make connections.

·       Connect with policy and influencing colleagues in member organisations, sharing our work with members.

·       Work with senior members of the team to deliver timely and effective Heads of Policy meetings and Members’ Briefings on strategic topics within health and care.

·       Identify, monitor and evaluate policy issues and assist senior members of the team to formulate and draft new policy positions, consultation responses, reports, briefings and other policy and public affairs documents that capture agreed positions.

·       Support and develop the communication of project outcomes, working closely with National Voices' Communications Manager.

General

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

·       Support good project, financial and data management.

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

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

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

·       Support National Voices on a wider set of activities where required in response to capacity or demand.

Person Specification

Values, attitudes and behaviours

·     Passionate about National Voices’ mission and work.

·     Proactive, flexible and responsive.

·     Comfortable working in a team, as well as under own initiative.

·     Able to think and act creatively to solve problems and challenges.

·     Committed to reducing inequality and embracing diversity.

·     Calm under pressure and able to work to tight deadlines.

·     A self-starter with drive, ambition and a creative approach.

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

Skills and abilities

·     Excellent relationship and stakeholder management skills.

·     Strong communication skills, used to speaking with a wide range of people.

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

·     Experience of creating, preparing for and facilitating events and workshops.

·     Proactive and able to anticipate, plan and prepare in advance of requests.

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

·     Strong IT skills including Microsoft Office programmes, Hubspot, Breathe, online conference/meeting software and more.

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

 Experience, knowledge and understanding

·       A good understanding of the health policy landscape, how health and care are commissioned, regulated, funded and delivered in England and/or a good understanding of the policy issues relevant to health and care charities.

·       Experience of communicating with people and organisations to ensure projects meet agreed milestones

·       Value listening to people with experience and the benefit of a diversity of views

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 (max 800 words) along with a CV to apply.

Applications should be addressed to our Director of Finance and Operations, Matthew Haslehurst 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 1 September 2024 at 11:59 pm.

The interviews will take place the week commencing Monday 9 September 2024 on Microsoft Teams. 

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. Women are currently overrepresented in our team, and we particularly invite applications from men and non-binary people.