Senior Public Affairs Officer

Salary: £37,564 starting salary (salary range will increase due to max £40,166 via the length of service) per annum plus £4,190 Inner London Weighting.

Contract: Permanent basis

Hours: Full-Time 35 hours per week (excluding lunch breaks)

Location: London. We will consider a UK-based hybrid working option. (Some travel in the UK with occasional overnight stays away from home will be required).

About Refugee Action

Refugee Action exists to work with refugees and people seeking asylum who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes. We are a national charity with more than 40 years’ experience of empowering people who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes to secure the protection and support that they need to live with dignity and respect and build a new life in the UK. We do this by providing expert advice and casework, building the capacity of partner organisations and campaigning on the policies that affect them.

The postholder will work in the Campaigns team to implement Refugee Action’s advocacy strategy which is central to our ability to influence change at all levels of government, across departments and other statutory stakeholders.

To succeed in the role you will need to demonstrate:

• Experience of developing and implementing effective public affairs strategies, including successfully identifying target lists and influencing political stakeholders.
• Experience of working with sitting MPs, select committees or all-party parliamentary groups advocating for policy change, ideally bringing existing working relationships with MPs and/or their staff. This may have been through another NGO, charity or civil society organisation.
• Experience of planning and organising events, ideally in Parliament or attended by parliamentarians.
• Excellent personal organisational skills, and confidence in building relationships and networks, both in person and online.
• Strong communication skills - both written and verbal.
• A desire to work proactively towards positive solutions with the ability to take the initiative and manage workload effectively and independently.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple campaign areas, and to develop relevant expertise across each of them with support from colleagues.
• A collaborative approach, with both internal colleagues and external partners and stakeholders.
• Understanding of the UK’s hostile refugee protection and asylum system and how it impacts those affected by it. 
• Commitment to removing barriers to power for people with lived experience, and commitment to anti-racist practices.
• Ability to travel in the UK with occasional overnight stays away from home.

Those with lived experience as a refugee are particularly encouraged to apply

Closing date: 23:59 on Sunday 15 September 2024

Interviews: 01 and 02 October 2024 (on Zoom)

Refugee Action only operates in the UK, so all roles are UK-based, and you must have the right to work in the UK.

This role is not on the Shortage Occupation List.  If you have permission to work that is restricted to the Shortage Occupation List, we will be unable to appoint you to this role.

You can find out which roles are on the shortage occupation list via these two links:

• Skilled Worker visa: shortage occupations
• Skilled Worker visa: shortage occupations for healthcare and education

We are currently campaigning for a not-for-profit asylum accommodation system, see our Most Wanted campaign here.