Policy and public affairs assistant jobs

Save the Children UK is offering an exciting opportunity for a purpose-driven, collaborative, and influential leader with extensive strategic experience to join us as our Executive Director of UK Impact. In this role, you will lead our UK Impact group—comprising teams across the devolved nations, as well as the north and south of England—to ensure that families have the resources, services, and power they need to end child poverty.

This is a critical and growing area of our work, and we are committed to deepening our investment and expanding our impact across the UK. 

You will also oversee our Public Affairs, Campaigns and Organising, and Child & Youth Participation departments. Working collaboratively across Save the Children UK and with external partners to deliver lasting, systemic change for children and families. 

This is a permanent hybrid role, based out of our London Farringdon office. The nature of this role is likely to require a presence in our offices or with partners 3 days a week. 

About Us 

Save the Children UK believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm.

When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach. 

About the role 

As Executive Director of UK Impact, you will lead our ambitious strategy to end child poverty in the UK by working alongside families, communities, grassroots organisations, and national-level actors.

You will ensure that Save the Children UK is a human-centric, impact-driven organisation where children and communities are empowered, and where the systems and structures needed to achieve lasting change are influenced and reshaped through collaborative, inclusive leadership. 

In this role, you will: 

• Lead and inspire a highly skilled team of leaders reduce the impact and reach of child poverty in the UK. 

• Strengthen our influencing impact through local, devolved country-level and national networks. 

• Share funds and expertise with grassroots community organisations to strengthen their capacity and collaborate on shared goals. 

• Build internal and external capacity to learn, share learning and influence lasting change. 

• Empower local communities with the resources and autonomy to drive change in their areas. 

• Champion inclusive leadership, agile working, and a human-centred, values-driven organisational culture. 

• Provide children with safe and meaningful opportunities to shape our work, influence decision-makers, and improve their lives and communities.

About you 

To be successful, it is important that you have: 

• Excellent strategic and systems thinking skills with a proven ability to adapt ways of working in a fast-changing context. 

• Extensive experience creating lasting change for children in the UK across multiple sectors, including government, communities, and networks. 

• Deep understanding of, and commitment to, sharing power, knowledge, and resources more equally with those who share our mission. 

• Strong track record of driving systemic change through programming, advocacy and/or policy, using relevant political theories of change. 

• Demonstrable experience leading high-performing senior teams with a focus on inclusive, autonomous, and accountable ways of working. 

• Outstanding influencing, relationship-building and communication skills with diverse internal and external stakeholders. 

• A strong personal commitment to championing equity, diversity, inclusion and building a culture of belonging. 

• Commitment to Save the Children's vision, mission and values. 

What we offer you 

Working for a charity provides one of the best benefits there is – a sense of purpose and reward for helping others.

We focus on flexibility, inclusion, collaboration, health and wellbeing both in and outside of work. 

This role is based in Farringdon, London, with a salary of approximately £120K.

We provide a wide range of benefits which will reward your hard work, motivate you, and inspire you to work to improve the lives of children every day. You can read more about our benefits. 

Advert closing date: 18th May 

First stage interviews are expected to take place week commencing 2nd June. 

Second stage interviews are expected to take place week commencing 9th June.   

We’re looking for a highly skilled and experienced public affairs professional to join our small staff team to lead our public affairs activity and to grow the influence of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition. This is an exciting opportunity to influence positive change at a time of significant policy and political developments.

As Public Affairs Advisor, you will lead on the Coalition’s public affairs and influencing activity. You will be responsible for influencing the Government’s policy and legislative agenda relating to children and young people’s mental health, forging relationships with the new Parliament, and ensuring the Coalition’s views are heard across Westminster and Whitehall.

With over 370 members across the country, our Coalition has a significant potential to extend its influence. Many of our existing members are well placed to influence at a local level through working with their NHS Integrated Care Boards, councils and MPs, but do not always feel confident carrying out public affairs work. As Public Affairs Adviser, you will work with our members to upskill them to carry out their own influencing activity through a series of ‘Learning and Development’ workshops.

You will have Public Affairs experience of developing successful strategies to influence legislation or government policy, have strong knowledge of political systems and processes, have existing networks and contacts, and feel passionate about creating positive change for babies, children and young people.

This is a new role within the Coalition staff team and is generously supported by the Prudence Trust and the Hollick Family Foundation.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of the Coalition’s parliamentary influencing strategy.
• Build and maintain relationships with Parliamentarians and other key stakeholders, such as civil servants and special advisers.
• Lead the Coalition’s engagement with Parliament and Government, ensuring strong systems are in place to capture and track engagement.
• Monitor and respond to political and legislative developments affecting our work, making recommendations for responses, and proactively seeking opportunities to further the Coalition’s objectives.
• Provide political intelligence to the staff team, Chair and our members, and help to prepare staff for parliamentary activity as appropriate.
• Produce high quality written briefings, reports and other materials that communicate our messages clearly and effectively to a parliamentary audience. This will also include contributing to other Coalition communications such as media responses, newsletters, blogs, and social media posts.
• Plan and deliver events aimed at political stakeholders, for example, parliamentary events and roundtables.
• Participate in collaborations with other charities for shared influencing activities, for example the Fund the Hubs campaign and the Future Minds campaign.  
• Support work on legislation as appropriate, including drafting amendments.

Working with members

• Regularly engage with members to understand their influencing priorities and to gather insight to help inform the Coalition’s wider influencing priorities.
• Connect Coalition members to decision makers and help spotlight their work, for example, helping to organise visits to services.
• Provide advice to members on engaging with their local decision-makers such as their local MP, Integrated Care Boards and Councillors.
• Deliver workshops with members to share information and skills related to influencing and public affairs activity. For example, this could include delivery of sessions on influencing local systems, working with the government, and legislative processes.  

General

• Work closely with the Coalition Lead, the Policy and Public Affairs Assistant, and Chair of the Coalition to develop and review priorities for the Coalition and support to drive these forwards. You will also be required to work closely with the staff at Centre for Mental Health.
• Support with the development and implementation of the Coalition’s work plan and projects.
• To undertake any other duties as reasonably required by the Coalition Lead or Chair of the Coalition

The deadline for applications is Sunday 27th April 23:59

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with a can-do attitude to join our Fundraising & Engagement Team and help raise vital funds for children with cancer. You don’t need previous fundraising experience—just strong organisational skills, creativity, a talent for building relationships, and a genuine passion for making a difference and raising money for charitable causes. 

In this varied role, you’ll support the planning and delivery of fundraising events, care for our amazing supporters, and assist with individual, community, and corporate fundraising activities. You’ll gain hands-on experience across multiple fundraising areas, playing a key role in ensuring the smooth delivery of the team’s work through excellent administrative and project support. 

This is a hugely rewarding opportunity for someone looking to take their first step into the charity or fundraising sector, or to build on existing experience. If you’re ready to learn, grow, and be part of something meaningful—we’d love to hear from you! 

Who are we looking for? 

To succeed in this role, you will need to be passionate about fundraising and demonstrate key qualities that will help you thrive in a dynamic and supportive environment.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A keen interest in fundraising with a willingness to learn and develop as a professional fundraiser (and if the opportunity arose, a willingness to study for a Level 3 Fundraising Apprenticeship over 13 months)

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to provide excellent supporter care and build relationships. 

• A positive, enthusiastic and results-driven attitude with the ability to work on your own initiative or as part of a team. 

• IT literacy with knowledge of Microsoft packages.

See our Recruitment Pack for the full role description and specification and for more information about the charity.

Location: Home-based, ideally located in London or within a short commutable distance. Regular travel to the London office is a key requirement of the role, with occasional national travel also expected. 

Interviews: 20 May 2025 (London Office)

Safeguarding: As a safeguarding charity whose work and practice are underpinned by safeguarding principles to protect children and young people and enhance their welfare, we always work in accordance with legislation, statutory guidance, and best safeguarding practices. All our roles require a basic criminal record check.  

Promoting equality and diversity: We actively encourage applications from those with lived experience of neuroblastoma and/or other childhood cancers. As an equal opportunity employer, we also welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. 

The Programme Officer (Research) will play an integral role in the Impact team within the broader Directorate of Impact and External Affairs. This is a pivotal time for Fight for Sight as we begin to implement our Impact Framework enabling us to communicate the impact of our extensive portfolio of current and past funded research projects to our internal and external audiences.

The role is diverse and varied, offering the successful candidate the opportunity to build their exposure to a complement of research management activities. In addition to assisting with the implementation of the Impact Framework they will be instrumental in the delivery of our grant funding processes and will have the opportunity to work closely with our Research Grant Assessment Panel and key partners to ensure we achieve the exciting ambitions laid out in our Research Strategy.

How to Apply: Please submit your CV and a cover letter / supporting statement of no more than two pages which evidences the specification. You must also answer the vetting questions via the application portal.

Closing date for applications: 9am Monday, 28th April 2025

Interview dates: likely week commencing 12th May 2025 (TBC)

Role Responsibilities
Grant-making activities

• Efficiently and effectively managing multiple annual grant award cycles taking responsibility for peer review processes and Panel meetings.
• Ensuring that grant making processes are delivered in accordance with AMRC best practice.
• Courteous and timely management of queries from applicants and other key stakeholders, such as RGAP members.
• Contributing and developing process improvements where necessary to continue to evolve our programme.
• Assist with the preparation of papers to support our decision-making processes including supporting our Research Grants Assessment Panel (RGAP) by ensuring they have all relevant information and that the meetings run smoothly.
• Ensure that formal decisions and outcomes are shared with relevant stakeholders, including applicants and internal colleagues.

Team and Organisation

• Take responsibility for keeping accurate and up to date records ensuring that these are readily and clearly accessible, primarily through CC Grant Tracker and Monday
• Be the first port of call for colleagues with queries related to our research portfolio, including providing support on donor-queries and funding applications.
• Highlighting opportunities for stories of impact with communications colleagues.
• Supporting with the collection and interpretation of impact-related measurements as we implement our impact framework.
• Assist with ad hoc tasks as required for example developing briefing documents, the organisation and delivery of in person and online meetings and events, minuting etc.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential

• Biomedical science/ related degree or equivalent experience.
• Understanding of and commitment to the importance of high-quality vision research in the UK.
• Ability to analyse and summarise complex information drawing out key points.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to convey complex, scientific information to wide range of audiences.
• Ability to effectively prioritise and manage a varied workload.
• Proficient in the use of standard IT packages including Microsoft Office suite.

Desirable

• Postgraduate degree
• Experience of working in a research or grant making organisation.
• Experience using research and project management tools such as Monday and the online grant management system Symplectic Grant Tracker.

Personal qualities

• Team player with a flexible approach to delivering organisational priorities.
• Organised, able to manage multiple ongoing tasks.
• Good attention to detail.
• Open minded and willing to take on board new concepts.
• Capable and curious, able to learn new processes and suggest ongoing improvements.
• Credible able to represent the organisation externally.
• Approachable and able to build relationships and work collaboratively with key internal and external stakeholders.

Other information: please see the attached job description for full details on working with us and how to apply.

We are looking to recruit a CEO (Director) to support us in an exciting period of growth. Over the next 5 years, we will double our reach and impact. The CEO (Director) will lead us through this transformative period. 

Since 2011 Disability Africa has developed a model using playschemes as hubs to deliver essential lifesaving services to extremely vulnerable disabled children and to end their exclusion in low-income African communities. Using this model, we have worked with project partners in Kenya, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Zambia. 680 disabled children have now attended our projects more than 90,000 times since 2011. Now the charity is planning to grow and expand with our 5-year plan (‘DA2029’) to replicate the Disability Africa Model to reach more disabled children across Africa.

By 2029 we will: 
• Start work with at least 4 new partners in Africa (as well as expected growth at our existing projects). 
• Deliver 160,000 attendances by at least 1,500 disabled children in 7 African countries. 
• Grow and reach as many disabled children as possible - we know we can’t do it all by ourselves - so we will engage other international NGOs to adopt our model of inclusion. 

Disability Africa is a four-day week employer.

As Individual Giving and Appeals Manager, you’ll deliver integrated fundraising campaigns across direct mail, email, and digital channels — helping us grow our individual giving base and strengthen donor loyalty. 

Alongside driving individual and regular giving, you’ll help shape a new in-memory giving offer, build our legacy giving programme from the ground up, and grow our Named Funds programme.

Working closely with teams across the charity, you’ll design inspiring donor journeys and stewardship plans. You’ll also use data and insight to refine our approach and ensure every supporter feels truly valued. 

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a small charity making a big impact – for a fundraiser who’s not only motivated by results, but by the chance to help change the story for children with cancer.

Who are we looking for?

We’re looking for a creative and strategic fundraiser who is passionate about delivering impactful campaigns and building meaningful supporter relationships. 

The ideal candidate will have: 

• Demonstrable experience in managing individual giving campaigns, legacy fundraising, and / or in-memory fundraising. 

• Proven experience developing compelling propositions that drive results and generate income/supporter acquisition.

• Strong planning and organisation skills, with the ability to handle multiple activities simultaneously. 

• Proven record of being results-driven and achieving agreed fundraising targets ad outcomes. 

• Excellent verbal and written communication as well as relationship-building skills with an ability to inspire and engage supporters.

See our Recruitment Pack for the full role description and specification and for more information about the charity.

Location: Home-based within England with regular travel to London and elsewhere in the UK as required 

Interviews: 19 May 2025 (London Office)

Safeguarding: As a safeguarding charity whose work and practice are underpinned by safeguarding principles to protect children and young people and enhance their welfare, we always work in accordance with legislation, statutory guidance, and best safeguarding practices. All our roles require a basic criminal record check.

Promoting equality and diversity: We actively encourage applications from those with lived experience of neuroblastoma and/or other childhood cancers. As an equal opportunity employer, we also welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation