5 Policy officer jobs

Overview

Resolve Poverty has developed extensive expertise on the development and delivery of locality-specific strategic and policy responses to poverty and financial exclusion. As we expand our work, we are excited to be delivering at a devolved nation, regional and local level across the UK.  

We are partnering with the Welsh Government and Children North East to deliver a major project to minimise the impact of poverty in education and address attainment opportunities in Wales (hereon referred to as ‘the project’). The project will support schools and educational settings to understand and address the impact of poverty on learners, minimise the cost of the school day, reduce poverty stigma and ensure that the voices and lived experiences of children and young people influence policy and practice across Wales.

We are recruiting to a new Senior Policy Officer (Wales) role that will provide strategic policy leadership across the project, ensuring that learning from schools and other settings, learners, and local authorities and their partners is translated into evidence, policy insight and opportunities for system change. Additionally, the role will contribute to the delivery of Resolve Poverty’s wider localities anti-poverty strategy work and adjacent policy and research projects, becoming an integral link between local, regional, devolved national and UK government anti-poverty policy.  

Background

Over the last two years, Resolve Poverty has significantly extended its regional and local anti-poverty strategy and policy work, designing co-ordinated approaches to poverty in multiple parts of the UK. This work aims to establish coherent responses to poverty at a local and regional level that help realise the potential of place-based strategic and policy activities, with a strong focus on promoting financial resilience and maximising household incomes.

We are part of a partnership with the Welsh Government and Children North East, around minimising the impact of poverty in education to understand the barriers affecting educational attainment for learning across Wales, and to develop initiatives that remove these barriers, so every child and young person has the chance to thrive. The aim of all partners is to ensure this programme reaches all stakeholders – from families, to practitioners, to policymakers – and that the impact delivered leads to meaningful, lasting outcomes for all.

The partnership will work to ensure every factor is fully understood, from national and local policy issues to equity and attainment. Most importantly, it will centre the voice and lived experience of children, young people and families, ensuring their insights shape the solutions designed to support them.

Central to the programme is contribution to a national conversation about poverty and its impact on learnings, as well as supporting schools in removing barriers linked to the poverty related attainment gap and developing a consistent bank of resources and guidance to support good practice across the Welsh education system. Alongside this, the programme will strengthen local authority initiatives aimed at tackling the impact of poverty on education and help co-ordinate national efforts.

In addition, Resolve Poverty is delivering a growing number of local anti-poverty strategy development and adjacent policy and research projects. The postholder will be expected to contribute to this work, with a split of 75/25% (the project/ other Resolve Poverty locality policy and research projects). This creates an exciting opportunity for knowledge transfers between different aspects of Resolve Poverty’s work.

Role Purpose

The Senior Policy Officer (Wales) will provide strategic policy oversight for Resolve Poverty’s contribution to the programme and contribute to the delivery of other local anti-poverty strategy policy and research projects.  

The role will ensure that evidence, learning and lived experience generated through project activity is analysed and translated into clear policy messages, recommendations and opportunities for influence at local and national decision-making level.

The postholder will establish and facilitate a Wales Local Authority Policy Officer Network, develop effective relationships with Welsh Government policy teams, contribute to the project Theory of Change and identify opportunities to influence policy and practice.

The role will work closely with the Children North East project co-ordinator and wider delivery team to create a two-way flow of information between frontline delivery and strategic policy: ensuring that policy informs practice whilst evidence from the frontline informs policy development.

The postholder will also support the wider strategic policy work of Resolve Poverty and provide support to a number of additional projects, both across Wales and the wider UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the project: Provide strategic policy leadership for Resolve Poverty’s contribution to the project ensuring activity is aligned with relevant Welsh policy priorities and the project’s Theory of Change.
• Build government relationships: Develop and maintain effective relationships with relevant Welsh Government teams, particularly across education and child poverty, using project learning to inform policy discussions and development.
• Establish the Local Authority Policy Officer Network: Building on an existing Resolve Poverty model, develop and co-ordinate a Wales-wide network of local authority policy officers, to enable good practice sharing, identify common challenges and explore strategic responses to poverty across local government.
• Translate evidence into policy: Work with Children North East colleagues to analyse learning from Poverty Proofing, the Learner Network, Educators’ Network, schools and wider stakeholder engagement, identifying common themes, systemic barriers and opportunities for change.
• Champion lived experience: Ensure that the experiences and insights of children, young people and their families are meaningfully reflected in policy development, recommendations and influencing activity.
• Shape resources and guidance: Provide policy expertise to the development of bilingual toolkits and resources to support schools and other stakeholders.
• Contribute to the delivery Resolve Poverty’s local anti-poverty strategy and adjacent policy and research projects: Provide applied policy and research skills to enable the effective delivery of a range of policy and research projects.

Person Specification

Essential

• Proven experience of working in a relevant policy, strategy or influencing role.
• Strong understanding of poverty, child poverty, inequality and the impact on education.
• Strong understanding of how public policy is developed and implemented, particularly at devolved government and local government levels.
• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Experience of working with or influencing government, local authorities or public sector organisations, including through the establishment and delivery of meetings, workshops and other collaborative activity.
• Experience of working with stakeholders from a range of sectors. Ability to analyse complex data to identify clear implications.
• Commitment to participatory approaches and embedding lived experience within policy development and decision-making.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and deliver high-quality work to deadlines.
• Understanding of systems change theory and the relationship between policy and place.
•  The ability to manage projects.

Desirable

• Experience of working within Welsh government, Welsh local government or the wider Welsh policy environment.
• Welsh language skills.
• Experience of poverty in your personal or professional life.

Benefits and practicalities

Pension and leave: 25 days per year with one additional day’s leave for each year worked. Baseline pensions contributions of 4% employer/ 4% employer, with matched employer contributions up to a maximum of 8%.

Professional development: Access to training and peer support through Resolve Poverty.

Travel: Travel across Wales. There is an expectation of some travel to Resolve Poverty’s office in Manchester (likely once per month). Travel expenses will be reimbursed in line with policy.