We're the UK's specialist blood cancer charity and our vision is clear: we’re here to beat blood cancer. We fund world-class research; provide information and support to patients and their loved ones; and raise awareness of blood cancer.
We are recruiting two Policy and Public Affairs Officers to join our Policy and Influencing team at Blood Cancer UK. One role will be based in London and focus on policy and public affairs activity across England and Wales, while the other will be based in Edinburgh and lead our work in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Both roles will play a vital part in ensuring that the voices of people affected by blood cancer are heard by decision-makers and that evidence-based solutions influence governments, health systems and policymakers across the UK.
Working as part of a collaborative UK-wide team, you will develop evidence-based policy positions, build and maintain relationships with parliamentarians, government officials and health stakeholders, and produce high-quality briefings and consultation responses. You will also represent Blood Cancer UK at meetings, events and stakeholder forums, helping to influence policy and drive meaningful change for people affected by blood cancer.
This role will require regular travel within your respective nations (England and Wales or Scotland and Northern Ireland) to attend meetings, events and stakeholder engagement activities. In addition, there will be occasional travel across the UK, including to London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast and other locations, to support cross-UK influencing activity, team meetings and organisational events.
We are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity. In line with our strategy we welcome approaches from individuals from underrepresented groups, including minority communities, and applicants with a disability, to better reflect the community we serve and help broaden our perspectives.
Expected interview dates:
Tuesday 11 August – first stage, online
Tuesday 18 August – second stage, in person in our Edinburgh office
Develop Blood Cancer UK’s policy and influencing work in the UK, focussing on the specific needs of people living with blood cancer, ensuring we are solutions-focussed and evidence based.
Horizon scan for emerging policy issues by collaborating closely with senior colleagues
Develop Blood Cancer UK’s policy positions by gathering insights from healthcare professionals, researchers, and the blood cancer community.
Place the blood cancer community at the heart of policy and influencing activity, including working with Ambassadors and the Policy Collective.
Build and maintain Blood Cancer UK’s relationships with key stakeholders in Parliaments, Governments, across the NHS, health and research policy.
Represent Blood Cancer UK at external events, meetings and consultations, advocating for people with blood cancer and influencing decision-makers.
Organise events, visits, and briefings to communicate messages and influence external stakeholders.
Coordinate with senior colleagues to influence policy outcomes and align policy positions and priorities across all four UK nations.
Maintain and share detailed knowledge of the health and blood cancer policy landscape, including NHS structures and local/national organisations responsible for delivering blood cancer services.
Represent Blood Cancer UK on policy coalitions, at health conferences, and in meetings with officials and decision makers.
Knowledge
- Knowledge of the UK political environment and parliamentary procedures.
- Understanding of the NHS And health policy-making across the UK.
- Demonstrating commitment to equal opportunities, diversity, and organisational values.
Skills
- Exhibiting excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and able to work effectively with Parliamentarians, government officials and wider stakeholders.
- Producing clear and persuasive written material for diverse audiences, including parliamentarians, government officials and internal colleagues
- Ability to oversee and manage projects e.g. events and briefings.
Experience
- Working in a policy and/or public affairs role for a charity, company, agency or in Parliament
- Producing clear, persuasive written materials for parliamentarians, government officials and staff to tight deadlines.
- Experience or knowledge of involving people affected in policy work.
FLEXIBLE WORKING & OUR BENEFITS
We welcome conversations about part time working, job shares, and all forms of flexible working right from application stage. You can get in touch with us at
[email protected] if you want to ask us anything about flexible working.
Benefits: We think our benefits are brilliant, and the majority start from day 1. These are just a few of them:
- 30 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays
- Generous pension scheme and Life Assurance
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, as well as study leave and a day off to move house
- Wellbeing is a priority for us, we offer a wide range of individual and team support in our Wellbeing Hub
- Our Academy is our in-house Continued Professional Development (CPD) learning and development programme, including an internal mentoring scheme. We have organisation-wide focus days, which are days set aside for you to focus on your own development, without being interrupted by emails and meetings.
- Cycle to work and season ticket loans
- Opportunity to take sabbaticals
You can find full details about our benefits on our website.
Location: Working agile means we changed from having a culture where people are expected to be in the office from 9am to 5pm to one where we’re much more focused on what they deliver. We've built a positive culture where autonomy, trust, wellbeing and flexibility allow us to recruit and retain the very best people. We recognise that teams still need to come together regularly to develop relationships and strengthen collaborative working. Therefore, for the majority of roles, your contractual place of work will be one of our offices. The expectation for how often you will be required to attend the office is outlined in the job profile and will be discussed with you. Details about our hybrid and agile working approach (including how travel expenses work) can be found on our website.
HOW TO APPLY
We ask you to send us a CV and cover letter. In your cover letter, we'd like to know why you're interested in working with us at Blood Cancer UK. It's also helpful if you tell us why you think you are a great candidate for this role based on the skills, knowledge and expertise section above. Your cover letter doesn't have to be too long, 1-2 pages is ideal. Please don't add photos or graphics to your CV, as we use blind shortlisting at this stage of the process.
Full details about our recruitment processes, including how we use blind shortlisting and what to expect at each stage of the process can be found on our website. Sometimes we close our vacancies early, usually because we have had a lot of great applicants, so we’d always encourage you to apply early rather than wait until the deadline.
WHY WORK AT BLOOD CANCER UK?
We're the 9th best charity in the UK to work for according to Best Companies 2021!
We started because of Susan, we’ll get there because of you.
Blood Cancer UK was started by one family who lost their daughter, Susan, to blood cancer, and that history and sense of family continues to shape who we are today. When you join Blood Cancer UK, you don’t just become an organisational employee – you become part of a collaborative community dedicated to funding research into beating blood cancer that includes some of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet.
And we’re not that far away from beating blood cancer. We’re confident we can do it within the next generation, and this makes us hugely ambitious and gives us a sense of real urgency. It also means we’re changing quickly as an organisation as we constantly challenge ourselves and strive to become more and more effective. This pace of change means working here isn’t for everyone. But if you’re excited by the chance to work in a fast-paced, agile and supportive environment with the focus and ambition to beat blood cancer this could be the place for you! We focus on results rather than time spent at a desk, so we deliver more for people affected by blood cancer.
Blood Cancer UK offers the chance to work for and with people affected by blood cancer, and the opportunity to advance your career and develop your skillset whilst taking on exciting new challenges and making your mark.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
We are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity. Read our statement which reflects our strong drive to change in this area.
To this end we would welcome approaches from individuals from underrepresented groups, including minoritised communities, and applicants with a disability, to better reflect the community we serve and help broaden our perspectives.
You can read some examples of how we can support you through the application and interview process here.
