Policy/Research Jobs

At the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies we create spaces for collaboration and learning, where conventional criminal justice policy agendas are scrutinised and challenged, fresh knowledge and ideas are discussed, and transformational solutions are developed.

We are recruiting two policy and research officer positions, to join our small and growing team. The roles will combine policy, research, communications, and programme support functions. We are therefore looking for applicants keen to work across a range of tasks, in a small organisation where flexibility and adaptability is important.

We prize intellectual openness, and a willingness to engage with difficult questions and challenging ideas. We welcome and encourage scrutiny of our work and are comfortable with the uncertainty that comes from not always having the answer. We recognise the importance of building solidarity and common cause, and reject superficial divisiveness and purity politics.

If this sounds like your kind of organisation, we’d love to receive your application.

Please note that you will need to have an existing right to work in the UK for this role. We do not hold a sponsor licence and are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

                                                         IMPACT COORDINATOR SOUGHT
                                         FOR RESTORATION PROJECT ON REMOTE ISLAND

We are a large-scale, dynamic, and forward-thinking restoration and hospitality project in the Northwest Highlands with strong philanthropic and community commitments. The heart of our operation is on a remote and beautiful 800-acre island, where we are delivering stunning, sympathetic builds and authentic guest experiences in an area of outstanding scenery.

We run a monitoring programme to capture our social and environmental impact and effectiveness across a range of indicators and are looking for an enthusiastic, creative person to help with this work and become our Impact Coordinator. Our chief areas of charitable engagement include Education, Rural and Community Regeneration, Arts, Culture, Heritage and Science, Environmental Protection and Improvement, and Health and Wellbeing.

The purpose of this role will be the accurate measurement of the effectiveness and social value of the projects we deliver for our owning Charitable Trust. Our Impact Coordinator will work with our internal and external impact team to measure the social value of past, present and future projects, with strategic guidance and support from our leadership team, external advisers, and Trustees.

                                                                                      Storytelling
This role will suit a graduate with degrees, or equivalent experience, in the Social Sciences, Sustainable Development, Management or related fields. This is an opportunity for an ambitious candidate to jump straight into a well-supported role on a big project and produce well-presented, evidence-based stories about the project’s impact using numbers, text, and multimedia for a variety of different audiences.

                                                                                 Data
We gather social value data and KPIs, and have a burgeoning collection of testimonials, feedback, and imagery. We need someone to help build and maintain our qualitative and quantitative data library. This will very much be a “doing” role, involving time spent with spreadsheets and reports, as well as time spent with the team helping them with the same. We are collating the story of the project to date for a key report in Q1 2025.

                                                                                  Community
Our team is diverse, driven, and comes from across the country and further afield. We have our own growing island community of staff and guests, while also being embedded in mainland life in nearby crofting townships and villages. There are opportunities for working with different teams, sailing heritage boats, hosting guests, educating school pupils, and supporting projects on the mainland.

We are looking for a capable, self-motivated individual with excellent communication skills who will thrive on a challenging project. We anticipate out-of-the-box thinking and self-presentation from the get-go. Training and development will be offered to the right candidate. The salary range for this role will be £25-£35kpa depending on experience. We will be happy to discuss flexible shift patterns and shared accommodation with the right candidate.

The closing date for applications will be the 2nd of May 2024. Teams interviews will take place on the 7th and 8th of May. Preferred candidates will be invited to visit the island on the 16th and 17th of May.

The Campaign Coordinator will deliver a campaign strategy immediately before and after the General Election. You will lead local community teams who want to end the need for food banks, to get local Prospective Parliamentary Candidates to commit to prioritising the problem of people going without essentials if they are elected, and to acknowledge that that must involve a strengthened social security system.

This Cambridge City Foodbank (CCFb) role is funded by Trussell Trust as part of their General Election strategy, and you will be part of a network of Campaign Coordinators around the UK doing this work.

Responsibilities of Campaign Coordinator:

To build trusted relationships within CCFb and other food banks before, during and after the UK General Election. You will work with food banks across the Cambridgeshire & Peterboorough Combined Authority to build a team and coordinate campaign activity.

To create and support campaigns teams of community volunteers. You will have 1-2-1s with food bank staff, volunteers, partner organisations and stakeholders in each community to build support bases and get people to take part in campaign actions.

To lead community outreach including door-knocking sessions. You will door knock with your community campaign team to drum up support for the campaign, provide members of the public literature on food bank use in their local community, and invite people to their local hustings.

To support local campaigns teams to engage with Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, including organising local hustings. You will ensure that your community campaign teams: attend national Trussell Trust webinars, receive national guidance on how to approach Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, understand the Trussell Trust legal General Election guidance, understand the logistics of organising a hustings, ensure that the hustings is as accessible as possible and ensure that the voices of people with lived experience are heard through the hustings.

To deliver the local campaigning strategy working with CCFb and other food bank staff, volunteers, visitors and social supermarket members. You will set objectives for the campaign, monitor progress and evaluate impact.

To work with the Organising and Local Mobilisation strategy of CCFb and engage with the training and support on offer, including work with other Campaign Coordinators in the Trussell Trust network  
 

Person Specification

       Experience and knowledge:

• Experience of campaigning or organising to achieve a change.
• Experience working alongside people with lived experience of poverty.
• Experience facilitating groups and organising engaging group activities.
• Experience influencing local decision makers.
• Knowledge of the UK political system.
• Knowledge of anti-poverty organisations across the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
• Good project management skills, and the ability to manage and motivate volunteers.
• Willingness to travel across the Combined Authority area as required. 

       Behaviours and competencies:

• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships and gain trust of people with lived experience of poverty and using food banks.
• Confident in communicating and, able to seek and balance a range of views and stakeholders, influencing where required.
• Politically minded, with an understanding of charities’ obligations to be political independent.
• Be committed to the vision, respect the ethos and uphold the values of Cambridge City Foodbank and Trussell Trust.

About Cambridge City Foodbank

Our vision is a UK without the need for Foodbanks. We meet the need for emergency and affordable food, and tackle the causes of poverty, by harnessing the power of the community.

We value dignity, justice, compassion, community and impact, in all that we do. We serve local people regardless of background, inspired by our Christian ethos and values.

As part of our commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity actively encourage applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions and those with a lived experience of poverty as well as any other under-represented group in our workforce. We are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of our employees from all forms of harm.

In 2023: our amazing team of 200 volunteers assisted by a small staff team, provided 16,000 3-day emergency food parcels to people across Cambridge (36% were children) and distributed 170,000 Kilos of food.

Who We're Looking For:

At NEF, we're searching for a passionate and dedicated person to join us as an Associate Community Organiser. You will have experience of making change happen with communities impacted by inequality. You will be passionate about developing people and working with diverse communities to enable people to make change happen together. You will be a team player, be keen to learn new skills and have a proactive approach to problem-solving. You will be located with a partner organisation rooted in one of four locations across the UK, Nottingham, Greater Manchester, Lambeth, and Newham. You will bring community organising into the work of the organisation and place it right at the centre of the Power to Prosper programme.

Power to Prosper is a partnership project between The Runnymede Trust and New Economics Foundation aimed at tackling the underlying causes of poverty, inequality, and problem debt in the United Kingdom. The project recognises that the existing economic system leads to profound inequalities that disproportionately impact marginalised groups, including Black and minority ethnic communities, single-parent families, and households with disabled members. The programme will also take an intersectional lens with a strong emphasis on race equity.

This work will involve working with NEF and Runnymede teams to listen to people about the causes and potential solutions of inequality, poverty, and problem debt and to equip people that are most impacted with the skills to act together at a local, regional, and national level to address those issues. The successful candidate will report to a Community Organiser. The post sits in the Campaigns and Engagement Team at the New Economics Foundation, and you will work closely with colleagues at the Runnymede Trust. You must have a demonstrable commitment to anti-racism and have a track record of working with impacted groups with a good understanding of the wider context that causes inequality.

NEF wants to be an inclusive workplace with a diverse body of staff. We don’t want to conform to the traditional think tank model where people from certain backgrounds are hugely under-represented. We know we have some way to go in this and are therefore genuinely keen to receive applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic people; women; people with disabilities or impairments; people who identify as LGBT+; people with experience of mental health problems; and people who identify as working class or have done so in the past.

Previous think tank experience is not required.

If you are disabled and have the essential skills and experience to do the job, we will invite you to an interview. If you need information in a different format, please let us know.

We will make use of positive action to select between candidates of equal merit as a way to address under-representation in our workforce.

 
Application Details:

· Deadline: 10th May 2024

· Online Event with Partners: 7th May at 12pm and 5pm

· Interview Dates: w/c 20th and w/c 27th May 2024

· Start Date: As soon as possible

· Location: Hybrid, with partner organization

· Eligibility: Must be eligible to work in the UK (no visa sponsorship available)

To apply and for more details see the ‘about us/job vacancies’ section of our website.

The Food bank Campaign Coordinator is responsible for delivering Trussell Trust’s influencing and mobilising work, in their target area, during the General Election. You will do this by building strong relationships with other food banks in your Parliamentary constituency areas of Rhondda and Ogmore, Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan.  Campaign Coordinators implement Trussell Trust’s national General Election strategy, by using organising techniques to put pressure on PPC’s in each Parliamentary constituency.

You will build and lead local community teams who support ending the need for foodbanks, securing commitments from your PPC’s to ‘prioritise the problem of people going without essentials if re/elected, acknowledging the role social security needs to play in tackling it.’

This role is funded by the Trussell Trust as part of their General Election strategy, and you will be part of a network of Campaign Coordinators around the UK doing this work. You will be the link between your food bank(s) and the Mobilisation team at Trussell Trust, as we build a movement to end the need for food banks.

Responsibilities of Campaign Coordinator:

· To build trusted relationships with food banks during (pre and post) UK General Election. You will hold 1:1 conversations with each food bank in your allocated area and ensure there is clear communication between the food banks.
 

· To support teams of community volunteers. You will have 1:1s with: food bank staff, volunteers, interested individuals, partner organisations and stakeholders in each community to develop community bases for your campaign work.

· To lead effective door-knocking teams in your community.  You will door knock with your community campaign team to drum up support for the campaign, provide members of the public literature on Food bank use in their local community, and invite people to their local hustings.
 

· To help each of your community campaign teams organise a local husting.  You will ensure that your community campaign teams: attend national Trussell Trust webinars, receive national guidance on how to approach PPC’s, understand the Trussell Trust legal GE guidance, understand the logistics of organising a hustings, ensure that the husting is accessible as possible and ensure that the voices of people with lived experience are heard through the hustings.
 

· To develop good relationships with local press and media outlets. You will work alongside national Trussell Truststaff to find key press and media contacts in your assigned area, ensuring your community campaign teams get coverage for their hard work.
 

· To deliver the local campaigning strategy working with food bank staff, volunteers and clients. 
 

· To work with the Organising and Local Mobilisation team in Trussell Trust and engage with the training and support on offer, including work with other Campaign Coordinators in the Trussell Trust network. 
 

Person Specification

Desirable technical skills and knowledge:

● Experience of campaigning or organising to achieve a change.

● Experience working alongside people with lived experience of poverty

● Experience facilitating groups and organising engaging group activities

● Experience managing and working with volunteers.

● Experience of community outreach in the local area.

● Good project management skills, able to balance a range of priorities.

● UK driving licence and access to vehicle

Behaviours and competencies:

● Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships and gain trust of people with lived experience of poverty and using food banks

● Confident in communicating and, able to seek and balance a range of views and stakeholders, influencing where required.

● Demonstrate a commitment to the values of the Trussell Trust /local food bank.

Key Stakeholders

● Your local food banks, including the project manager, volunteers, and people they support.

● Local elected representatives

● Local stakeholders and partners (charities, churches, and other relevant community groups)

● Local organisations working to support people in poverty

● The Trussell Trust Area Team, who support your food banks in their day-to-day work.

● Trussell Trust’sSenior Manager for Organising and Local Mobilisation

● The wider TT Organising and Local Mobilisation (OLM) Team who will deliver training and relational support.

● Trussell Trust’s Head of Organising and Local Mobilising

● Trussell Trust’s Activations team

● Trussell Trust’s church engagement team

● Joseph Rowntree Foundation staff

● Trussell Trust Policy, Research and Impact department

Our Values

The Trussell Trust is a charity that works to end the need for food banks. It is founded on and shaped by Christian principles.

Our values of dignity, justice, compassion and community, are central to all that we do and therefore supports our aim to be an organisation where the diversity of all employees is valued.  We welcome people of all faiths and none and those that are committed to these values.

We recognise that we have under-represented groups within our workforce. As part of our commitment to diversity and equality of opportunity we are actively encouraging applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions and those with a lived experience of poverty as well as any other under-represented group in our workforce. We are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of our employees from all forms of harm.

Please forward your covering letter outlining your experience which is relevant to the job description and CV 

Joint Public Issues Team Internships 2024-2025

X2 Internships: 12 month fixed-term contracts beginning September 2023, for Christians aged 21-30.

-  Joint Public Issues Team Intern (Communications Support)

- Joint Public Issues Team Intern (Constituency Action Network Support)

Exciting Internship Opportunities with the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT)

Are you passionate about driving meaningful change in the world? Do you want to explore the intersection of faith, policy, and politics? The Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) is recruiting to two internship positions: one focused on Communications and the other on supporting local churches to build relationships with their MPs.

You would be working as part of a small ecumenical team on a diverse range of tasks and initiatives including communications, policy, campaigning and supporter engagement, contributing to the public advocacy and political engagement work of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches.

About JPIT

JPIT is a partnership between the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church, and the Church of Scotland is an associate partner. Its purpose is to help the Churches to work together for peace and justice through listening, learning, praying, speaking and acting on public policy issues. It is a team which brings together around ten staff from across the denominations. In recent years it has focused on issues around poverty, the economy, refugees and migration, the environment, peace and conflict, and politics.

The Internships

These internships provide opportunities to develop skills in campaigning, communications, research, and policy within a dynamic team environment. There will be opportunities for professional and personal learning and development to equip the intern for employment after their time on the internship. Whilst we are looking for some evidence of certain skills and experience, candidates will have the opportunity to develop the relevant skills during their time in the role.

The roles are based in the Methodist Connexional Team.

These are full-time, paid posts for 12 months. They are aimed at young Christians who may have recently graduated, and are starting their career in an area such as politics, campaigning, policy or church engagement.

Our Culture, Values and Benefits

Thank you for considering joining our inclusive and welcoming team that strives for excellence and values employee wellbeing.

We value and support all those who join our team through a positive work-life balance augmented by generous annual leave (plus an extra 3 days over Christmas/New Year), TOIL, flexi-leave and an on-site Wellbeing Adviser service. We offer a generous occupational pension scheme, where the Methodist Church will pay double the employee contribution up to a maximum of 16% employer contribution.

The Methodist Church is an inclusive and supportive employer. We are actively committed to encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds. We welcome applications from people of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic groups. We also welcome applications from people living with disabilities.

If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us. Contact details are on our website. 

For more information about JPIT, visit www. jpit. uk. Join us in our mission to create a more just and peaceful world.

ABOUT US
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. We want to see a world where trees and woods thrive for people and nature. The Trust engages and inspires people to make their difference tackling the nature and climate crises helping protect, restore and create our vital woods and trees.

THE ROLE
The Lead Policy Advocate – Planning will focus on influencing and shaping planning policies to protect woods and trees from development and promote biodiversity and public access. They will lead efforts to develop and implement evidence-based policies and influence strategies, coordinating with colleagues and partners to align these policies with the latest conservation research.  

The role involves collaboration with stakeholders across the UK to ensure widespread understanding and support. 

This is a hybrid working role, where you’ll work part of your time at home and part of the time working from one of our regional offices, with regular UK travel. Our Hybrid Working Policy is flexible, and the frequency of time spent in your contracted office will vary across teams and job roles. 

THE CANDIDATE
The ideal candidate has a proven background in policy advocacy, particularly in areas relevant to environmental and conservation goals. You will be a skilled communicator and negotiator, adept at engaging diverse audiences and stakeholders, with robust project management skills, and the ability to adapt to changes and seize opportunities.  

The role demands effective leadership to drive cross-organisational teams in executing dynamic strategies and a vision to integrate planning policy with broader environmental and conservation objectives.  

Applicants should demonstrate an understanding of UK devolution's impact on policy, and the importance of public campaigns in policy advocacy. Familiarity with UK, EU, and global institutions related to environmental policy and expertise in planning policy, supported by an RTPI, CIEEM qualification, or equivalent experience, is required. 

Our Organisational Nature enables us to better understand what it means to be part of the Woodland Trust, empowering us to make an impact, every day. We want you to be able to role model our values; ‘Grow Together’, ‘Focus’, ‘Explore’ and ‘Make it Count’ to ensure each of us plays our part in helping to protect, restore and create our woods and trees. 

WHAT TO EXPECT BY JOINING A TEAM AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE
There’s no other organisation like the Woodland Trust. Joining the team you will be making your contribution to tackling the nature and climate crises. In return, we recognise and value our people. You'll have our full support, training and opportunities for professional development, along with a contributory pension, life assurance, good holiday allowance and the opportunity to work flexibly from home.  

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY & INCLUSION  
At the Woodland Trust, we want to reflect and represent the full richness of diversity in the UK. Fewer of our employees are Black, Asian or minority ethnic; disabled; from lower socio-economic backgrounds?or under 25;?so we are particularly keen to receive your application if you are from one or more of these groups. We can also discuss?anything you may need to achieve your full potential at any stage of the process. We assess your application solely on your demonstrated suitability for the job. Nothing else. 

To ensure anonymised recruitment, if you have uploaded your CV, shortlisting panels?do not?see your CV until shortlisting has been completed. Before submitting your application, please ensure you have completed the supporting information section with details of experiences that clearly evidence as many aspects of the job description as possible. 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. If you are interested, we'd encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.