6 Assistive technology strategy and development officer jobs

About You

You will be an experienced insight, evaluation or research practitioner with strong analytical skills and a practical, community-focused approach to generating, analysing and using evidence.

You will be confident working directly with Global Majority communities and colleagues across REN and HHU, developing accessible methods, tools and resources to gather and make sense of qualitative, quantitative and lived-experience evidence. You will understand the importance of building evaluation and learning into community engagement and co-design from the outset.

You will bring professional curiosity, methodological integrity and sound judgement, able to identify patterns, question assumptions and communicate clearly what the evidence does and does not tell us, where evidence is limited and where further investigation is needed.

You will work closely with the Anti-Racism Strategic Lead and Bhip Programme Lead, providing robust analytical and evidence support while retaining professional objectivity and methodological responsibility for the underlying evidence. You will be confident reporting findings accurately, including where evidence is limited, contradictory or uncomfortable for REN, HHU or system partners, and will work collaboratively across the wider Bhip team to ensure evidence and learning are useful, accessible and acted upon.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to help build and shape the insight, evaluation and learning approach for an ambitious five-year programme, working across communities, organisations and systems to understand what is changing, what works, for whom, how and under what circumstances.

Bhip has a working Theory of Change and an emerging evaluation framework, logic model, and Global outcomes and data system, which will continue to evolve through learning. You will help operationalise these across the programme, developing and refining the practical methodologies, tools, measures and resources needed to generate and capture community insight, lived experience, programme activity and quantitative data consistently, ethically and meaningfully.

Working alongside the Anti-Racism Strategic Lead and with the Co-design Lead, Community Engagement team and Global Majority communities, you will develop and test culturally grounded, accessible and innovative ways of gathering evidence and understanding change. You will explore creative and participatory approaches that work for different communities, while ensuring the evidence remains robust and useful for analysis and Bhip’s wider evaluation requirements.

As Bhip develops, you will bring different forms of evidence together to identify patterns, test assumptions and evaluate emerging approaches and system-practice tests against Bhip’s Theory of Change, logic model and programme and organisational outcomes. You will provide analytical and evidence support to the Anti-Racism Strategic Lead, while working across the wider REN and HHU Bhip team to ensure evidence informs learning, accountability, programme development and system change.

You will help turn what we learn into accessible evidence, resources and learning for communities, Bhip colleagues, partners and decision-makers, ensuring communities can see how their insight was used, what action followed, what changed, what did not change and why and contributing to learning across Bradford and the National Collective.

Help us achieve our vision that fewer people die by suicide.

Suicide can be prevented but urgent action is needed. We are looking for an experienced Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager to lead our work to mobilise our campaigners and maximise our political relationships to push for action to prevent suicide.

Samaritans is the UK and Ireland’s leading suicide prevention charity. While we are best known for listening to those who need us, we also work to influence change through our policy, advocacy campaigning and relationships with political stakeholders.

The Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns team of five works alongside people with lived experience, our campaigners, supporters and volunteers to push for the public policy and legal changes that will help us achieve our vision. We work to achieve system change through our work with the Westminster parliament, UK Government departments, policy makers and service leads, alongside our offices in the nations. We're looking for a Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager to lead this area of work.

We know that to make a real difference to those who are affected by suicide, we need to drive meaningful change in UK legislation and policy, funding and research.

If you're a strategic thinker with a track record of successfully influencing for change, we'd love to hear from you.

Contract terms:

• £42,000 - £44,000 per annum, plus benefits
• Permanent
• 35 hours per week (full-time)
• We are passionate about flexible working, talk to us about your preferences
• Hybrid, linked to our Ewell (Surrey) office
• We value meeting in person and working collaboratively. We work in person around 2 days or more per month. This role will also involve regular travel to Westminster.
• 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays

What you'll be doing:

You'll lead our public affairs and advocacy campaigns work focused on influencing decision-makers and driving advocacy campaigns.

Your key responsibilities include:

• Overseeing our advocacy campaigning activity across England and line managing the Public Affairs and Campaigns Officer, ensuring that our advocacy campaigns are rooted in lived experience, and that our supporters have a positive ongoing experience. 
• Leading the implementation of our public affairs and campaign strategies to achieve change on Samaritan’s key influencing priorities
• Identifying, creating, and evaluating opportunities and mechanisms to increase political engagement and persuade decision makers to take positive action on suicide prevention 
• Identifying, cultivating and maintaining excellent relationships across the UK parliament and key political decision makers. 
• Working across the charity to connect all of our relevant work to Parliamentary audiences, including support for Samaritans branches and volunteers on public affairs activities
• You’ll play a pivotal role in leading our efforts to drive meaningful change to help prevent suicide. 

What you’ll bring:

• Great people skills with the ability to turn contacts into action
• Proven experience in successfully influencing within the UK Parliament
• Experience of leading effective advocacy campaigns and trialling new and exciting campaign tactics
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences effectively
• A passion for involving people with lived experience in your campaigns and public affairs work

For full details, please see the Job Description and Person Specification

Why Samaritans?

At Samaritans, you’ll join a values-led organisation with a powerful mission. You’ll be part of a collaborative and supportive team where your voice matters, your expertise makes a difference, and your work helps save lives.

We offer flexible hybrid working, great benefits, and the chance to make a tangible difference in suicide prevention across the UK and Ireland. To find out more about Samaritans, please read our recruitment brochure.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects the people we support and who support us. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels seen, heard and supported, at all levels of the organisation.

Apply now

If this sounds like the opportunity for you, we’d love for you to apply. You will be asked to answer some short application questions and to upload your CV. If you require adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know.

Applications close: 20th September 2026

Interviews: w/c 28th September

At Samaritans, human connection is at the heart of everything we do. 

We do not use AI at any stage during the selection process. Your application will always be carefully reviewed by the recruiting manager or a member of the Talent Attraction Team. 

We kindly ask that you avoid using AI tools to generate your application or interview answers. We want to hear your own ideas, insights, and writing style so your unique strengths can shine through. We recognise that some candidates may use assistive technology or tools to help with accessibility, structure or grammar.   

About you

As an experienced, innovative and strategic Communications Lead, you will bring a proven track record of developing and delivering communications strategies that build understanding, engagement, influence and meaningful change. This is an opportunity to establish and lead communications for a new, nationally significant programme from the ground up, bringing ideas, energy and initiative to a role that will evolve alongside Bhip.

The role requires someone who can think strategically while also being comfortable getting into the detail and making things happen. You will be equally comfortable developing communications strategy and shaping Bhip.’s narrative as you are producing practical, accessible communications and resources needed by community engagement teams on the ground. You will be able to move confidently between strategic communications, system-facing messaging and hands-on community communications, ensuring each supports the wider aims of the programme. You will be someone who does not wait for a brief or has the imitative to create their own and who actively identifies opportunities, develops ideas and takes them forward. Creativity and innovation will be important in shaping how Bhip communicates its purpose, work, learning and impact, alongside the strategic judgement to understand what needs to be communicated, why, to whom and through which channels.

You will be confident developing and evolving a communications strategy, identifying audiences, shaping messages, narratives and tone of voice, and considering how complex and sensitive issues are communicated.

Strong cultural awareness and understanding will be important, including an appreciation of how culture, language, identity and lived experience can shape how different communities understand and respond to information. The ability to adapt language and communications approaches so that information is clear, accessible, culturally relevant and meaningful, without losing context or nuance, will be central to the role.

The role will span communities, programme teams, partners and creative specialists, from photographers and videographers to designers, digital specialists and other creative partners. You will be able to listen, build relationships, understand different perspectives and use community insight to shape communications that connect with people. You will bring people together around ideas, work confidently across different areas of the programme and use sound judgement to turn opportunities into action.

An understanding of Bhip’s anti-discrimination purpose and community-led approach, alongside a genuine commitment to addressing health inequities caused by structural racism and discrimination, will be essential. You will be comfortable navigating ambiguity, responding to emerging opportunities and bringing curiosity, collaboration and a willingness to try new approaches to the role.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to establish and shape the communications function for Bhip from the ground up, playing a central role in how a new, nationally significant programme is understood, positioned and experienced. The Communications Lead will set the strategic communications direction for Bhip, shaping its narrative, language, messaging and voice, and ensuring communications support the programme’s wider ambitions to address health inequities, challenge structural racism and discrimination, strengthen community voice and influence meaningful system change.

With significant scope to shape the direction of communications, the role will span strategy, positioning, messaging, identity, campaigns, digital communications, creative content, media, storytelling and engagement. It will consider not only what Bhip communicates, but how it communicates it, ensuring language, stories and narratives are accessible, thoughtful, culturally relevant and reflective of the programme’s anti-racist and community-led approach

As Bhip develops through co-design, learning and evaluation, the communications strategy will evolve with it, creating opportunities to test new approaches, respond to emerging issues, share learning and strengthen the programme’s influence. The role will work across the programme and partnership to ensure communications are connected to the wider work of Bhip and contribute to its strategic ambitions.

With the freedom and responsibility to shape the communications direction of a five-year programme, you will help establish how Bhip communicates locally, regionally and nationally. The work will contribute not only to Bhip’s profile and impact across Bradford District, but to wider learning, influence and national conversations around health inequities, structural racism and discrimination through the National Lottery Community Fund’s National Collective.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity for an exceptional Programme Leader whose strengths combine strong operational delivery, strategic thinking, partnership development and a sound understanding of health inequities and the factors that drive them. You will thrive on building and leading a new, nationally significant programme, working alongside communities and partners to address structural racism and discrimination, strengthen shared power and translate community insight into meaningful action and community stories into lasting system change.

You will lead an evolving programme that generates learning, evidence and evaluation to inform local policy and practice across Bradford District while contributing to the National Lottery Community Fund’s National Collective, helping shape learning and action that extends beyond Bradford.

About you/ The Role

You will be an experienced, motivational and credible leader with a proven track record of successfully leading complex programmes, partnerships or services that improve health equity and deliver meaningful system change. You will relish an opportunity to establish and lead a new, fast-paced programme from the ground up. You will demonstrate an understanding of REN’s anti-racist purpose, HHU’s community-led approach, and a commitment to addressing structural racism, discrimination and health inequities.You will be equally comfortable working across communities, grassroots and VCSE organisations, stakeholder and partner organisations, multidisciplinary teams and with senior system leaders. You will be able to inspire and develop others, contribute to effective governance and deliver programme management arrangements, confidently managing people, budgets, performance and outputs. You will be motivated by addressing racism and improving health equity and understand the importance of working alongside communities to support shared power, enabling communities to influence services, decision-making, commissioning and wider system change.

Importantly, you will be someone who motivates people and brings them together around a shared purpose, builds strong partnerships and a well-supported, effective team, and brings resilience and sound judgement to complex environments. You will be comfortable navigating ambiguity, adapting to emerging learning and opportunities, and maintaining momentum in a programme designed to learn, evolve and influence change.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to take a leading role in an ambitious five-year programme working to address how structural racism and discrimination contribute to health across Bradford District. You will provide specialist leadership on structural racism, policy and system influence, working alongside communities and partners to turn lived and community insight into credible structural analysis, practical action and demonstrable system change. From early in the programme, you will build the relationships and routes into health, care and wider systems needed to ensure emerging evidence reaches the places where decisions are made and, creates opportunities to test and evaluate change that is translated into opportunities to test, evaluate and embed change.

You will also shape Bhip’s anti-racism and structural discrimination learning, strengthen community leadership and influence, and generate evidence and learning that can inform policy and practice in Bradford and contribute to the National Lottery Community Fund’s National Collective.

About You/ The Role

You will be an experienced and credible leader with significant expertise in anti-racism, structural discrimination, policy and system change, and an understanding of how these contribute to health inequities.

This is not a generic EDI, policy or anti-racism role. It is Bhip’s specialist lead for racism and structural discrimination, responsible for applying structural analysis to community insight and evidence, building structural literacy and anti-racist capability, and working with communities and system partners to translate that learning into accountable changes in policy, practice, commissioning, governance and decision-making that drive demonstrable system change and improvement.

You will be equally comfortable working alongside Global Majority communities and community leaders, white allies, VCSE organisations, practitioners, commissioners, senior system leaders and change makers. You will combine strong analytical and policy skills with the ability to build trusted relationships, influence and constructively challenge, navigating complexity and resistance while maintaining a clear focus on shared power and institutional accountability.

Working closely with the Programme Lead and wider Bhip team, you will play a key role in turning community insight into defined system action and demonstrable, evaluated system change, generating evidence and learning that can be shared locally and nationally to influence wider policy and practice.

You will understand why organisations and systems can resist change and have the interpersonal, political and influencing skills to move people towards action, without diluting evidence or avoiding difficult challenge simply to maintain relationships.

The Bradford Health Inequities Programme (Bhip)

The Bradford Health Inequities Programme (Bhip) is a five-year programme funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and delivered jointly in partnership by Race Equality Network (REN) and Happy Healthy You (HHU). As part of the National Lottery Community Fund’s National Collective, Bhip is one of nine health inequities programmes established nationally to address health inequities caused by structural racism and discrimination.

Working alongside communities, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, the NHS, public services and other partners across Bradford District, Bhip will co-design, test and evaluate community-led approaches that address health inequities driven by structural racism and discrimination, influence policy and practice, drive system change, and generate evidence and learning for Bradford while contributing to the National Lottery Community Fund’s National Collective.

As an innovative five-year programme, Bhip is expected to evolve through community engagement, co-design, learning and evaluation. The Bhip team members should therefore expect their roles to develop over time in response to programme learning, funding and organisational requirements to achieve its aims.