Senior External Affairs Adviser
Contract type: Fixed Term Contract (12 months)
Full time: 34.5 hours, we are open to a conversation about how you work these hours
Location: Home based
Salary range: £43,000 - £48,000
About us
At Macmillan you'll find talented people working together to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. We're going all out to find even better ways to help even more people who need our support. Our values are at the heart of who we are and everything we do, inspiring our thinking and guiding our actions.
Our new organisational strategy sets out how we’ll fight even harder to make every pound raised count for even more. With your help, we’ll transform cancer care for good.
About the role
Join Macmillan Cancer Support as a Senior External Affairs Adviser, where you will play a vital role in shaping and delivering impactful change propositions and external affairs strategies across the UK. Your work will focus on delivering at-scale change for people with cancer, particularly the most marginalised groups.
Key responsibilities:
- Provide senior-level advice to develop external affairs strategies aligned with Macmillan’s mission.
- Lead cross-functional external affairs projects that are evidence-based and impactful.
- Develop and manage relationships with political stakeholders, policymakers, civil servants and healthcare providers.
- Provide high-quality insight and briefings to senior colleagues on the political landscape, and what the external opportunities and risks are.
- Anticipate shifts within the external environment and adapt approaches to maintain our relevance and influence.
- Collaborate with teams to ensure policy positions are strategic and evidence-based.
- Represent Macmillan at external events, advocating for improvements in cancer care.
- Coordinate campaigns to influence public policy and funding decisions.
About you
The successful candidate will have...
- Proven ability to manage complex and sensitive external contexts, making sound judgements on tone and messaging.
- Strong understanding of operating within a four-nations context and engaging with diverse stakeholders, including senior politicians and civil servants.
- Expertise in analysing complex policy issues and developing impactful, evidence-based policy positions.
- Strong organisational skills and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances and emerging issues.
- Excellent communication skills which are adaptable for external and internal audiences.
- Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams or on multi-disciplinary projects.
Recruitment process
Application deadline: 23:59 on Tuesday 16th December 2025
Interview date: Virtual interviews will be held on 8th January 2026
To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed.
So we can support you to be your best during the application or interview process, please contact Macmillan's TA Team for advice and reasonable adjustments.
We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.
Registered Charity
More than 1000
At Macmillan you'll find talented people working together to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
We’re looking for an exceptional Head of Management Accounts to lead our financial planning and analysis function and ensure our budgeting, forecasting and reporting processes deliver accuracy, insight and long-term financial sustainability. You’ll shape and develop the management accounting team while leading business partnering activity and strengthening financial understanding across the organisation.
The Role:
- Lead the Trust’s financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting processes, ensuring accuracy, transparency and long-term financial sustainability.
- Act as a strategic financial partner to senior leaders, providing insight, analysis and recommendations that inform strategic and operational decision-making.
- Oversee financial management across all directorates, including cash flow, reserves and investment planning, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and risk appetite.
- Support the CFO in the preparation of financial reports and presentations for trustees, funders and other external stakeholders.
- Lead the monthly management accounts, year-end process, audit activity and statutory reporting, ensuring compliance and timely delivery.
- Develop and embed a strong business partnering culture, building financial capability, confidence and accountability among budget holders and project leads.
- Drive the continuous improvement of management accounting processes, reporting and controls to enhance efficiency, consistency and data integrity.
The Candidate:
We are looking for candidates who have the following:
- CCAB qualification (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent international qualification).
- Proven experience leading management accounting and financial planning teams in a complex charity or commercial organisation.
- Significant experience developing and reviewing monthly management accounts, including reconciliations, variance analysis and forecasting.
- Excellent understanding of finance systems and data flow across diverse systems, including CRM integration.
- Demonstrable experience supporting restricted fund budgeting and monitoring, and financial partnering with fundraising or project-based teams.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and challenge constructively.
Benefits & Wellbeing: Joining our team means you'll be a big part of tackling environmental and climate issues. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:
- Enhanced Employer Pension
- Life Assurance
- Flexible & Hybrid Working Options
- Generous Annual Leave - 25 days + bank holidays (pro rata for part time)
- Buy and Sell Annual Leave
- Enhanced Parental Pay
- Employee Assistance Programme
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 crisis helping protect, restore and create our vital woods and trees.
Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: To achieve our vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. All people, no matter their background, identity, ability, or circumstance, should benefit from trees.
People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply.
Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.
Application Advice: For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, so they do not see your CV until shortlisting is completed. Make sure that your Personal Statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role.
Acceptable Use Policy - Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications-for example, to help structure or edit written responses. We welcome the use of AI in this way, particularly where it helps improve accessibility, such as for neurodivergent applicants. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools.
Apply Now: If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, send in your application today. We might close the job opening early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in process, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.
Interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.