About the role
We are recruiting for a Policy Officer to join on a full-time, permanent contract, working 35 hours per week.
This role is key to supporting Alzheimer’s Society’s ambitions to drive major system and policy change in diagnosis, care and treatment across England, Northern Ireland and Wales at an exciting time in dementia policy. Evidence-based, collaborative, engaging and innovative policymaking will be central to everything the Policy Officer does.
As Policy Officer you will play an important role in determining what the Society thinks about the big issues affecting people affected by dementia. Through robust scoping and policy development, you will help to identify the action needed to affect change and help ensure our influencing activity is evidence-driven, timely and relevant across the three nations in which we work – nationally and locally.
You will be an expert policy advisor to colleagues across the Society and support Policy Managers to deliver against agreed integrated plans, including helping to monitor progress and performance and working with others to gather evidence, insight and data to underpin our policy work. Key to the success of this role is engaging others in the policy development process, sharing analysis, opinion and insight to inspire high-quality, dynamic policymaking.
Interviews for this role have been provisionally scheduled to take place via MS Teams on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th January 2026.
About you
Joining us, you will have experience working in a complex policy environment, with sound understanding of the wider political environment, preferably in relation to health and care. You will have experience involving patients, service users and/or those living with long-term health conditions in your work.
Crucially, you will be a team player, naturally collaborative, with good attention to detail and be curious and challenging of the status quo. You will be a good communicator with the ability to use written/verbal communication skills to build positive relationships with stakeholders and produce high-quality and accessible policy content. This includes translating highly complex data and developments into insightful commentary and recommendations.
What you’ll focus on:
- Scoping, developing and working with others to mobilise our organisational policy positions, in line with agreed organisational priorities.
- Helping to monitor and report progress on our policy activity in line with the Evidence, Policy and Influencing integrated plan, noting how policy work is informing our approach to national and local influencing.
- Ensuring the experience and insight of people with and affected by dementia is at the heart of all our policy work.
- Embedding all work in a systems leadership approach, working across organisational and geographical boundaries to achieve objectives.
- Driving engagement, awareness and involvement in our policy work through effective communication across the Society and beyond to ensure maximum impact.
- Building impactful, sustainable relationships with external stakeholders such as partners in NHS systems, Government, think tanks and other charities, to further our strategic objectives.
About Alzheimer's Society - who are we and what’s our mission?
Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.
At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re the UK’s leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding ground-breaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.
Together with our supporters, we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.
Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as part of a minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.
Our hiring process
We want you to bring your whole self to the process. Applications are anonymised until interview stage, and we’re happy to support any adjustments. Share your feedback via our candidate survey when applying to help us improve. We may close early if we receive high interest (with 48 hours’ notice). Some roles may require a DBS check as part of our safer recruitment commitment. Thinking about using AI during the recruitment process? we know this can be helpful in many ways but remember to include your personal and authentic self too. Your voice and experience are what really set you apart.
Giving back to you
At Alzheimer’s Society, we value our people and take a total reward approach to pay and benefits. You’ll enjoy a generous double-matched pension scheme, 27 days’ annual leave (plus bank holidays and wellbeing days), and access to a free Health Shield Cash Plan, 24/7 EAP, Thrive mental wellbeing support, and virtual GP services. Our Society Plus platform offers exclusive discounts, wellbeing resources, and recognition schemes, while our flexible working, family-friendly policies, and life assurance provide peace of mind and work/life balance. We also offer a free Will-writing service and long service awards to recognise your ongoing commitment.
Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity.



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Summary
EduSpots is an innovative, dynamic, and community-orientated UK and Ghanaian registered charity which connects, trains, and equips grassroots voluntary educators (named ‘Catalysts’) to drive community-led change through education spaces named ‘Spots’. Our vision is of a world in which communities unite to create the futures they want to see, through education.
Since 2016, through collaborating with over 400 local voluntary community educators and actors – named ‘Catalysts’ – who take a central leadership role in the development of the network, we have supported 50 communities in creating and running community-led and owned education spaces named ‘Spots’’. Together, we are developing a model for a community-led education space with accompanying network engagement that could have global relevance.
Our Ghana-based team creates collaborative learning opportunities through three leadership programmes for Catalysts which are increasingly facilitated by the EduSpots app: the Ignite, Catalyse and Inspire Mentoring Programmes. These enable the Catalysts to lead EduKidz (early years education), DigLit (digital literacy), EcoSTEM (STEM and environmental education) and Ignite Equity (gender equity) clubs for learners typically aged 3-16, alongside locally designed education projects, reaching over 10,000 learners of all ages annually.
We are in an exciting period of our development, having more than doubled our income, programme breadth and reach in the last two years, with a recent independent evaluation by Expectation State offering further evidence in support of our model’s outcomes. We have been recently selected for two accelerator programmes, who are supporting us as we consider the scaling potential of our model. In the period, we are aiming to double our network reach, bringing an additional 50 Spots into the network.
We won the Tes International Award in 2018 and the Big Give Supporters’ Choice Award in 2022, and we were recently selected as a finalist for the 2023 Their World Scale-Up Innovation Prize. In 2021, our Founder was a Finalist in the UNESCO-backed $1 million Global Teacher Prize.
We are excited by our future.
About this role
The Global Head of Operations is a new role being introduced in 2026 with the core purpose of strengthening systems, processes and strategic delivery across both EduSpots Global and EduSpots Ghana, offering hands-on support to the CEO and wider staff across a range of areas.
In this senior role, you will work closely alongside the CEO, offering her the advice and skills needed to move EduSpots successfully through a complex period of growth in a challenging fundraising context, enabling more learners and Catalysts to participate in a unique community-led model of education, whilst sharing our practice more widely.
We are looking for an organised and empathetic strategic leader, ideally with strong or developing skills across project management, finance, HR and MEL skills and an ability to work independently in a fast moving work environment.
This role has the potential to grow into a Director of Global Operations or Deputy CEO role in time for outstanding candidates, and carries significant organisation-wide responsibility.
Candidates should hold a genuine passion for educational equity, a strong belief in the power of community-led models to transform lives at scale and a high level of flexibility in a fast-changing yet friendly and playful work environment.
Whilst this role is remote, and open to all global candidates, you will need to have understanding and experience of UK law, accounting and policy development, or a strong appetite to build experience in this area quickly.
Main duties and responsibilities
Systems
- Work with the CEO and staff to proactively strengthen systems and processes across the organisation, including monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks and operations.
- Support the wider team with IT, including general skill development, leading the Google Space system.
- Monitor compliance to organisational policies and lead the quarterly review of the organisational risk register, working with the Ghana Head of Operations.
Finance
- Work with the Finance and Admin Officer to produce monthly and quarterly global management accounts, cash flow analysis and to complete the annual audit.
- Lead the financial planning of the organisation, working with the CEO and the Ghana Head of Operations to create the annual budget.
- Work with the Ghana Head of Operations to strengthen financial systems, processes, and training across the organisation.
- Work with the Ghana Head of Operations to prepare budgets for funding bids as needed.
- Work with the grants team to track grant spending and produce consolidated financial reports (including expenditure from the UK and Ghana) for donors.
- Ensure EduSpots’ new accounting software (QuickBooks) is fully embedded and utilised.
- Oversee bank account management, including payments, checking bank statements, and reviewing bank reconciliations for UK and Ghana.
- Ensure staff payroll (likely to be outsourced) and payments to freelancers / consultants are done accurately and in a timely manner.
HR
- Work alongside the CEO, Head of Operations, Safeguarding and Inclusion Managers and wider staff to develop strategies to sustain and strengthen a high performing and friendly work culture.
- Work across the team to strengthen HR and performance management structures, informed by best practice and legal frameworks.
- Lead the recruitment of staff, consultants and volunteers in the UK (advertising roles, drafting contracts, contacting referees and completing all filing and administration relating to recruitment).
- Onboard new staff, provide training on policies and procedures, and track key information (leave, appraisals, etc) for UK staff.
- Regularly review and keep the Staff Handbook up to date.
- Depending on skill-set, work with the CEO to lead professional development for staff across the organisation, liaising with trustees and advisory group members.
Administration & Governance
- Manage and maintain databases and our Google Drive system.
- Ensure compliance with GDPR and adherence to our child safeguarding and protection policy.
- Maintain insurance renewals, tracking and filing.
- Review and keep up to date all organisational policies in line with current legislation, working with the Trustees and Directors.
- Assist the CEO in the administration relating to EduSpots’ governance, including board meeting arrangements and minute taking.
- Support the CEO in all ad-hoc tasks that arise, working closely alongside her to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.
Strategic insight
- Work closely with the CEO and staff/Catalysts across the organisation to ensure all EduSpots’ decision-making is strategic and in the best interests of the Catalysts, Sparks and Communities we partner with.
Other areas
- Depending on experience, you may in time take on management responsibilities for some staff, but this role is principally a systems strengthening and quality improvement role, working closely with the CEO to offer advice and additional capacity.
- Depending on experience, you may support with grants writing / management and/or community fundraising. Experience of fundraising would be of significant benefit to the organisation in this key leadership role.
Personal Specification
Essential
- Minimum of 7 years’ experience of operations in a small/medium charity context.
- Self-starter with the ability to hit the ground running and work with minimal supervision with high levels of flexibility.
- Self-motivated, with an ability to motivate and energise others.
- High level strategic understanding, critical thinking and the ability to strengthen systems in a fast-paced high performance environment.
- Excellent communication, both oral and written.
- The ability to thrive and adapt in a fast-paced, creative and impact-driven culture.
- Strong administrative skills with a high level of attention to detail.
- Experience in creating user-friendly tools and processes to support project and quality management.
- Experience using Google Suite, with strong Excel skills.
- Tech savvy – ability to learn new tech tools efficiently.
- Experience coordinating others.
- Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills with strong empathy and cultural sensitivity
- Strong personal alignment with the mission, vision and values of EduSpots.
Highly desirable
- Experience supporting charity Boards, and working with external bodies including auditors, tax authorities, and other official bodies is highly desirable.
- Experience complying and strong familiarity with UK charity regulations and requirements.
- Experience preparing budgets and financial reports for donors/grants.
- Experience of working in a cross-cultural team.
- Experience of working with an international charity would be advantageous.
Please send a tailored covering letter and CV addressed to the CEO Miss Cat Davison by Wednesday 31st December with a hope to meet shortlisted candidates for a first-round interview in the week starting Monday 12th January.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.