Upload your CV
Save time when you spot your dream job. Upload your CV with ease.
Save time when you spot your dream job. Upload your CV with ease.
Who we are
IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) is a national charity working to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the educational support they are legally entitled to. Since we were formed in 1983, we have helped to improve the education experience of thousands of children and young people across England. We do this by providing free and independent legal advice and casework support for families, undertaking policy work and delivering training on the SEND legal framework.
What you’ll do
Reports to: Chief Executive
Location: Home-based or Hybrid (with frequent travel for events and meeting with parliamentarians and other stakeholders)
We are seeking a Policy Manager to lead IPSEA's policy and influencing work to achieve positive change for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. Working closely with the Chief Executive, Head of Legal and Training, trustees and colleagues across the organisation, you will set strategic policy priorities and develop evidence-based influencing plans that support IPSEA's mission and long-term objectives.
Drawing on insights from our advice and tribunal services, legal expertise and the experiences of families, you will identify systemic issues within the SEND system and develop policy solutions that improve children and young people's access to the support and education to which they are entitled. You will ensure that IPSEA's policy positions are credible, legally robust and informed by the lived experiences of those we support.
You will lead IPSEA's engagement with government, Parliament and other key decision-makers, identifying opportunities to influence legislation, policy and practice at both national and local level. This includes overseeing responses to consultations, parliamentary inquiries and calls for evidence, as well as preparing briefings and strategic advice to support senior-level engagement and advocacy.
Working collaboratively with colleagues across legal, communications, fundraising and training teams, you will ensure IPSEA's policy, campaigning and public affairs activities are aligned and maximise the organisation's impact. You will also monitor developments across the political, legal and policy landscape, helping IPSEA respond proactively to emerging opportunities and challenges affecting the rights of children and young people with SEND.
This role offers the opportunity to make a real difference as part of a small, friendly, and dedicated team. If you are passionate about helping children and young people with SEND and have the skills and experience needed, we would love to hear from you.
Who are we looking for?
You will have significant experience in a senior policy and campaigning/public affairs role and have good knowledge of local and national government structure including the legislative process.
You the ability to build and maintain relationships with a range of stakeholders including MPs, civil servants, campaigners and parents. You exhibit tact and diplomacy and can be impactful with people of varying levels and experience.
Your research and critical thinking skills enable you to analyse policy and data to produce relevant reports and position papers. You have experience of drafting organisation responses to government consultations and parliamentary calls for evidence.
IPSEA should also reflect the communities we support. We would particularly like to hear from candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ people, under-served communities and disabled people, as well as those with lived experience of the SEND system, either as a child or as a parent/carer.
What we can offer you
To apply
Visit our website to download a recruitment pack and application form.
Deadline for applications: 9am on 7 September 2026.
First-round interviews: on 15 September 2026 in our offices in Takeley, Essex, with second-round interviews (online) on 18 September 2026.
NO AGENCIES PLEASE.
We help children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the education they are entitled to by law


The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
We're looking for a highly organised Team Administrator to keep The Talent Tap running smoothly and provide administrative support across all aspects of our small team including finance, programme logistics, marketing and fundraising support. The role blends detail-oriented routine tasks with ad hoc support meaning no day looks the same, but there’s a high degree of predictability.
We’re looking for someone who has a strong attention to detail, excellent organisational skills, who is able to work independently to get things done but collaboratively to work as a team.
Key responsibilities
You don’t need to have experience in all of the areas below. We’re looking for potential and willingness to learn and develop.
Team administration
Programme administration
Marketing and fundraising administration
About The Talent Tap
At The Talent Tap, we open doors to professional careers for young people in the places opportunity doesn't reach —through fully funded, in-person experiences and sustained support that stays with them. Our vision is a world where your postcode never limits your potential.
We support young people aged 17–24 who have the potential to succeed —and deserve the chance to prove it, because no one's career opportunities should be determined by where they grow up.
We deliver in-person opportunities at key moments through the year. In line with our new strategy, we are developing a holistic offer to support the young people we work with year-round.
What we can offer
Salary and pension: We are offering an FTE salary for the role of £28,000 FTE, pro-rated to 21 hours a week (our working week is 35 hours).
Annual leave: You will be entitled to 30 days of annual leave plus bank holidays (these will be pro-rated to reflect your hours).
Hours of work: As a remote and largely part-time team, we offer a great deal of flexibility. We’re ideally looking for someone who can work 21 hours/week spread over three or more days of the week. We need someone who can commit to some regular team meetings, including quarterly away days which might fall outside of your normal working pattern. Otherwise, we trust you to set the schedule which works best for you.
Location: Our team works remotely. The team does meet in London quarterly for away days, for which travel is paid for. Remote participation is possible to accommodate access needs.
Contract: This is a fixed term 1-year contract, with the possibility of extension subject to funding. You will have a probation period of 3 months.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
As a strengths-based organisation, we value the unique perspectives, experiences and insights that each person brings to our team. We are a small, agile and highly flexible team committed to continual improvement. We believe in equity, diversity and inclusion and welcome all candidates to apply, especially those who can bring lived experience similar to the young people we support. We welcome requests for reasonable adjustments to make the recruitment process more accessible.
Submit your CV & cover letter by 9am on Tues, 1st Sep.
Click 'Apply Now' & review the PDF recruitment pack on the righthand menu for full details on the recruitment process.
Please ensure you follow the guidance in the pack about what to include in your cover letter and CV.
You are welcome to use AI to help you draft your application.
However please note that generic cover letters which are not tailored to this role, and/or which are AI-written without specific examples drawn from your experience about each aspect of who we're looking for, will not be successful.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The young people, children and families that we support are at the heart of everything we do at Mermaids. The work that we do has significantly expanded and we now need a highly effective and experienced Youth Advocacy Manager to join the organisation. The Youth Advocacy Manager plays a crucial role in empowering trans youth, advocating for their rights and fostering inclusive and supportive communities where they can thrive. This role is a core part of our management team and will drive the organization to ensure that youth voice is centred across all of our work.
Mermaids is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from those with lived experiences (directly or indirectly) and/or close ties to the LGBTQ+ community. We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to join us and shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from BPOC (black and people of colour) and/or disabled and trans candidates.
Supporting trans, non-binary and gender-diverse children, young people and their families since 1995
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The purpose of this role is to lead the design and delivery of learning programmes that help social entrepreneurs create lasting impact. You’ll take direct responsibility for facilitating cohorts as well as leading 1-2-1 coaching and diagnostics, and delivering Action Learning Sets, SSE’s long-standing peer-coaching method (training provided). You’ll hold accountability for the quality of programmes allocated to you. You’ll work alongside our learning facilitators and our learning and enterprise development managers to ensure every programme stays true to our action learning approach.
As SSE deepens its focus on commercial acumen and scale-up support, you’ll help make sure that direction reaches every cohort you work with — keeping your programmes as sharp, practical and impactful as everything else we do. You’ll bring your own commercial awareness to how you facilitate, and build relationships with contributors, speakers and specialists who can bring real-world commercial expertise into the room for your cohorts.
You’ll succeed in this role if you believe in what social entrepreneurship can achieve and want to support social ventures to grow and create more impact in their communities and beyond.
To equip people with skills, funding, and networks to realise their potential, improve lives and protect the planet.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Social entrepreneurs scaling their ventures face a specific set of challenges including income generation, hiring, governance, hard calls about growth and risk, all alongside scaling their social impact. We’re recruiting learning and enterprise development managers who’ve lived that journey themselves, to bring first-hand credibility and challenge directly to the entrepreneurs on our scale-up and scale-up-plus programmes.
You’ll hold ownership of SSE’s scale-up approach, shaping our learning content on strategy, profitability and the systems that hold a growing venture together – grounded in what actually works, not just what’s written down. Facilitation sits at the heart of this role. You’ll design and deliver learning programmes and group sessions for cohorts of entrepreneurs as well as leading 1-2-1 coaching and diagnostics, and delivering Action Learning Sets, SSE’s long-standing peer-coaching method (training provided).
We’re looking for people who’ve founded or led a VCSE with an annual turnover of £100,000 or more and held financial accountability such as statutory reporting to the Charity Commission and, where relevant, Companies House, reporting to a board or funders, and making hard calls about growth, income and risk.
You’ll succeed in this role if you believe in what social entrepreneurship can achieve and want to turn your experience into supporting social ventures to scale and create more impact in their communities and beyond
To equip people with skills, funding, and networks to realise their potential, improve lives and protect the planet.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.