Grassroots development officer jobs

Employer: Community Rail Network 

Salary: £43k-£51.5k pa, full time 

Location: Home based / flexible or Huddersfield 

We are seeking a dynamic director of policy and communications, to lead and develop our increasingly impactful external affairs activity. You’ll be sharing community insights and evidence with policy and decision-makers at national and devolved level, supporting a shift towards more inclusive and sustainable transport and mobility, while overseeing high-quality, inspiring member communications and thought-leadership, drawing on grassroots experiences.  
  

About us 

Community Rail Network is a national not-for-profit organisation supporting a growing ‘community rail’ movement, which helps communities get the most from their railways, promotes sustainable and inclusive travel, coordinates volunteering and place-making, and brings people together.

Community rail is made up of 76 community-based partnership organisations, and c.1,300 station friends volunteer groups and other community-led initiatives around Britain. Their activities range from creative projects for young people, to advising train operators on service improvements, to building travel confidence among marginalised groups, to biodiversity projects at stations, to promoting greener tourism by rail.

Our enthusiastic team of 24 works from home in different locations, but we come together regularly in person and online. We work collaboratively to support our members, provide training, events and resources, run campaigns, and champion community rail and its insights. We believe in developing our team and helping everyone reach their potential while having a good work-life balance.

About this role 

This role is crucial for us, our members and their communities, especially at the current time, with our need to seize on the opportunities of rail reform and devolution, promote wider use of sustainable transport, and bring communities together. You will spearhead our external affairs strategy and plans, building political relationships, influencing decision-making and raising awareness of community rail and its insights, while ensuring effective communications with our members and helping them to have a voice locally and regionally. You’ll be striving to put community rail at the forefront of a shift towards more inclusive and sustainable mobility.

As a member of our senior leadership team, reporting to and working closely with our chief executive, you will manage a passionate team of four, ensuring collaboration with our other teams, partners and funders, and drawing on members’ insights.

 
Main responsibilities 

• Lead the review, development and delivery of our communications, policy and insights strategy, working to position the community rail movement effectively, use its insights to influence policy change, and ensure our members are well-informed and have a voice; 

• Further strengthen our advisory and influencing work with national, devolved and regional government, transport bodies, parliamentarians and other decision-makers, especially around rail reform, transport devolution and integrated, inclusive, sustainable transport; 

• Ensure we’re engaging effectively with policy developments and opportunities, taking forward a programme of relationship-building, and identifying and engaging in relevant consultations, events and speaking opportunities, enabling community rail’s insights and experiences to be shared; 

• Collaborate with partners in rail, government and the third sector to feed in our expertise on community engagement with rail, amplify our campaigns, and build opportunities for joined-up communications and policy work;

• Continually develop and disseminate our evidence base and insights on the social, environmental and economic value community rail delivers, and opportunities to create greater benefits for communities from rail and transport; 

• Oversee high-quality, coherent and inspiring communications with our members and partners, promoting our work, and sharing news, opportunities, and good practice across the movement; 

• Manage production of high-quality resources, case studies and reports that our members can use to enhance their impact and which showcase community rail’s impact; 

• Lead and develop our media relations and awareness-raising PR, championing community rail and its messages on sustainable, inclusive travel and communities at national and regional level, while supporting members on local PR; 

• Develop our online presence and reach, making full use of our website, social media, our Scenic Rail Britain campaign, and partners’ channels to celebrate and position community rail and grow its reach and impact; 

• Oversee a calendar of creative and impactful campaigns that involve and empower our members, creating PR and engagement opportunities, including Community Rail Week;

• Play a key role in collective leadership, strategic focus and organisational development as a member of our senior leadership team, including through internal communications and cross-team working, annual planning, funder liaison and reporting, upholding our strategies and policies, and pursuing opportunities for continuous improvement. 

 
Skills and competencies 

1. Strong leadership and management skills, including experience managing, developing and drawing on a multi-faceted team delivering complex campaigns or projects, and budget management; 
2. Excellent communication and external leadership skills; articulate, assertive, and with the ability to work diplomatically and persuasively with stakeholders at all levels; 
3. An understanding of public affairs, ideally in relation to community development, sustainability and/or transport, and a demonstrable ability to identify influencing opportunities, deliver thought-leadership, and engage with policy-makers, including sharing community insights; 
4. Politically astute, with awareness of and commitment to social inclusion, social justice and sustainability, and a good grasp of the importance of public transport sustainable travel, and community-led action, to these agendas; 
5. Understanding of political processes and experience of engaging with policy and decision-making, ideally at national, devolved and local levels; 
6. Sound knowledge of communication and marketing methods and channels, and ability to oversee messaging and targeting of public and professional audiences, and to align content across multiple channels; 
7. A demonstrable ability to think analytically and draw on statistical and qualitative research to construct robust, evidence-based arguments; 
8. Experience of working with the media and achieving coverage at national, regional and local level; 
9. Experience working collaboratively with partners and ideally funders to deliver communications and policy activity and forming professional networks; 
10. Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines while dealing with competing priorities, and to support team members to do so; 
11. IT literate with a good working knowledge of Office, the internet and social media; 
12. Appropriate qualifications and professional development demonstrating knowledge and skills in line with the above, and a commitment to ongoing learning and development.

Other information

As you will be home-based, we are flexible about your location. However, you will be expected to travel to in-person full team meetings quarterly (usually in West Yorkshire), and you will need to bring your team together (currently all West Yorkshire based) with similar regularity in between. Attendance at in-person events and meetings is also important. We therefore welcome applications from those with decent public transport links, not too far from a railway station, to enable journeys to be made sustainably.   

This is a full-time position, 37 hours per week. We use a flexi-time system with core hours 10am-3pm, and are committed to being a flexible, supportive and understanding employer. This is a permanent position with a probationary period of six months.   

Community Rail Network is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from disabled people and Black, Asian and other minoritised groups, who meet with the skills and competencies for this role. We will provide reasonable adjustments for interviews as required.  

Assistant Benefits Advisor
Salary £24,000 FTE (rising to £27,000 per year FTE after 1 year and completion of training) 
17.5 - 21 hours per week, 6.6 weeks holiday   
Remote working with occasional travel for events and meetings in West Sussex

Are you passionate about working with SEND families? 
Do you have the transferable skills and qualities to train as a benefits advisor?

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join a rapidly growing caring charity with the benefits of flexible family friendly working (from home), generous holiday, pension scheme, travel expenses, laptop and phone provided.  

Reaching Families was established in 2008 to empower, inform and support parent-carers and families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in West Sussex.  We achieve this through the delivery of our services providing information, training and peer support.

Our Benefits Advice Service provides support to parents of children and young people with SEND in West Sussex applying for Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independent Payments (PIP).  Offering 1-2-1 advice sessions on the above benefits, support with claim checking of draft applications, information resources on benefits and other sources of financial support, and training workshops on DLA, PIP and Universal Credit.

We are looking to recruit a skilled and motivated Assistant Benefits Advisor to join our team
The post holder will be responsible for supporting our Benefits Advisor with the delivery of information, advice and guidance on Carers Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to parent-carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in West Sussex.  This is a training role with the view to promotion to Benefits Advisor following completion of training. 

Person Specification (essential):
• Understanding of challenges facing parents and carers of children with SEND 
• Passionate about improving the life chances of children with SEND and their parents/carers, and families
• A highly motivated self-starter with a flexible approach to working life 
• A creative and strategic thinker 
• Committed to professional and personal development and lifelong learning 
• Ability to work independently and manage a diverse and demanding workload 
• Comfortable working with people from a diverse range of backgrounds
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills
• Excellent writing and editing skills 
• Experience of using MS Office including SharePoint
• A good all-round education including GCSE’s (or equivalent) or NVQ level 2 

See attached job description for details and full criteria 

We welcome applications from all members of the community and value diversity in the organisation. Please contact us if you require any reasonable adjustments to be made to the application or interview process due to any disability or health requirements. 

Closing date for applications is 12th January 2026

Interviews to be held in Littlehampton on 21st/22nd January 2026

To apply please complete the attached application form and share why you feel you fit the role and person specification (see attached documents) 

Job title: Administrative Intern
Department: Executive Team
Responsible to: Governance and Executive Manager
Location: London (UK) - hybrid working
Salary: £24,444 gross per annum (London) (Pro rata for 3 months)
Working pattern: Full time, 38.5 hours per week
Duration of contract: Temporary (Mid-February to Mid-May)
Start date: As soon as possible

Are you looking for your first role or returning to work after a break?

We are looking for a friendly and reliable Administrative Intern to join our international charity team. You will be the first point of contact for the organisation, providing a welcoming and professional service to colleagues, partners and members of our global community, many of whom do not have English as their first language. You will support the smooth day-to-day running of the office by providing high-quality administrative support.

This is an entry-level role, and no previous work experience is required. We are looking for someone with a positive attitude who is a fast learner, enjoys helping others, and is keen to develop their administrative and customer service skills. You should have good telephone manners, be organised and comfortable using IT systems; experience with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Gmail) is desirable, but full training will be provided.

This is a full-time, temporary position with a hybrid working pattern (3 days in the office and 2 days working from home). If you are looking for your first role, returning to work after a break, or seeking short-term experience in office administration within a charity, this could be an excellent opportunity.

About us

Changing the world takes passion and dedication

UWC is a global movement of 18 schools across four continents with a shared mission: to make education a force for peace and a sustainable future. Each year, we bring together young people from over 150 countries and diverse backgrounds to live and learn together in richly diverse, international settings – developing not only academic excellence, but cross-cultural understanding and a drive for social impact. UWC students don’t just prepare for exams, they prepare to lead change. Through real-world challenges, they build the skills, compassion and courage to make a difference. 

Our students go on to become leaders in politics, NGOs, business, education and grassroots movements – people shaping a more just and sustainable world. Today, our global network includes more than 85,000 changemakers united by the values they lived at UWC. 

About UWC International 

UWC International is the operational arm of UWC, a UK-registered and Germany-registered charity at the heart of the global UWC movement. Based in London and Berlin, our team works closely with stakeholders across the UWC network and supports a global alumni community of over 85,000 changemakers.

Our work includes global fundraising, communications, promotion and support for the network of more than 150 UWC national committees. We also lead on global strategy and provide key services to UWC schools and colleges.

We are proud to reflect the diversity we champion. Our international team represents over 25 nationalities, bringing a wide range of perspectives and lived experiences. We are committed to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion (ARDEI) across all aspects of our work – ensuring our organisational culture reflects the values we promote across the UWC movement.

What we offer

As part of a commitment to our employees, we offer the following:

UWC International London and Berlin

• Hybrid working - We operate a generous hybrid working arrangement, and the post holder will be expected to commute to the office 2–3 days per week, with the remaining days worked from home.
• Flexible working hours - our standard working hours are 38.5 per week. We support flexible working and are happy to discuss different working patterns.
• Generous annual leave allowance – we offer 28 days holiday per year plus 8 public holidays (pro rata for part-time or fixed-term contracts).
• Paid leave for personal growth - up to 2 days per year for volunteering or up to 2 days per year for study leave. 
• Learning & development opportunities – we have access to various learning and development platforms to support your professional growth.
• In-person meetings: Yearly Staff Away Days, team retreats and travel to our international schools and international events as needed to create connected teams.

UWC International London

• Income Protection & well-being support - We offer income protection to all employees, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with access to a legal support helpline, remote GP appointments, medical second opinions, mental health support, physiotherapy, lifestyle coaching, personal trainer and nutritionist sessions, and a well-being calendar featuring podcasts and webinars. 
• Exclusive discounts & perks - with access to a range of discounts across shopping, dining, lifestyle and entertainment, with thousands of offers on hundreds of top retailers.
• Cycle to Work scheme and eyecare vouchers
• Enhanced maternity and enhanced paternity leave
• Higher-than-standard pension contribution scheme - UWC International will contribute up to 8% of the employee’s gross salary toward their Pension scheme with NEST.

Visa requirements

Anyone who applies to work at UWC International in London must have a work visa before starting employment, in compliance with the relevant immigration rules. Please provide confirmation of your eligibility to indefinitely work or reside in the UK in your application. Any offers of employment made by UWC International will be subject to a right-to-work check on your immigration status.

Application Process

Do you want to be part of our team? To apply, please submit an up to date copy of your CV along with a cover letter in English (each a maximum of 2 pages). 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. If you are interested, submit your application as soon as possible. 

Your cover letter must:

• Outline your experience, skills and competencies against the Person specification section in the attached Job Description. 
• Explain why you want to join UWC International.
• Provide confirmation of your eligibility to work or reside in the UK.
• Provide the name and contact details of two professional referees, including their job title, email address and the capacity in which you are known to them. References are taken up prior to the second round interviews. We will not contact your referees without first letting you know.

Please note that CVs received without a cover letter, including the information requested above will not be considered. 

Deadline for application: 11.59 AM (UK time) on Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Interview and/or assessment dates:  

• Interviews on Tuesday, 20 and Wednesday, 21 January 2026 (remote)

Safeguarding Statement

The job holder might have to travel to UWC schools and colleges. Therefore, a Basic DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service) or international equivalent will be required before any job offer is made. We will also take up references before the second stage of the interview process. Referees will not be contacted without your consent.

Diversity Statement

UWC places deliberate diversity at the heart of our educational model because of its critical importance in our mission ‘to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future’.

At the UWC International Office, we believe this commitment to deliberate diversity must be reflected within our team, organisational practices, policies and culture. We recognise people with different backgrounds, skills, attitudes and experiences bring fresh ideas and perceptions, and we encourage and leverage these differences to make our work more relevant and accessible.

We will not discriminate or tolerate discriminatory behaviour on any grounds such as, but not limited to, race, gender, disability, nationality, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, marital/partnership or family status, sexual orientation, age or socioeconomic background. 

We strive to be an inclusive workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging, has a voice, can raise concerns, and feels comfortable and confident. We expect everyone who works with us to share this commitment and to act accordingly as we aspire best to serve the UWC mission and our global community. It is an ongoing journey and we welcome all those ready to travel with us.

Job Purpose:

To support the delivery of WIPs housing programme in Manchester and Trafford, with a focus on women coming into contact with the police and women being released back into the community following a period on remand, providing trauma-informed specialist support to improve housing outcomes for women affected by the criminal justice system.

Key Responsibility Areas

1. To deliver an effective housing intervention for women impacted by the criminal justice system.
2. To develop effective relationships with key stakeholders, such as housing departments, court-based and prison teams, to ensure a collaborative approach to women’s accommodation needs.
3. To provide expert advice and support to colleagues, including upskilling through information and training sessions, and supporting system change activities.

For the full list of responsibilities, please download the recruitment pack.

Terms & Conditions:

Start date: TBC

Salary: £26,650 per annum

Location: Manchester & Trafford, based at the WomenMATTA women’s centre.

Working hours: 35 hours – Full time

Contract: Permanent

Job Purpose:

Terms & Conditions:

To Apply:

• Is restricted to women only as a genuine occupational requirement
• Requires the right to work in the UK
• Is subject to an Enhanced + Adult Barred List DBS check
• Is subject to successful HMPPS enhanced vetting