Head of strategic partnerships and research jobs

The National Youth Agency is looking for a new Policy and Public Affairs Manager to join our Policy, Insights and External Affairs Team.
 
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £37,000 - £42,000 per annum, depending on experience
Remote: This role is homebased with travel for meetings, events and conferences and staff residentials.
 
What we do
 
As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.
 
We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work
 
About the Role
 
This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of youth work in England. As Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the National Youth Agency (NYA), you’ll play a central role in influencing national policy and driving change that impacts young people’s lives.
 
We’re looking for a dynamic and strategic individual to join our Policy, Insights and External Affairs Directorate. You’ll work closely with the Head of Policy and Public Affairs, line manage the Policy and Public Affairs Officer, and collaborate with colleagues and sector partners to deliver a bold and proactive policy agenda that champions youth work in policy making. Your work will ensure the voice of the NYA and the youth sector is placed at the heart of national policy and funding decisions.
 
This role is central to driving NYA’s policy impact: you will lead high-profile policy projects, build strong relationships with political and policy stakeholders, produce influential written outputs, curate strategic events, and represent the organisation at key external engagements. You’ll also be at the forefront of monitoring and interpreting developments across Westminster - from government consultations to parliamentary debates - using these insights to shape our influencing and advocacy efforts.
 
This is an exciting time to join the NYA. Your work will directly contribute to meaningful change for young people, helping to secure the recognition, investment and support that youth work deserves.
 
Key responsibilities for this role will include:
 

• Work with the Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Policy and Public Affairs Officer, and key internal and external stakeholders to help design, manage and deliver a cutting-edge policy agenda and stakeholder outreach programme
• Line manage the Policy and Public Affairs Officer, delegating work effectively and supporting their professional development
• Identify and build positive relationships with key political and policy stakeholders who are critical to advancing our mission and amplifying the voice of the youth work.
• Manage policy projects, including drafting project plans, timelines and budgets, in collaboration with key internal and external stakeholders
• Monitor the shifting national policy and political landscape, including parliamentary inquiries, consultations, political briefings and government announcements, and advise internal and external stakeholders on opportunities and risks
• Provide the secretariat for the National Youth Sector Advisory Board (NYSAB), convening the youth sector with government departments
• Build strong relationships with peer organisations and stakeholders and identify opportunities for collaborative working to further NYA’s mission
• Organise high-quality events and policy seminars to raise the profile of the organisation
• Manage the creation of a range of high-quality written outputs for various audiences, including policy briefings, blogs and consultation responses
• Work closely with the Head of Policy and Public Affairs and Local Policy and Partnerships Manager to connect and align our national and local policy influencing and work
• Represent the NYA at external meetings and events
• Please refer to our Candidate Pack for more information on the role and the requirements.

 
Why Work for NYA?
 

• NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
• NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
• A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
• NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
• We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.

How to Apply:
 
To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Sunday 14th September 2025:

• A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
• A covering letter (maximum two sides) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the About You section.
• We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.

 
Please note: the covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 30% AI generated content with be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.
 
The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.
 
At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.
 
We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.
 
REF-223415

Making The Leap is an innovative societal change charity that aims to make a big difference. From direct delivery, to advocacy and leadership, we refuse to stay in our lane and believe passionately that those we exist to serve have the right to be anything they want to be. To say that this is an exciting time for the organisation would be an understatement, as our incredible funders, donors, partners and supporters have given us the chance to move to the next level, and have further influence and delivery nationally.

The ethos of the organisation is to be passionate about helping young people from less-advantaged backgrounds; build up other charities and community groups and want to partner with them or support them; want to work with businesses and organisations to get things done; and care deeply about addressing racial inequity.

The organisation has a number of strands: core Making The Leap; the UK Social Mobility Awards; the Social Mobility Podcast; The Social Mobility List and Black Charity Leaders.

About Bond

Bond is the UK network for organisations working in international development. We unite and support a diverse network of over 400 civil society organisations to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice. We strengthen and champion the sector to make international development more efficient and effective. We work to influence governments and policy-makers, develop the skills of people in the sector, share expertise, and build organisational capacity and partnerships.

About the role

£45,565 FT fixed 10 months, with possible extension depending on funding

Main purpose of the job

A fantastic opportunity has emerged to join Bond’s communications team, as its new Media Adviser.

This position will add capacity to Bond’s media function to help build Bond’s media presence, support the delivery of Bond’s strategy and support the sector in championing humanitarian assistance and development that works to help those who need it the most. This post has two main purposes. Firstly, to coordinate and engage with communications and media specialists across the sector to address shared issues and achieve shared objectives together. Secondly, to maximise opportunities to achieve regular media coverage to help deliver Bond’s strategic objectives and services in appropriate sector press, in support of Bond’s strategy, positioning and reputation.

This role will work collaboratively across the organisation and the NGO sector and will help deliver a planned, strategic, consistent, and integrated approach to our media work.

Main responsibilities

Press office (30%)

• Act as prime contact for enquiries from press or other media representatives
• Identify matters on which collective action/comment from Bond and/or the wider sector may or may not be required
• Ensure consistent messaging around Bond’s media work and campaigns or sector initiatives in which Bond is engaged
• Write and sell-in collective letters, statements, opinion pieces, features, and responses to print, online and broadcast media
• Updating Bond’s press lists while developing and maintaining good relationships with key journalists in relevant media
• Record and report media coverage of Bond and parliamentary stakeholders, using Bond’s media monitoring platform to track coverage
• Use Bond’s media monitoring platform to track government announcements and parliamentary stakeholder activity
• Monitor and update the Bond team on relevant news stories and media trends
• Support the organisation of background briefings with journalists, press conferences and oversee media interviews
• Support media briefings to the chief executive and other Bond spokespeople around media interviews
• Develop and implement media, PR and messaging plans for Bond advocacy campaigns, working closely with the media and policy colleagues on messaging and strategic timing of campaigns.
• Listen to Parliamentary committee sessions for newsworthy information that Bond might want to publicly react to, such as the International Development Select Committee, where Ministers and senior civil servants are giving evidence.

Sector media work (30%)

• Represent our work externally with members, actively networking and working with other sector media staff to build and strengthen priority relationships
• Build media group to ensure it is up to date and includes organisations of all sizes and remits and accurately reflects our membership
• Update media group with Bond’s reactive media lines and share information about key government and parliamentary announcements
•  Share media coverage with Bond’s media group and Policy and Lobbying group when relevant.

Leading Bond’s media and PR work (20%)

• Ensure regular coverage of Bond’s work and services in appropriate sector media to support delivery of Bond’s organisational strategy
• Work closely with colleagues across Bond to develop and implement media and PR outputs for Bond products, services and marketing.
• Work closely with the corporate team to implement media and PR outputs for corporate partnerships and events. 
• Working with the Head of Media and Communication to develop Bond’s crisis communications plan to anticipate, prepare for and implement responses to crisis situations, or other situations where there is risk of damage to our brand and reputation.

News gathering and editorial (20%)

• Update the news section of Bond’s website to capture current stories and issue affecting the humanitarian and development sector.
• Source thought leadership blogs for distribution through various Bond channels and external media, including news stories, blogs, features and social media items
• Source opportunities to share Bond’s media coverage via Bond’s different channels including social media and in relevant Bond working groups
• Manage the editorial calendar recording key global dates and events and making the wider team aware of editorial and media opportunities around these dates.
• Provide editorial support to the team as and when necessary, including writing relevant blogs for the sector.

Other:

• To perform such other responsibilities as may be required from time to time in order to achieve the objectives of the Communications and Member Services Team and the organisation as a whole.
• This role will require regular out-of-hours working within Bond HR guidelines and will fill our 24x7 media response function.

Main contacts

Internally to Communications and Member Services Team, and works with the Policy, Advocacy and Research Team, Funding Manager and Safeguarding Manager, Bond’s members, particular media and communications professionals

Person Specification

Essential

•  Substantial experience working with the media, ideally in a media, PR, within an international NGO or as a journalist covering international development issues.
• Proven understanding of the major policy and operational issues currently influencing the work of international NGOs
• Proven network of contacts amongst influential UK print, online, broadcast and trade media.
• Excellent writing skills from press releases to op-eds to case studies and blogs.
• Clearly demonstrated ability to translate complex information into media-worthy content.
• Creativity and ability to persuasively tell and pitch stories.
• Understanding of the needs of online communications and social media.
• Proven experience of working under pressure and to tight deadlines in a busy press office.
• An initiative-taking, proactive, inspiring attitude with the ability to manage and prioritise an unpredictable workload and solve problems quickly with limited support.
• Strong influencing and networking skills with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Desirable

• Degree or equivalent experience in journalism or communications, or related areas.
• Experience of working for a membership organisation

Benefits

Bond offers a competitive salary and benefits package including:

• 27 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays, with additional staff privilege days, normally between Christmas and New Year
• 7% pension contributions (staff pay 3.5%) ​
• Flexible working hours (Hybrid working – 1 day, minimum in the office per month)
• Staff Development days
• Perk Box access
• Employee Assistance Programme
• WeCare (Health and wellbeing services, including access to 24/7 online GP services, second medical opinion, mental health support such as counselling, guidance from health professionals, burnout prevention, life event counselling, get fit programmes, nutritionist advice, etc. – for staff and immediate family)
• Interest-free season ticket loan

How to Apply

To apply submit your CV and cover letter by midnight on Sunday 14th September 2025.

In the cover letter we expect you to set out:

• Why you are interested in this role
• How you meet the role requirements
• Your understanding of equity, diversity, inclusion and why it matters in this role

Bond and Equal Opportunites

Bond values diversity and works to advance equity and inclusion. All staff have a responsibility to ensure that they are being open, accepting and respectful to all that they come into contact with within their work at Bond, regardless their protected characteristics. Acting in accordance with the EDI policy, Bond staff must contribute to our inclusive organisational culture ensuring that they are aware of and respond appropriately to micro-aggressions, racism, sexism, LQBTQ+ misconduct and disability equity. Bond Staff must not be bystanders, and must report when they witness any unacceptable behaviour.

In order to assess and ensure the continued effectiveness of Bond’s Equal Opportunities Policy, all applicants are asked to complete a short questionnaire when applying. You are not obliged to answer the questions but the more information you supply the more effectively we can monitor our equal opportunity practices. Completion of all questions is voluntary and failure to answer any question(s) will not affect your application in any way. 

The information you supply will be treated in confidence and will not be seen by any member of the selection panel responsible for the appointment. The questionnaire will be detached from your CV and cover letter, stored anonymously and used purely to provide statistics for monitoring purposes.

Privacy Note for Applicant

Our Privacy Notice for applicants can be found on application.

Subject of Employment at Bond

If successful, you must have the right to work for the duration of your contract at Bond. All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references. Bond also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

You will raise awareness of crime prevention and share stories about communities around the country. As we are a small team, we need to be flexible and support each other, which adds variety to the role. One day you might be creating content for our social media channels, and the next you might be welcoming a Minister to the office.

We are looking for a team-player with excellent written, verbal and digital communication skills. You’ll need to have good attention to detail and be proficient in social media and video production.

You’ll also need to be willing and able to help upskill our volunteers to be able to produce social media content. Being a national organisation across two countries, this role may require some travel to get out and about and support our members.

We are seeking a part-time, motivated and organised Income Generation Manger to support our fundraising efforts and help grow our income. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone looking to develop their career in income generation within the charity sector. The postholder will lead on our very successful corporate sponsorship programme and will develop our individual giving programme. The role will be an opportunity to develop and lead programmes while being supported by the CEO and Senior Management Team with a chance to make a real impact. 

About Equally Ours: 

We’re the UK charity that brings together people and organisations working across equality, human rights and social justice to make a reality of these in everyone’s lives. Our vision is a just and compassionate society, where we are free from harm and can all contribute and flourish, whoever we are, whatever we believe in, and whatever we do and don’t have. A society that is equally ours.

About the role: 

We are seeking a Membership and Communications Officer to support our Policy and Public Affairs team and lead on engaging our members.  

You will be the main point of contact for our members and support our Policy team in building relationships within and mobilising the collective voice of our membership to influence public policy and drive long-lasting, systemic change.  

The successful candidate will have a passion for human rights, equality and social justice, and strong interpersonal, communication and organisational skills.   

Why Equally Ours? 

• Generous benefits including enhanced pension, 26 days of annual leave, health and wellbeing support, and more.

• Flexible working arrangements to help you balance your professional and personal life.

• A collaborative culture that values lived experience alongside professional expertise.

If you are looking for an opportunity to use your skills to drive meaningful social change, we would love to hear from you.

How to Apply:

Please read through the full job pack and then submit your CV and cover letter (max 2 pages) outlining your interest in the role and how you meet the criteria. Please ensure that you address all the criteria, providing sufficient relevant evidence, including examples, to show how your skills and experience match those required in the person specification. Applications without cover letters will not be accepted. 

Closing date for applications: 11.30pm on the 7th Sept 2025