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Salary: £35,159 to £36,935 (starting salary range)
Working pattern: Full-time, Permanent (35 hours per week)
Pension: USS
Annual leave: 25 days plus 8 bank holidays, 3 well-being days, and a Christmas office closure
Location: Hybrid, flexible working model with an office located in central London. Occasional UK-wide travel for GHE and relevant events.
Reports to: Policy Manager (Skills, Innovation, International)
Purpose
GuildHE is seeking an ambitious Policy Officer to play a pivotal role in the next phase of our organisation’s growth. Working directly with the Head of Research Policy and the Policy Manager (Skills, Innovation, International), you will help monitor, analyse, and respond to policy initiatives within the research and innovation space. You will support a range of member-focused events and activities to ensure staff in our member institutions are well-informed and supported. This includes supporting the management of the GuildHE Research Consortium and leading on the organising and delivery of our flagship annual PGR Doctoral Festival, helping our members develop, share best practices, and maximise their research impact.
Key Responsibilities
Policy Analysis & Communication
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Horizon Scanning: Monitor government departments (e.g., DSIT, DfE), funding and regulatory bodies (UKRI, Research England, OfS, Innovate UK), and other stakeholders for policy updates, funding calls, and consultation launches in relation to Research and Innovation policy.
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Briefings: Produce concise policy briefings, data summaries, and position papers for GuildHE members and leadership on key Research and Innovation issues (e.g., REF, knowledge exchange, KEF, commercialisation, research culture, open research). Develop high-quality external reports, consultations, blogs and other materials articulating member challenges and opportunities.
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Consultation Drafts: Assist senior policy colleagues in gathering evidence, analysing member feedback, collaborating with sector stakeholders, and drafting compelling arguments that articulate the unique perspectives of GuildHE institutions.
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Share Best Practice: Identify case studies across the GHE membership to share best practice internally and externally and drive national conversations about new ways of working and operating in the sector.
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Policy issues: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of national and institutional research and innovation policies indicated by the Head of Research Policy or Policy Manager (Research, Innovation, International).
Member Support & Consortium Coordination
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Member Engagement: Maintain regular, positive communication with research and innovation leads across member institutions, fostering a collaborative network. Support relevant GuildHE member networks, including the Knowledge Exchange, Innovation and Place network, promoting communication, collaboration, and best practice exchange to inform evidence-based policy development.
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Member development: Provide support for timely implementation of good practice guidelines and associated resources, within agreed budgets. This includes assisting with members' business development initiatives, such as Research Degree Awarding Powers.
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Event Delivery: Develop and deliver content for events including the GuildHE Research Consortium meetings, the Research and Knowledge Exchange Symposium, PGR Doctoral Festival, the PGR Network for global majority students and sandpits/match events, workshops and roundtables.
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Shared Services: Collaborate with other GHE teammates to maintain and deliver our shared services (i.e. research outputs repository, shared postgraduate online training, research impact tracking and researcher development tools) and explore new services in response to members’ needs
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PGR Students: Develop and deliver initiatives for postgraduate students and early career researchers (e.g., our PGR Support Programme and associated student networks), working closely with the Policy Manager (Student Experience) to ensure postgraduate students are reflected in broader student support policies.
The postholder will also be expected to:
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Actively support the delivery of the GuildHE strategy.
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To contribute positively to a small, professional team focused on delivering excellence in their members’ interests.
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Support GuildHE events and communication activities as appropriate - including campaigns, writing articles, blogs and press releases.
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Build strong relationships with key stakeholders at HE institutions and sector agencies, including senior leaders, academics, and policy staff.
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Gather feedback from HE institutions and use this to inform the continuous improvement of our services.
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Demonstrate a proactive approach to embedding EDI principles within all policy development and advocacy efforts.
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Represent GuildHE externally on a range of HE sector groups and projects and deputise for the Head of Research Policy or the Policy Manager (Skills, Innovation and International) as appropriate.
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Undertake any other reasonable duties as may be required.
Person Specification
Core Skills
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Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain strong relationships
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Clear, concise writing skills for drafting policy responses, reports, and emails to senior stakeholders with excellent attention to detail.
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Problem-solving, Influencing and advocacy skills
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Ability to digest complex, lengthy policy documents and extract key themes relevant to GuildHE members.
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Confident digital skills and highly proficient user of computer packages including MS Office and G Suite
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Ability to manage multiple tasks effectively, adhere deadlines, and maintain project momentum. This includes the capacity to monitor progress, identify and mitigate potential risks, and proactively address challenges.
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Experience in using data and evidence to enhance and impact assess activities.
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Facilitation and convening skills would be advantageous
Core Attributes
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Ability to build professional relationships quickly and sustainably with members and a wide range of stakeholders
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Able to meet deadlines, to prioritise work and to anticipate issues and problems with strong attention to detail
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A collaborative, communicative and flexible team player who is also comfortable working independently.
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An individual who shares our values of equity and inclusion and can translate these values into day to day work and impactful outcomes.
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An understanding of, or a keen interest in, the UK higher education sector, research funding landscape, or public policy.
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To be willing to travel across the UK for meetings with members, stakeholders and events and to work flexibly, when and where necessary.
Ideal Experience
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Knowledge and understanding of higher education policy, working in research and innovation and/or supporting a research environment.
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Experience of developing policy positions and responses
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Experience in synthesising complex data and/or ideas
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Experience in supporting training and development
Job Advert
GuildHE is a formal representative body, representing diversity in the higher education sector and the widest variety of institution types across the UK. We are undergoing an exciting period of transformation, evolving our policy approach and member-focused services to significantly increase our impact within the sector and ensure we’re providing timely, proactive support to our members as they address emerging 21st century challenges.
GuildHE is seeking an ambitious Policy Officer to play a pivotal role in the next phase of our organisation’s growth. Working directly with the Head of Research Policy and the Policy Manager (Skills, Innovation, International), you will help monitor, analyse, and respond to policy initiatives within the research and innovation space. You will support a range of member-focused events and activities to ensure staff in our member institutions are well-informed and supported. This includes supporting the management of the GuildHE Research Consortium and leading on the organising and delivery of our flagship annual PGR Doctoral Festival, helping our members develop, share best practices, and maximise their research impact.
If you think you can bring bold, creative and proactive energy to our small-and-mighty team to help take us to the next level, we want to hear from you!
Application closing date: Monday 12th July
Interviews: Tuesday 21st July
Curious about the role? Please contact DanaGamble, Policy Manager for more information
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer, and nearly one million people are living with it today. Behind every number is a person, a family, and a need for better support, care and hope.
What would it take to turn an idea into something that improves lives at scale? And how do we make sure good innovations do not get stuck, but reach the people who need them?
At Alzheimer’s Society, innovation is how we turn ideas into real world change. We identify, support and invest in solutions that improve diagnosis, care, access to treatment and help prevent crisis. Our Innovation Programme has supported more than 60 innovations, reaching over 1.5 million people and helping partners secure millions in further funding.
We are looking for an Innovation Officer (Portfolio) to help grow and strengthen this impact. You will sit within our Innovation Team in the Research and Influencing Directorate, supporting performance, relationships and learning across our investment portfolio.
This role is about helping good ideas go further and making sure they deliver real benefit for people affected by dementia.
What does it look like when innovation truly works in the real world?
What you’ll do
You will manage relationships with our innovation portfolio partners, monitoring progress, impact and reach, seeking opportunities for wider implementation and scale of innovations, how can we drive opportunities for wider adoption and growth of innovations?
You will help us understand the impact of our innovation portfolio by turning project data into clear, useful insight through dashboards and analysis. .How do we frame data to focus on outcomes and emphasise real world change?
You will track the return on investment of innovations within the portfolio, monitoring quarterly sales and annual returns to understand whether innovations are delivering the expected impact and sustainability. How do we balance impact, growth and financial return?
You will help with operational delivery, including due diligence, contracting, and invoicing. How do we keep the behind the scenes work steady so innovation can move forward?
You will also help share the work of our team and innovators we support through events, communications, and engagement. How do we make impact feel real and support innovations to be accessible to others?
You will support learning and evaluation to understand what works and why. How do we make space for learning, not just delivery?
Key responsibilities include:
- Manage portfolio partner relationships through regular engagement, meetings, and stakeholder support
- Develop and maintain impact metrics and dashboards to track portfolio performance, returns, and impact
- Monitor financial performance including sales, returns, and quarterly partner reporting
- Review and analyse partner reports to identify progress, risks, and key themes across the portfolio
- Support income-generation opportunities by identifying routes for testing, implementation, and scaling
- Monitor compliance requirements including contractual obligations and brand-licensing agreements
- Lead evaluation activity by designing, commissioning, and monitoring evaluations with partners
- Prepare and coordinate partner representation and involvement in meetings and events
- Support operational processes such as invoicing, due diligence, contracting, and onboarding of new partners
- Collaborate across teams and contribute to continuous improvement of portfolio management and reporting
About you
You care about work that makes a difference. You are curious, open to learning, and comfortable working across information, people and processes.
You might come from innovation, partnerships, health, charity or the public sector. Or somewhere completely different.
We do not expect you to know everything on day one. We care more about how you think and how you work with others.
If you meet some of the criteria but not all, we would still really like to hear from you.
- You are interested in understanding what is working and what is not, and why
- You enjoy working with others to keep things moving
- You can manage multiple pieces of work and notice what matters most
- You communicate clearly, even when information is complex or changing
- You find practical ways forward when things are not straightforward
We are building innovation that transforms lives. This role helps make sure that happens.
Interviews for are provisionally scheduled to take place on the 14th July via MS Teams
About Alzheimer's Society
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 groundbreaking 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 Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.
We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society.
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.
Our hiring process
During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply. Please also contact Alzheimer's Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.
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. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.
We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.
We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a Criminal Record Check at the relevant level. You can read more information via our Website.
Giving back to you
Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society.
You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it's like to be an employee at the Society.