Policy officer jobs in Edinburgh, scotland

Policy Officer

Join a nature restoration charity, whose mission is to restore beavers to regenerate our landscapes.

We are looking for a Policy Officer to influence national policies and strategies that enable the restoration of beavers, rivers and wetlands.

Position: Policy Officer

Location: Remote, resident in mainland Britain

Hours: Full or part-time. 4 days per week (30 hrs), 4.5 days per week (33.75 hrs) or 5 days per week (37.5 hrs)

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £29,403 per annum, pro rata

Closing Date: 9:00am on Monday 20th April 2026. We reserve the right to interview candidates and close the ad ahead of the closing date, should a strong candidate be identified.

Interview Date: Online interviews will be held on Tuesday the 12 May. You will be asked to give a short presentation to the interview panel and may also be given a task to undertake during the interview

About the Role

Working closely with and supporting the Policy Lead, the role involves engaging with stakeholders to build strong, effective relationships and help drive policy change in support of the charity’s mission. Sitting in the Influencing team, the Policy Officer will collaborate across the organisation, including with Restoration, Communication & Education, Fundraising, and Support & Governance teams.

Key areas of responsibility include:

• Research and monitor changes in policy and legislation with direct and indirect impacts on beaver restoration across Britain.
• Draft relevant responses, policy documents and political briefings.
• Organise policy events and meetings to support influencing work.
• Monitor the policy positions and activities of stakeholder organisations, including partners and those with opposing views.
• Cultivate and maintain stakeholder relationships, including with politicians, government officials, and partners to bolster support for the trust’s policy positions.
• Represent the organisation at meetings and events, including those of Wildlife & Countryside Link, Wales Environment Link, and Scottish Environment LINK coalitions.
• Support delivery of campaigns.
• Personal data administration to ensure compliance with the GDPR
• Work closely with the wider team to ensure cross organisational working to maximise influencing impact.

About You

You will have an understanding of the environmental policy landscape - including agri–environment schemes - across Britain at both local and national levels. With strong influencing and communication skills, you will have the ability to articulate policy positions clearly and persuasively to support policy change.

You will have proven ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of external stakeholders, including those who may hold differing or opposing views. For example government officials, NGOs, partners, and landowners.

With the ability to synthesise, interpret and apply scientific research to inform policy development and advocacy, you will have:

• Experience of producing high-quality reports, briefings and written communications for diverse audiences.
• Highly organised, proactive and self-motivated, with a strong commitment to the organisation’s mission and values.
• IT and visual content creation skills.
• Willingness to travel extensively across Britain for work, including frequent overnight stays, with access to transport to get to areas not covered by bus/rail.

All shortlisted candidates will be contacted by Thursday the 30 April. If you have not heard from us by this date, please accept our thanks for applying and assume that you were not shortlisted on this occasion.

About the Organisation

Join a nature restoration charity, restoring beavers to regenerate our landscapes. Our client’s team is small with a diverse skillset and extensive experience in beaver ecology and restoration, human-wildlife coexistence, and policy. They provide practical solutions to help people to co-exist with beavers and influence legislation in Scotland, Wales and at Westminster that rebuilds ecosystems, improves river health, and strengthens climate resilience in a time of ecological and climate crisis.

Benefits include:

• 25 days holiday, plus Christmas day through to New Year’s Day paid, plus 6 days of floating holidays.
• Flexible approach to hours of work.
• Travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses will be met by the trust in
• Pension contribution of 3% of your total pay each month
• One-off contributions toward the cost of an ergonomic office chair and toward purchases of essential devices (laptop, mouse and smartphone)
• Monthly home working allowance, plus an annual contribution toward the maintenance and/or replacement of the essential devices.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment and are happy to make reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, especially those underrepresented in the environmental sector, including people of colour, disabled people, those from low-income backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ communities and all other protected characteristics

You may have experience in roles including Policy, Policy Officer, Policy Executive, Grants and Policy, Environment, Environmental, Environmental Policy, Environmental Policy, Nature. #INDNFP

Please note this role is advertised by the recruitment agency acting for the client – Not For Profit People. 

Policy Officer

Bowel Cancer UK is the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity. We’re determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. We support and fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.

We currently have employees working across four nations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we’re in a privileged position to be able to deliver our ambitious new strategy, On a Mission. There are huge challenges facing bowel cancer patients across the UK and our community needs us now more than ever. We’re building a strong and united team to bring us closer to a world where nobody dies of bowel cancer.

Job Sumnmary for Policy Officer 

We are looking for a Policy Officer to join our Policy and Influencing team. You will build on your policy experience, responding to and shaping policy to ensure it drives real change for people affected by bowel cancer. You will turn complex issues into clear, actionable insight for colleagues, partners, and decision-makers, and contribute to evidence-informed positions that support the charity in influencing health policy. You will also lead on your own policy areas and work closely with our bowel cancer community to ensure their experiences inform and shape our work.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Experience

• We welcome applicants from a broad range of experience and background, specifically spanning policy, science or health
• Some direct experience of working on policy issues in health, or a relevant sector, and a willingness to develop these skills further, alongside an interest in those issues affecting bowel cancer patients.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Good verbal, written communications and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively and adapt style to different audiences. Including the ability to explain information clearly and encourage colleagues to understand different points of view
• Proven ability of strong analytical and research skills to identify and solve a range of problems
• Good interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• Understanding of the health policy and political environment
• Excellent organisational, time and project management skills with the ability to prioritise work, handle conflicting demands and meet tight deadlines on defined work areas
• Proven ability to support the day-to-day management of specified projects, proving some technical input in the project planning stage.
• Knowledge of the health service and health service policy issues. Awareness of cancer issues and bowel cancer in particular is desirable

Please refer to the Job Description for further details. 

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and at Bowel Cancer UK we are committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Successful candidates may be subject to either a satisfactory basic, standard or enhanced DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dependent upon the role.

Policy and Public Affairs Officer at the British Liver Trust  

Communications Team 

Building momentum, Changing lives 

The British Liver Trust is the UK’s leading charity supporting children and adults affected by liver disease and liver cancer. We advocate for improved prevention, early detection, and equitable access to care for all people affected by liver conditions across the UK. Liver disease is a public health emergency – it is the third leading cause of premature death in the UK, with deaths increasing by 400% over the past two generations. 

We believe that liver disease and liver cancer are at a tipping point. By taking bold action ourselves and with others, we will start to shift that balance and seize this moment. We are looking for an experienced policy officer to support us on this journey and to directly contribute to change.

This is an exciting time for the Trust as liver disease is increasingly being recognised as a priority by the NHS and we have recently launched our new organisation strategy.   

We are seeking a policy and public affairs professional to support existing work and support our advocacy with key stakeholders across the UK and to help improve outcomes and care for all liver disease patients.

The role  

• Run the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Liver Disease and Liver Cancer

• Support our policy development, including supporting our consultation responses

• Help secure parliamentary debates and speakers, and provide tailored and impactful briefings 

• Coordinate political outreach to grow our pool of supportive MPs 

• Monitor and horizon scanning 

• Represent the Trust at external meetings to amplify our profile and policy messaging

• Work closely with colleagues in the communications, outreach, roadshow and fundraising teams to ensure policy is embedded across the Trust’s work. 

The postholder will have the opportunity to influence change and improve outcomes and services for liver disease and liver cancer patients. 

Policy and Public Affairs Officer 

Salary £32,000 – £35,500 per annum  

Full time 35 hours per week  

Home-based with regular access to London and occasional visits to Winchester (HQ).  

We offer a range of benefits for our employees, including: 

• Life assurance 4x your salary starting from date of employment 

• 5% employer pension contribution, rising to 7.5% at 15 months and 10% at 27 months service (optional on contribution increase) 

• Holiday buy-back scheme (up to 3 days per annum) 

• 25 days paid annual leave (FTE) 

• BUPA health cash-back scheme; money back on everyday healthcare costs, 24/7 health advice line, employee assist programme, mental health support & wellbeing resources 

• Cycle-to-work scheme 

• Contractual sick pay offering up to five weeks’ full pay, dependant on length of service to support employee wellbeing 

• 3 days additional gifted leave between Christmas and New Year 

If you would like to apply for the role, please send:

• a covering letter explaining how your experience, skills and knowledge make you suitable for the role, with particular relevance to the Job Description

• an up-to-date CV, including two referees

Closing date: 5pm on Friday the 10th of April 

Interviews: to be held on Tuesday the 21st of April