Global programmes director jobs

Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Bring your energy, creativity and expertise - and help us impact young people positively.

Location: Sherborne House, London (hybrid)

Salary: £52,535 per annum

Closing Date: 29 March, 2026

Employment Type: Permanent

Hours per week: 37.5

About the Role

Step into a role where your policy expertise drives real change. As Head of Policy and Public Affairs, you’ll lead an ambitious strategy to influence national decision‑makers, shape legislation and ensure the voices of people affected by homelessness are impossible to ignore. You’ll turn insight into impact, championing our values while strengthening our political presence and public profile

You’ll build powerful relationships across Westminster, Whitehall and the wider sector, producing sharp briefings, commissioning research and delivering high‑profile events that elevate Depaul’s influence. Confident in the media and skilled at simplifying complex issues, you’ll work across teams to anticipate policy change, spark innovation and help drive forward our mission to end homelessness. If you’re driven, strategic and ready to make national change happen, this is your platform.

Key deliverables:

• Develop organisational policy positions on key strategic issues for Depaul UK, focusing on policy areas that matter for our client group including homelessness, housing, welfare, health and care leavers.

• Working with the Director of Development and External Affairs to deliver a multi-year policy and public affairs strategy, you will own its delivery, having demonstrable impact on policy through influencing legislation, as well as securing funding and commitments from the government .

• Work with the Executive Director of Fundraising and Communications and their team to improve Depaul’s public profile by giving us a louder political voice.

• Work with the Executive Director of Operations and their team to ensure Depaul is well positioned to respond to changes in policy and regulation.

• Work in partnership with Depaul UK’s Head of Data and Insights on research projects designed to influence policy.

• Monitor, analyse and report on policy developments which may impact on the work of Depaul UK.

• Provide high quality written and verbal briefings, reports and submissions to consultations.

• Work with senior colleagues to develop positive relationships for Depaul UK with ministers, senior officials, elected Mayors, Parliamentarians and with other policy influencers including our peers in the homeless sector.

• Ensure that the voices and experiences of clients are heard and understood to improve and change services delivered by Depaul, commissioners and policy makers.

• Give interviews to the media.

• Organise and coordinate events and meetings.

• Strengthen Depaul’s links with other voluntary sector organisations in the homelessness, youth and faith sectors.

• Contribute to Depaul International’s global influencing work.

What we are looking for from you (Person Specification)

When completing your application form please address all the areas below. Try to provide clear examples in your supporting statement that clarify how and when you gained the experience or knowledge as well as your level of capability.

To carry out this role we are looking for the following from you in terms of qualifications, experience, skills and competencies:

Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of the homelessness sector and policy context is desirable but not essential, it is essential that you have developed strong, specialist knowledge of a UK policy area or areas.

Experience and skills

• Having had demonstrable impact on government policy.

• Developing and maintaining positive relationships with Parliamentarians and officials

• Organising or helping to organise events, it is desirable but not essential that you have organised events in Parliament

• Leading projects with colleagues from different internal or external teams

• Delivering high quality verbal and written policy briefings and presentations to senior stakeholders

• Working with colleagues to secure media coverage

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to work on own initiative and with low levels of supervision

• Ability to prioritise key tasks and manage conflicting priorities

• Ability to deliver to deadlines, sometimes at short notice

• Desirable - drafting and delivering policy and/or public affairs plans/strategies

• Desirable - representing organisations in the media and at events

You will need to be able to travel throughout the UK and on occasions work out of hours.

You believe in people — their strengths, their rights and their potential. You bring empathy, energy and a solution‑focused mindset to your work. You communicate clearly, stay organised and adapt well in a fast‑moving environment. You’re committed to inclusion, fairness and continuous learning, and you turn values into meaningful action, whatever your role.

What You’ll Receive

• Tailored training and development
• Flexible working options where suitable
• 26 days annual leave, rising with service
• Family‑friendly leave policies
• Pension scheme with employer contributions up to 7%
• Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 GP access
• Discounts across retail, travel, food, fitness and more
• Cash health plan for you and your family
• Death‑in‑service benefit
• Access to legal and practical support

Safer Recruitment

Depaul UK is committed to fair and inclusive recruitment, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If a role requires it under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, we will carry out the appropriate Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. We only look at information that is relevant to the role, and a criminal record will never be treated as an automatic barrier to employment. All DBS information is handled sensitively, confidentially and in line with the DBS Code of Practice, and we encourage applicants to discuss any concerns with us openly.

About Depaul UK

In the 1980s, high unemployment and steep inflation was contributing to a shocking rise in youth homelessness across London. Thousands of young people were sleeping rough every night, with many areas notoriously dubbed “cardboard cities” due to the visible rise in street homelessness. Appalled by the scenes playing out across the capital, a group of people came together to tackle the challenge head on. Led by Cardinal Basil Hume and Mark McGreevy OBE, in 1989 Depaul UK was born.

What began as a single housing project in North London soon expanded across London, Greater Manchester and the North East of England. Today, Depaul UK provides accommodation, prevention and support services to thousands of marginalised young people across the UK each year.

As our name suggests, the work of Depaul UK has been inspired by St. Vincent de Paul – a man who devoted his life to helping vast numbers of people throughout the 17th century. St. Vincent de Paul’s belief in the intrinsic worth of all people and his commitment to taking bold action remain central to our values today. Depaul UK now forms part of a family of Depaul charities around the world. We each focus on the specific challenges in our own countries, but we’re united by our shared values and mission to end homelessness.

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

Do you share our dream of a UK where poverty is a thing of the past?  

Founded in 2019, the Poverty Truth Network believes this can only happen when those most impacted by poverty are at the heart of the movement to end it. Our specific contribution brings together people experiencing poverty with those with responsibilities for alleviating it.

We are now recruiting for an Administrative Coordinator to join our team. 

This is a key enabling role within a small, relational and values-led organisation. The Administrative Coordinator will provide coordinating and administrative support across the Network, helping ensure smooth systems, high-quality financial administrative and shared working practices across a dispersed team. 

You will be a highly organised and dependable administrator, with experience supporting finance and digital systems, and a clear commitment to social justice and relational ways of working. 

Key tasks include:

• Coordinating meetings, events and trustee processes 

• Providing hands-on finance administration, including bookkeeping using Xero 

• Supporting digital systems, CRM and data stewardship 

• Maintaining accurate records and shared documentation 

• Contributing to consistent, relational and accountable ways of working across the Network 

This role involves working from home with some travel. 

We welcome applications from people with the necessary skills and experience from all walks of life, particularly those from communities underrepresented in the charity sector. 

How to apply 

To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter (maximum 2 sides of A4) explaining how your skills and experience match this role. Please include the names and contact details of two referees (at least one of whom knows you in a professional capacity). 

The application deadline is 23:30 on Wednesday 25th March.

Interviews will be held online on 1st and 2nd April.

Applications will only be considered from applicants who already have the right to work within the United Kingdom. 

Citizens UK 

Citizens UK is the UK’s biggest, most diverse and most effective people-powered alliance. We bring communities and local organisations together to work on issues that matter; from campaigning for zebra crossings on dangerous roads, to reforming the immigration system, to the Living Wage campaign. We have a track record of winning change through hundreds of local and national campaigns. We know everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. We believe that through developing local leaders, we can drive nationwide change and create community-led solutions to big and small problems.

Living Wage Foundation 

The Living Wage movement began in 2001, after Citizens UK brought together communities in East London to discuss poverty and low pay. The campaign grew in momentum and soon required a mechanism to recognise employers who wanted to join the movement, which saw the establishment of the Living Wage Foundation in 2011.

Still part of Citizens UK today, the Living Wage Foundation continues to work with community organisations to make sure the voices of both workers and businesses are part of the Living Wage movement. We now work with over 16,000 employers, benefitting half a million people and winning over £3bn of better wages for people who need it most.

Citizens UK works with a broad base of institutions across the political spectrum. At the Living Wage Foundation, we take the same deliberately broad-based approach and accredit all organisations who pay the real Living Wage to their directly and indirectly employed staff and are committed to tackling in work poverty.  As a team we work across a range of industries and sectors to achieve this mission. We seek pragmatic coalitions to progress specific campaigns, and partnership around a particular issue such as Living Wage, does not imply an endorsement of broader purpose and policies.

Purpose 

The Living Wage Foundation has an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic team as a Communications Officer. We are looking for an exceptionally motivated and organised individual who enjoys working in a fast-paced, high-profile communications environment.

The role will support the objectives of the Living Wage Foundation and Citizens UK by communicating our work to a wide range of audiences, including senior business leaders and politicians, through a mix of communications methods: social media, newsletters, media outlets, website and internal communications channels. The role will be predominantly focused on work and wages activity through the Living Wage Foundation, but there will be opportunities to support cross-Citizens UK communications activity including for example: campaigns on housing, refugees and more. 

This post will be joining a Communications team that spans media, digital communications, research and events, with colleagues based across the UK with monthly in-person team meetings. 

The post holder will support the delivery of our media and press office activity, including monitoring media coverage, supporting with journalist enquiries, and helping to develop proactive press campaigns to build awareness of the Living Wage Foundation’s work. They will also support the creation of written and visual content across our channels and help monitor and manage our social media presence on a day-to-day basis. The role will work closely to support the Communications team’s work and help communicate the work of the wider-team and our employer network. 

The role is also responsible for key communications with our network of over 16,000 accredited Living Wage Employers, including our monthly newsletters, blogs, videos and case studies to celebrate our network of accredited employers   

The position would suit an applicant with strong written and communication skills, with some experience of working within a communications team and a passion for press work, social media and content creation.  

We don’t expect you to have experience of all areas of this job. Training will be provided to help you develop into this role. 

Main Responsibilities 

Working as a Communications Officer for the Living Wage Foundation, reporting to the Media Manager, your main responsibilities will include: 

Media 

• Contribute to media strategies and plans that help to win public, business and political support for the Living Wage Foundation and its work 

• Write compelling press releases, blogs and opinion editorials to promote the Living Wage Foundation’s work 

• Support story gathering and storytelling development with workers, employers and others affected by low pay and insecure work, ensuring lived experience and employer voices are reflected effectively across media work and wider communications platforms 

• Build effective relationships with the media, colleagues and other stakeholders to find new ways to raise our profile 

• Monitor and evaluate media campaigns and reports

• Maintain and regularly update communications resources, including press contact lists, internal databases and other media materials 

• Participate in the out of hours duty press (being on hand to very occasionally answer emails and phone calls in the evenings or weekends) 

Social and digital media 

• Oversee our digital communications channels to raise awareness of the Living Wage and our wider accreditation schemes, champion responsible employers and grow our movement. 

• Help the team keep up to date with social media trends and opportunities.

• Create, manage and schedule posts for our social media channels including, LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and YouTube, tailoring the content to different channels and audiences. 

• Monitor our social media channels, replying to enquiries from the public and our networks of supporters and employers and flagging any potential issues to the wider team 

Content creation 

• Working with the communication team, design and implement engaging digital engagement campaigns for Living Wage Employers and supporters, and to support Living Wage Foundation campaigns.

• Design communications collateral to increase engagement on social media, including creation and editing of short-form videos for our online channels and creation of social media graphics. 

• Improve our digital offering for our network of accredited Living Wage, Living Hours and Living Pension Employers, by creating resources and improving our communications support. 

• Liaise with the Living Wage and Citizens UK team to keep up-to-date with news to share with key stakeholders 

• Collate and summarise content to schedule newsletters and updates for our varied audiences. 

• Support in adoption of updated brand across our communications content and materials, supporting others to use brand and tone of voice guidelines. 

• Sourcing and creating original content for both the Living Wage Foundation and external websites, including creating blog posts, news, guidance and general pages. 

• Auditing and reviewing existing website content to ensure it is effective and up-to-date. Support on improvements and developments where necessary. 

Network communications 

• Drafting email communications to support the experience of our network of accredited employers, including regular newsletters as well as automated email content for new accreditations.

• Work closely with the Operations and Insight team to put in place the communications infrastructure to help our network of employers engage with us online, e.g. utilising our online dashboard for accredited members and creating new resources.

General 

• Administrate and facilitate communications team meetings. 

• Communications support for key events and campaign moments including the annual Champion Awards and Living Wage Week 

• Monitor communications outputs, analyse performance data and evaluate impact to support learning and improvement across our communications work 

Person Specification

(D) Desirable, (E) Essential 

Experience 

• Experience working within a Communications team or function (E)

• Experience using graphic design software (e.g., Canva, Adobe Creative Suite).  (D)

• Experience filming and editing video content (D) 

• Experience using website content management systems (CMS) such as Drupal, WordPress or similar (D)

• Experience of using social media scheduling tools (D)

• Experience of supporting press office or media relations work (D)

 Key skills and knowledge 

• Excellent knowledge of a wide range of social media channels and good awareness of current social media trends and developments (E)

• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to produce clear original content for different audiences and use digital tools (including AI) appropriately and responsibly (E)

• Excellent attention to detail (E)

• Ability to create high-quality and engaging content for social media (whether for a personal or business account) and a good understanding of what makes compelling content (E)

• Strong analytical skills and ability to evaluate the success of a campaign(E)

• Ability to build strong relationships with colleagues and external stakeholders(E)

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders (E)

• Ability to plan and prioritise workload effectively, manage competing demands, and flag capacity issues early to support effective team planning(E)

• Good IT skills, including experience using Microsoft Office(E)

• Creative thinker and problem solver (E)

• Excellent planning, organisation, and prioritisation skills (E)

• Creative with an eye for design and ability to come up with new ideas for content(E)

 Personal qualities & values 

• Interest in media and the news landscape (E)

• An interest and enthusiasm for communications and marketing, and the mission of the Living Wage Foundation (E)

• Highly self-motivated with ability to work well independently as well as part of a team (E)

About the application process 

We work within diverse communities bringing people together. In line with our Inclusion value, we would love to see applications from LGBTQIA+ people, people from racialised communities, people living with disabilities and people of faith, all to better represent the communities we work in. We want our employees to have the working conditions that allows them to fully participate, be able to be their best authentic selves and thrive doing so, and we have employee networks to support staff. Even if you don’t quite meet all the required criteria still consider applying, as we invest in our employees and support them to develop the skills and knowledge required to deliver their role.

For questions and reasonable adjustments regarding your application including information in a different format, or our recruitment process, please email us

Got any more questions?     If you would like further information on the role, the organisation, or our commitment to addressing under-representation and the development and progression of all colleagues, we would be happy to answer any questions.   

We will be holding a webinar on Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 12pm which anyone can attend to find out more about the role. In the past, candidates have found this a helpful space for understanding whether the role is right for them. Attendance at this session is optional and will not be taken into account at any stage of the recruitment process. To sign up, please use this link.

If you’d like to know more but cannot attend the webinar, please email us.

Citizens UK 

Citizens UK is the UK’s biggest, most diverse and most effective people-powered alliance. We bring communities and local organisations together to work on issues that matter; from campaigning for zebra crossings on dangerous roads, to reforming the immigration system, to the Living Wage campaign. We have a track record of winning change through hundreds of local and national campaigns. We know everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. We believe that through developing local leaders, we can drive nationwide change and create community-led solutions to big and small problems.

Project Information 

Butetown and Grangetown Neighbourhood Fund project, funded by the Youth Endowment Fund. More details here: Neighbourhood Fund | Youth Endowment Fund 

Citizens Cymru Wales has developed an innovative approach to reducing youth violence with community organising at its heart, working across four unique assumptions:  

• ‘It takes a village to raise a child’  

• ‘Anger without power leads to rage’  

• ‘Recognising the need to address Adverse Community Experiences’  

• ‘If you are not at the table, you’re on the menu’  

In 2021 it developed a community led action plan to address youth violence in the neighbourhoods of Butetown and Grangetown. This work then secured £1m funding from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) to demonstrate how community organising can improve the lives of children and young people. Across Grangetown and Butetown, almost 2500 people were listened to, and issues workshops took place from which seven interventions were identified including Mental health, Additional Learning Needs and Literacy, an Employment partnership, Sports and diversionary activities and local microgrants. Each intervention is led by a local community-based organisation. At the heart of the work is building a hyperlocal community organising alliance.  Underpinning the work is the development of a Youth Action Zone, a youth-led multi-agency partnership to support young people in the neighbourhood for the long term. The project is in its final year of delivery and needs a locally based project manager to support the current organisations to fulfil the action plan and build a long-term legacy.

Main Responsibilities 

This is a unique role, focused on project management but embedding community organising. As project organiser for Butetown and Grangetown Neighbourhood Fund you will support the project aims, enabling core partners and intervention leads to fulfil the action plan and build a legacy for the long term. Alongside this, you will develop a craft of community organising, working closely with civic organisations based in the neighbourhoods, understanding local power and building partnerships with wider stakeholders, and developing local institutions and youth leaders. All of this should ladder up to building the power of the broader Cardiff Citizens alliance. 

You will embed the ethos of community organising across the project and its legacy by: 

• developing the leadership of people within local organisations - our 'leaders' who lead the campaigns we work on 

• helping them to collectively identify the changes they want to see and create strategies to win those changes 

• strengthen institutions’ own abilities to achieve their missions. 

• Support leaders in connecting the hyperlocal work to the Cardiff Citizens alliance – developing their capacity to work with other leaders and civic institutions across the city to develop collective ambitions and actions (leading up to the 2027 Local Authority elections). 

We envisage the role to be roughly 2 days project management and 1 day Community Organising, but given the nature of the project, these will naturally bleed into one another. 

Working as the Project Organiser for Citizens UK, your main responsibilities will include: 

Career Pathways Headings 

Build and manage projects and achieve work targets effectively 

• Project manage the YEF/Citizens UK Neighbourhood Fund project in the neighbourhoods of Butetown and Grangetown

• Support the delivery of four interventions (Mental health, ALN & Literacy/Sports and Police action team) including due diligence, accountability, measurement and impact monitoring. 

• Ensure good governance; setting up stakeholder meetings and working with community leaders to develop the agenda and actions 

• Develop an understanding of place-based systems change and support system behaviours across the project, including feedback, collaborative leadership and shared power 

Develop and manage external relationships 

• Maintain and extend local relationships and partnerships with community and civic organisations and wider statutory power 

• Map and develop an ecosystem of strategic relationships at the local level

• Ensure the YEF work is embedded within the local ecosystem of support for young people.

Communications 

• Support the interventions with communicating the impact of their work individually and collectively 

• Create comms outputs that communicate the work of the YEF project for internal and external stakeholders 

• Represent the organisation effectively to external audiences in meetings and at events

Generate income and resources 

• Support the interventions to seek additional funding to continue their work beyond 2027 

• Support local organisations to increase their capacity  

Identify and develop relational leaders prepared to act with others for the common good and support them through a cycle of action and training in our curriculum 

• Conduct 5 relational one-to-ones per week 

• Identify and discern actual and potential leaders with the passion and ability to drive change

• Achieve significant development of primary and secondary leaders; nominate new leaders for training on the Citizens UK core taster curriculum and for National Training

• Attend Citizens UK 6-day training to further understanding the method of Community Organising used by CUK 

• Teach sessions of the core taster Community Organising curriculum at a local level (supported by a senior Organiser) 

Strengthen institutions and develop a broad-based neighbourhood alliance 

• Ensure good understanding of the basic interests and traditions of typical member institutions

• Support the development of the Cardiff Citizens alliance 

• Support with running institutional development campaigns in a range of organisations in the local area 

Personal Specification 

(D) Desirable, (E) Essential 

Qualifications 

Bachelor’s degree in any subject (D) 

Qualification in a subject of relevance to community work or community organising (D) 

Experience 

• Evidence of having acted in a leadership role with peers or in local community activities (e.g., organising clubs or societies) (E) 

• Experience of project management; evidence of having set up and/or delivered projects on time and to standard (E) 

• Able to demonstrate previous experience of ‘learning by doing’ in a work or project environment; evidence of being open to feedback and comfortably coachable (E) 

• Experience of building consensus between diverse stakeholders to drive progressive change (D) 

• Previous campaign experience (D) 

Key skills and knowledge 

• Excellent interpersonal awareness – ability to listen well and appreciate a viewpoint or opinion that is different from one’s own (E) 

• Excellent concern for impact – ability to adapt own behaviour to address the needs or concerns of someone else (E) 

• Good communication skills – able to speak with conviction and passion; and to make a logical argument (E) 

• Excellent time management skills with the ability to juggle a wide range of competing demands (E) 

• Strong IT skills to include MS Office (E) 

• Understanding of policy and campaign landscape in the UK, particularly around young people, community empowerment and neighbourhoods (D) 

Personal qualities & values 

• A self-starter with ability to take initiative and work independently (E) 

• A passion for justice (E) 

• A positive enthusiasm for working with faith congregations, trade unions, schools, and other community organisations (E) 

• An interest in and experience of politics and public life (E) 

• Able to work in a team (E) 

• Willingness to work within accountable relationships (E) 

• Self-motivated and adaptable (E) 

Our Organisers and some project teams work closely with our member institutions and will be expected to attend member events that take place in the evenings and occasional weekends. We operate a Time Off in Lieu approach and have very flexible working arrangements to ensure a good work-life balance. 

The successful applicant will be required to undertake a satisfactory Enhanced DBS check. DBS checks are renewed on a 3-year cycle. 

About the application process 

We work within diverse communities bringing people together. In line with our Inclusion value, we would love to see applications from LGBTQIA+ people, people from racialised communities, people living with disabilities and people of faith, all to better represent the communities we work in. We want our employees to have the working conditions that allows them to fully participate, be able to be their best authentic selves and thrive doing so, and we have employee networks to support staff. Even if you don’t quite meet all the required criteria still consider applying, as we invest in our employees and support them to develop the skills and knowledge required to deliver their role.

For questions and reasonable adjustments regarding your application including information in a different format, or our recruitment process, please email us.