Head of public policy and programme director jobs

About us

We’re Breast Cancer Now, the research and support charity. We’re the place to turn to for anything and everything to do with breast cancer. However, you’re experiencing breast cancer, we’re here. 

The brightest minds in breast cancer research are here. Making life-saving research happen in labs across the UK and Ireland. Support services, trustworthy breast cancer information and specialist nurses are here. Ready to support you whenever you need it. Dedicated campaigners are here. Fighting for the best possible treatment, services, and care for anyone affected by breast cancer.

About the role

Do you live in Glasgow or the surrounding area, have excellent local knowledge and the skills to nurture established relationships whilst building a pipeline of new income opportunities?

We’re looking for someone who can join the team to cover the maternity leave of our senior community fundraiser[SG1] . If you love connecting with people and want to make a difference for people affected by breast cancer, we’d love to hear from you.

Offered as a fixed term contract of 12 months this position will play a key part in developing our presence in Scotland. This is designed to grow long-term income through a new, locally based relationship fundraising team.

This is your chance to build powerful local connections with new supporter individuals, clubs and societies, and local businesses – and help develop a thriving network of people that share our mission.

About you

You bring enthusiasm, strong communication skills and a genuine interest in people and relationship building.

You’re proactive, organised, and adaptable with a positive approach to trying new things. A natural collaborator, you have a flexible approach to your work and thrive in a busy environment.

You’re confident in approaching new contacts and are experienced in developing new relationships from scratch which have delivered income in both the short and long term. Your approach to relationship management is best in class and you've proven that you can take the initiative to make ideas happen.

Alongside these skills and your previous experience, you have the passion that will help grow engagement and income in your region.

Job description and benefits

Please download the job description and our attractive benefits package.

Primary location of role

This role is primarily based in our Glasgow office.  Our hybrid working model allows you to work up to 3 days per week at home.   Regular travel will be required to meet supporters in your region, as well as occasional travel to our London or Sheffield offices.

When applying

We hope you choose to apply for this role. To support your application, you’ll be asked to submit your anonymised CV. Please refer to the essential criteria on the person specification and clearly provide as much information as you can with examples, to demonstrate how and where you meet the criteria. If you’ve any immediate questions, please contact the Breast Cancer Now recruitment team

Our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion

We’re committed to promoting equity, valuing diversity, and creating an inclusive environment – for everyone who works for us, works with us, supports us and who we support.

Closing date Tuesday 31 March 2026 9 am

Interview date 7 April 2026

The Breast Cancer Now careers website will be down for maintenance on Monday 23 March between 9 am – 11 am

We reserve the right to close this advert early. Therefore, to avoid disappointment please submit your application as soon as possible if you’re interested in this opportunity.

Mercy Ships UK is looking for a People Engagement and Development Partner to help cultivate a thriving, supportive and purpose-driven workplace where our people can flourish.

Mercy Ships is an international charity that provides free life-changing surgeries and healthcare to people in need, using hospital ships staffed by volunteers from around the world. Behind this mission is a dedicated team of staff who enable this work to happen and we believe investing in our people is essential to achieving our impact.

This role plays a key part in shaping the employee experience at Mercy Ships UK, strengthening engagement, supporting managers and helping develop a healthy and effective organisational culture.

Working closely with leaders across the organisation, you will support initiatives that encourage staff wellbeing, development and strong collaboration, ensuring our people feel valued, connected and equipped to contribute to the mission.

Key responsibilities

• Support the development and delivery of employee engagement initiatives across Mercy Ships UK

• Partner with managers to strengthen team culture, communication and staff wellbeing

• Help coordinate learning and development opportunities that enable staff to grow and thrive

• Provide guidance and support on people-related matters, helping to build confident and capable managers

• Contribute to organisational initiatives that strengthen culture, values and employee experience

• Support internal communications and activities that foster connection, collaboration and engagement across teams

About you

You will be someone who is passionate about people and organisational culture, with the ability to build trusted relationships across teams.

You will bring:

• Experience working in a people, HR or organisational development role

• A strong interest in employee engagement, culture and learning

• The ability to support and coach managers in developing healthy teams

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills

• A collaborative and proactive approach to supporting organisational initiatives

• Alignment with the values and mission of Mercy Ships

Why join Mercy Ships?

At Mercy Ships UK, you will be part of a team committed to making a global difference. This role offers the opportunity to help shape the environment where our people work, grow and contribute to a life-changing mission.

This role has an Occupational Requirement for the post holder to be a practicing Christian in accordance with Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010

You will be building great relationships with our Corporate members and involving them with the work of the trust and inspiring them to support our range of inspiring projects. You will use your networking skills at events to proactively find new corporate supporters, and retain our existing supporters by running corporate events on our nature reserves across the county. You will further develop our corporate volunteering offering, working closely with our land management team, creating great days out for our supporters’ employees that they’ll recommend to their colleagues.

You will be an active member of the Fundraising team, sharing skills and ideas at regular meetings. The role will require extensive travel throughout the county, visiting networking events and arranging relationships between corporates and our wildlife projects, such as the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre. You will have a creative and innovative approach to the role, working on new ways to secure support from businesses from across the county. You will enjoy getting involved in fundraising events that include that whole fundraising department to create new income streams for the trust.