Assurance & Policy Governance Specialist

Role Title: Assurance & Policy Governance Specialist (Maternity Cover)
Salary: £36,998-£43,417 (Pro-rata)
Location: London or Chard, Somerset -Hybrid
Tenure: Fixed term  - Part Time for 8 months

ActionAid UK is a member of the ActionAid Federation, an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. We work with our partners and dedicated staff in 43 countries to end violence and fight poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want

Are you a keen advocate of women and girls’ rights in emergencies? 

Do you have a strong background  in governance, policy, assurance, or compliance?

Then we'd love to hear from you!

At ActionAid UK, we’re driven by a powerful purpose — to end poverty and injustice by advancing the rights of women and girls around the world. We’re looking for a dynamic and meticulous Assurance & Policy Governance Specialist to join our Impact & Innovation department during a period of maternity cover.

This is a unique opportunity to play a central role in ensuring ActionAid UK’s policies, processes, and governance frameworks are robust, accessible, and aligned with our feminist values. You’ll be at the heart of the organisation, connecting teams, supporting leadership, and strengthening the systems that enable us to deliver our mission with confidence and integrity.

In this role, you’ll coordinate our UK policy governance framework — keeping policies up to date, ensuring consistency and clarity across departments, and helping colleagues understand and apply them in their day-to-day work. You’ll also play a key part in our global assurance processes, working with colleagues across the Federation to provide assurance to our UK Board of Trustees about how funds are being used and managed internationally. In this role you will act as focal point and coordinator for AAUK assurance and policy governance work. You will play a key role in ensuring our UK policy governance work is robust and runs smoothly to ensure all policies are regularly reviewed, accessible and understandable.

You’ll be someone who enjoys structure, clarity, and communication — able to translate technical or complex information into clear, accessible language. With excellent organisational skills and an eye for detail, you’ll manage multiple stakeholders, timelines, and review processes with ease. You’ll be confident working independently, proactive in problem-solving, and motivated by the opportunity to make systems more effective and inclusive.

This role offers the chance to collaborate across diverse teams and functions — from People & Culture to Finance, from internal audit to international partnerships. You’ll gain deep insight into the operations of a leading international NGO, while contributing directly to strengthening transparency, accountability, and trust at every level of the organisation. You will also get to co-lead an exciting new project we are implementing in 2026, to review and launch new Standard Operating Procedures for our country assurance monitoring in line with our strategic goal to decolonize our systems and processes.

We’re looking for someone who combines excellent communication skills with tenacity, creativity, and a commitment to feminist principles. Whether your background is in governance, policy, assurance, or compliance, what matters most is your ability to bring clarity, coordination, and purpose to complex processes.

If you’re ready to use your expertise to help shape how ActionAid UK delivers its mission — ensuring our systems reflect our values and our policies empower our people — we’d love to hear from you.

Join us and help ensure the integrity, strength, and inclusivity of ActionAid UK’s governance as we continue to fight for a fairer, more equal world.

Additional information

Diversity, equality, inclusion and belonging:

Diversity, inclusion and belonging are key to our organisational culture. We are on a journey to become not only an anti-racist organisation but one that proudly celebrates the diversity of all applicants and employees. We look forward to you bringing your full self to work, proudly sharing your unique perspective and helping us to shape our combined future. We especially welcome applications from those from under-represented/marginalised communities.

AAUK is a Disability Confident Committed organisation and as such any candidate that declares a disability will be shortlisted for interview if they meet the essential criteria for the role.

Referencing and safeguarding:

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, safeguarding, criminal records and terrorism finance checks. By submitting an application the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures. 

ActionAid UK is committed to preventing any form of sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse (including child abuse and adult at-risk abuse) and responding robustly when these harms take place. We expect all ActionAid UK staff and ActionAid UK representatives to share this commitment. We will not tolerate our staff or other representatives carrying out any form of sexual harassment, exploitation or abuse towards anyone we come into contact with through our work. 

Working practices:

ActionAid is committed to supporting flexible working. If you would like to discuss flexible working options, including the possibility of a job share for this role, there will be space to do so during the interview process.

ActionAid UK has a hybrid working policy for many of our roles. The requirement will vary from team to team and the responsibilities of individual roles. As a minimum, all colleagues are expected to attend the office 12 days per year, plus additional time for induction, training, and company connection days. Some roles may require in-office attendance on all days and if so, these will clearly be marked as in-office roles.

Please note that ActionAid UK does not offer fully remote working options. We encourage you to discuss hybrid working expectations at interview.

Recruitment processes:

Please note that ActionAid UK may review, shortlist and interview candidates prior to the closing date so we encourage all candidates to apply as soon as possible. If we receive a very high response, we may close the vacancy early and will not accept further submissions.