Political research officer jobs

The Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS) is a human rights and feminist
organisation led by and for Latin American migrant women in the UK. Our work is dedicated to
supporting the immediate and long-term needs of Latin American migrant women exposed to
violations of their fundamental human rights; facing violence against women and girls,
exploitation or trafficking; enduring difficult living and working conditions in low paid jobs, and
facing barriers to social protection.
The post holder will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of LAWRS’
policy, advocacy, and communications strategy to tackle the issues affecting migrant women in
the UK labour market, in particular those who are survivors of trafficking and exploitation, and
will work jointly with LAWRS’ policy team and the frontline teams.

This post is open to Latin American women only* in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. We
particularly welcome applications from disabled and LGBTQ+ candidates as they are currently
underrepresented within the team.

Please keep in mind that if you are shortlisted for an interview, you will be
required to complete an exercise beforehand.

*women who identify as Latin Americans (1st and 2nd generation) and speak Spanish and/or
Portuguese.

Please note that only applicants with the right to work in the UK covering the duration of
the contract will be considered for this position.

Deadline: Sunday 12th April
Interviews: the week commencing 11th May

 

Title: Policy and Social Change Manager
Contract: Full time, 12 months FTC, possibility to extend subject to mutual agreement
Location: Hybrid, with regular travel to our London offices
Reporting to: Partnerships & Impact Director
Direct report/s: None
Salary: £47,000-£50,000 per annum
Deadline: Midday, Tuesday 7th April 2026

About In Kind Direct

For 30 years, In Kind Direct has been at the forefront of product distribution in the UK, ensuring that no one misses out on life’s essentials. Think toiletries, period products, clothes, toys, and technology, donated by leading brands and retailers. Founded by HM The King, we are a practical response to the widening gap in society, alleviating immediate need and pushing for systemic change through new research and advocacy. We work with a UK network of over 9,000 local charities and community groups. Together, we reach 930,000 people with essentials every week and unlock almost £30m in savings for the charitable sector each year. 

Our mission and values

We know long before people go without food or heating, they forfeit feeling clean. This has a huge impact on confidence, wellbeing, and engaging with learning or work. By 2030, we are on a mission to double our impact, to meet the growing need in communities. Increasing our voice and influence is a key pillar in our new strategy. In all things, we live our values of kindness, togetherness and integrity, driving innovation.

The role

We are looking for a passionate change-maker to be our Policy & Social Change Manager, building the roadmap for strategic programmes that raise awareness, reduce stigma, and generate systemic change. The role will involve movement building and close collaboration, working with our charitable network to raise our collective voice at a national level. You will represent us in the policy and advocacy environment, holding relationships with government departments, civil servants and cross-sector alliances.

Your efforts will particularly focus on our End Hygiene Poverty campaign, working in partnership with The Hygiene Bank, and our coordinating role for the Period Equity Alliance. We believe no one should have to face the choice to heat, eat or feel clean. These two programmes tackle different parts of the systems that keep too many people going without or feeling ashamed. The scale of poverty in the UK is simply too big for any one organisation to solve. You will develop a coordinated advocacy approach to build alliances for change.

You will work closely with our marketing team to develop our voice, and our impact team to maximise our strong evidence base. Ideally you would have experience of narrative change, political advocacy and systemic thinking, but if you’re passionate about ending poverty and have led successful collaborations, delivered social change or run brilliant campaigns then we would love to hear from you. You will work closely with the Partnerships & Impact Director and CEO, with the autonomy to help shape our direction. 
The role is based out of our London Bridge office. We operate a hybrid working practice and expect the individual to be in the office for two days each week, and working remotely, usually from home for up to three days a week. This role is subject to DBS checking.

Key responsibilities:

• Manage the development and implementation of a fully integrated advocacy strategy, aligning key objectives of more influence, more products and more impact. 
• End Hygiene Poverty campaign - utilise and support delivery of new research to develop our activity roadmap, build a cross-sector coalition for change, and unlock new funding.
• Period Equity Alliance – provide coordination including drafting letters, chairing meetings and efforts to grow the wider membership. Lead delivery of funded events that embed lived experience in developing resources and policy positioning.
• Keep a watching brief on relevant areas such as child poverty, women’s health, devolution, and the VCSE sector. Create and share regular internal and external briefings, and lead on submissions to government calls for evidence.
• Develop our position on relevant advocacy issues, understanding where In Kind Direct is best placed to lead, and where we can ally and amplify the work of others.
• Proactively develop relationships with key stakeholders, representing us in the policy environment and potentially with media, to grow our voice and visibility. 
• Work with colleagues to shape organisational messaging and inform funding proposals. 
• Maximise the value of our existing evidence base and commissioned research.

To succeed in this role, you will be able to demonstrate: 

• Experience of developing effective influencing strategies that deliver real change.
• Experience leading complex projects or campaigns across multiple teams and partners, able to balance priorities, manage stakeholders and make decisions.
• Strong facilitation and convening skills, adaptable to diverse backgrounds, expertise and seniority. Comfortable speaking and presenting to different audiences. 
• Experience of successful collaborations; engaging, influencing and mobilising senior external stakeholders, ideally including corporate partners.
• A natural curiosity, able to connect information and identify gaps and trends. 
• An alignment with IKD values of kindness, togetherness, integrity, and innovation. 
• An interest in the charity sector, corporate responsibility, and In Kind Direct’s area of work 
• An understanding or experience of systems change practices is desirable, for example systems mapping and storytelling.

In Kind Direct is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in our sector. We want this to be reflected in the diversity of the people who join us and are interested in applications from people from all backgrounds.

Working at In Kind Direct

As well as having the chance to work in a charity that helps thousands of people each year, our team benefits include volunteering days, 28 days holiday each year (including 3 days between Christmas and New Year, excluding public holidays), an interest-free travel loan, and a generous pension scheme entitlement. We are an equal opportunity employer and support our team to succeed in their roles through training, adaptations, flexibility in working, access to our Employee Assistance Platform, and a range of policies to support people in their personal, family and care responsibilities. 

We are an accredited Great Place to Work – and have additionally been recognised as a Great Place to Work amongst small Charities and a Great Place to work for Women. 

We seek to challenge discrimination and are committed to our values of kindness, togetherness, integrity, and innovation. We are on an organisational journey to achieving our EDI vision and welcome any questions about our progress and aspirations. 

We especially welcome applications from anyone with lived experience of being on a low income or working with smaller charitable organisations. 

We will meet all reasonable expenses that will support anyone invited to interview to be able to participate. If there's anything such as a disability or other circumstance that might affect your ability to take part in any stage of the application or interview process, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly. We’ll do our best to provide any support or adjustments you may need to take part fully and comfortably. Sharing this information will not affect your application in any way.

How to apply
The deadline for application is midday, Tuesday 7th April. We ask all applicants to complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring form, available on our website.

To apply, please send your CV and a brief supporting statement (max. 600 words), through our online applications portal. Applications submitted without a supporting statement may not be considered. 

Interview dates: first interviews Tuesday 14th April, second interviews Tuesday 21st April.

REF-227 512

Introduction

The National House Project (NHP) supports Local Authorities to work with young people to give them the knowledge, skills and confidence to live connected and fulfilling lives. By developing a community of support, completing the House Project Programme and being able to make their house a home young people can look forward to a positive future.

This is an exciting time to join NHP and we are seeking a skilled and experienced professional who can support our vision to ensure that young people leaving care live connected and fulfilling lives.

Purpose of the Role 

Reporting to the Director of Partnerships, this exciting new role offers the opportunity to support NHP's internal expertise on Housing; ensure we have strong partnerships with Housing Providers and grow the offers of housing from Housing Providers across the UK, to support our growth as a charity. Essentially with more housing we can establish more Local House Projects (LHPs) and expand those that already exist, and in turn support more young people.

Working closely with senior leadership team (CEO, Director of Practice and Director of Partnerships), this role will lead on developing our first Housing Strategy and ensure we have the internal knowledge, expertise and capacity to grow our housing partnerships.

Key Responsibilities 

General 

• Lead the development and implementation of NHP’s Housing Partnership Strategy in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team ensuring aligned with organisational priorities and growth of NHP. 

• Build, develop and sustain a strong pipeline of housing partners across all NHP locations- at both a local and national level. Maintain effective relationships with existing providers whilst identifying new business and strategic housing opportunities to grow supply. 

• Work closely with local authorities (and LHPs) to understand regional housing supply, demand and challenges- with a view to informing the Housing Partnership Strategy. 

• Develop and maintain a database of partnerships with Housing Providers, and opportunities for growth  

• Represent NHP at regional and national Housing Forums, conferences and events 

• Support Local House Projects to negotiate property offers and advocate for care-experienced young people and the NHP approach 

• Coordinate the Housing Community of Practice with one of the Practice Leads 

• Work with the Director of Partnerships to secure tangible opportunities to deliver Social Value opportunities- including collaborations and strategic opportunities.

• Support LAs to maximise the accommodation offer to care leavers through Section 106 agreements and their responsibility to Public Value in all commissioned services 

• Deliver ‘horizon scanning’ briefings to the NHP team so they are up to date with housing policy, progress and challenges to inform their work and practice 

Communications and Collaboration 

• Develop case studies and share best practice/our approach across the Housing Sector 

• Work closely with the Business Support Administrator and Admin Team to create and share communications about housing 

• Support the preparation of housing partnership updates, impact stories, and social media content. 

• Contribute to internal communications about partnership successes and learning. 

• Support the rest of the NHP team from time to time, as required.

You will be based at the NHP office in Crewe for a minimum of 2 days per week, but you will be expected to travel and attend meetings across the country on a regular basis.

For detailed information see full Job Description and Person Specification attached.

Benefits 

• 31 days annual leave plus bank holidays 

• 10% employer pension contribution 

• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave 

• Hybrid working option with at least two days a week in the office (Monday and Thursdays) 

• Quarterly team development days 

• Access to professional development and training 

• Access to psychological support via our external psychologists

Find out more

If you’re excited by the opportunity to build something transformative, we’d love to hear from you. 

We recently held a briefing session to provide more information about this role. You can watch the recording below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/_az6Qsqxp0jc200iP7227b1fZ2tsPFLIYicvMkxeVT5iOEswGX92VY8i9LxmF-M.fgx73P6eNwBPgXHr
Passcode: Tkk%9$b^

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter via Charity Job detailing what skills, knowledge and experiences make you the best candidate for the role by 12pm Wednesday 8th April.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds. If you require adjustments during the application or recruitment process, let us know. If you are care-experienced and meet all the essential requirements you will be guaranteed an interview.

We do not accept unsolicited CVs from recruitment agencies. 

Interviews

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an in-person interview at the NHP Office in Crewe date to be confirmed. 

Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates. 

Safeguarding Statement 
NHP is committed to protecting the well-being of young people. All staff must adhere to our safeguarding policies. 

General Requirements: Right to work in the UK, two professional references, and a DBS check.