Director of Policy and Communications 

We have an exciting opportunity for a Policy and Communications professional to work at Director level in a strategic role for a national charity and membership association. An outstanding leader, you will develop and manage the internal and external communications strategy, leading on policy and media relations for the whole of the UK. This is a fantastic opportunity to further develop your leadership skills working as part of a senior management team.

Position: Director of Policy and Communications 

Location: Huddersfield (with some flexibility for home working) 

Hours: Full time, 37 hours per week

Salary: Circa 50k 

Duration: Permanent 

Benefits: Include 32 days paid holiday (rising to 34 days with service increments) plus 8 bank holiday, Personal Pension Scheme, Private Medical Insurance, Healthcare Cash Plan, Employee Assistance Programme, Staff Awards Scheme, Company Sick Pay Scheme, Flexible working patterns 

Closing Date: Monday 15th March 2021 

The Role

Successful candidates will have experience of working in a rapidly changing landscape and will be looking to further develop their skills in a strategic leadership and management role.  As Director of Policy and Communications you will develop and manage external relationships with strategic Government contacts, policy advisors, wider membership and the media. You will provide clear leadership to the team, enabling and empowering them to deliver the team’s and the organisation’s objectives.

Role specific responsibilities include: 

• Develop and deliver effective policy and public affairs and media relations strategy 

• Develop and deliver effective internal and external communications relating to policy 

• Develop and manage internal communications strategy 

• Ensure effective communication of policy messages to the wider sector and media 

• Advise the Chief Executive and senior management team on regional and national developments, policies and strategies relating to the childcare sector; and relevant legislative and regulatory changes 

• Develop and deliver strategic campaigns and events 

• Working closely with the senior management team, identify new opportunities and support the development of bids and tenders to generate income 

About You 

As Director of Policy and Communications, you will be educated to degree level or equivalent. You will demonstrate strong leadership skills and be able to plan and deliver at a strategic level.

You will have experience of: 

• Working at leadership level within the public policy environment, operating at senior level to include Policy and public relations, managing a demand-led workload, budget management, team leadership and management 

• Working within a policy and public relations environment 

• Policy formulation and strategy development 

• Liaising with government bodies, politicians and other agencies 

• Developing and delivering communications strategies 

In order to fulfil this role, you will have a driving licence and access to a car for work purposes. 

To apply you will be asked to submit your CV along with a covering letter detailing how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the requirements of the role. 

About the Organisation 

The organisation is a national charity and membership association predominantly for nurseries. They work in partnership with local authorities, national government and a range of partners to develop an environment in which early learning and care can flourish. 

The organisation is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and is actively opposed to discrimination in society. 

You may have experience in areas such as Director, Membership, Membership Services, Income Generation, Policy, Policy Development, Bid, Communications, Public sector. 

The Head of Impact has specific responsibility for ensuring that the Foundation understands and is responding to assets and needs in the communities we serve and, as such, contributes directly to the Foundation’s strategy. A key focus of the role is in ensuring that our grant-making retains the right balance between strategic and reactive and between relational and data-driven approaches, so we respond both flexibly and equitably to what communities need.

You will be responsible for overseeing the use of impact frameworks for our grant-making and for ensuring we have the tools we need to communicate our realised and potential impact. You will ensure that our impact work informs our agenda of becoming a more equitable grant-maker.

The successful candidate will be an experienced grant-maker and/or impact and evaluation lead, who is knowledgeable in impact measurement tools, a confident communicator and demonstrates strong people skills.

Please note that our office is in Leeds city centre but the majority of staff are currently working from home, in line with government guidance on Covid-19.  We do envisage a return to working in the office as those guidelines change.

___________________________________________________________________________

To submit an application for this role, please upload your C.V. and a cover letter (no more than 2 sides of A4) stating why you think you would be ideal for the position, based on the Job Description and Person Specification. We particularly encourage applications from people with disabilities and trans and non-binary people, who are currently under-represented within our staff team.

We would be grateful if you are able to fill in the Equality and Diversity monitoring form. This is optional, but will help greatly in building an accurate picture of applicants, which will inform future recruitment processes and help us consider how to reach communities/demographics we may not currently be attracting to our posts. The information contained in this form is for internal anonymised analysis only and will be separated from your application. No one involved in the shortlisting or interviewing process will see the form or the information it contains.