Liaison officer jobs in Edinburgh
Employer: Community Rail Network
Salary: £43k-£51.5k pa, full time
Location: Home based / flexible or Huddersfield
We are seeking a dynamic director of policy and communications, to lead and develop our increasingly impactful external affairs activity. You’ll be sharing community insights and evidence with policy and decision-makers at national and devolved level, supporting a shift towards more inclusive and sustainable transport and mobility, while overseeing high-quality, inspiring member communications and thought-leadership, drawing on grassroots experiences.
About us
Community Rail Network is a national not-for-profit organisation supporting a growing ‘community rail’ movement, which helps communities get the most from their railways, promotes sustainable and inclusive travel, coordinates volunteering and place-making, and brings people together.
Community rail is made up of 76 community-based partnership organisations, and c.1,300 station friends volunteer groups and other community-led initiatives around Britain. Their activities range from creative projects for young people, to advising train operators on service improvements, to building travel confidence among marginalised groups, to biodiversity projects at stations, to promoting greener tourism by rail.
Our enthusiastic team of 24 works from home in different locations, but we come together regularly in person and online. We work collaboratively to support our members, provide training, events and resources, run campaigns, and champion community rail and its insights. We believe in developing our team and helping everyone reach their potential while having a good work-life balance.
About this role
This role is crucial for us, our members and their communities, especially at the current time, with our need to seize on the opportunities of rail reform and devolution, promote wider use of sustainable transport, and bring communities together. You will spearhead our external affairs strategy and plans, building political relationships, influencing decision-making and raising awareness of community rail and its insights, while ensuring effective communications with our members and helping them to have a voice locally and regionally. You’ll be striving to put community rail at the forefront of a shift towards more inclusive and sustainable mobility.
As a member of our senior leadership team, reporting to and working closely with our chief executive, you will manage a passionate team of four, ensuring collaboration with our other teams, partners and funders, and drawing on members’ insights.
Main responsibilities
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Lead the review, development and delivery of our communications, policy and insights strategy, working to position the community rail movement effectively, use its insights to influence policy change, and ensure our members are well-informed and have a voice;
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Further strengthen our advisory and influencing work with national, devolved and regional government, transport bodies, parliamentarians and other decision-makers, especially around rail reform, transport devolution and integrated, inclusive, sustainable transport;
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Ensure we’re engaging effectively with policy developments and opportunities, taking forward a programme of relationship-building, and identifying and engaging in relevant consultations, events and speaking opportunities, enabling community rail’s insights and experiences to be shared;
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Collaborate with partners in rail, government and the third sector to feed in our expertise on community engagement with rail, amplify our campaigns, and build opportunities for joined-up communications and policy work;
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Continually develop and disseminate our evidence base and insights on the social, environmental and economic value community rail delivers, and opportunities to create greater benefits for communities from rail and transport;
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Oversee high-quality, coherent and inspiring communications with our members and partners, promoting our work, and sharing news, opportunities, and good practice across the movement;
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Manage production of high-quality resources, case studies and reports that our members can use to enhance their impact and which showcase community rail’s impact;
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Lead and develop our media relations and awareness-raising PR, championing community rail and its messages on sustainable, inclusive travel and communities at national and regional level, while supporting members on local PR;
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Develop our online presence and reach, making full use of our website, social media, our Scenic Rail Britain campaign, and partners’ channels to celebrate and position community rail and grow its reach and impact;
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Oversee a calendar of creative and impactful campaigns that involve and empower our members, creating PR and engagement opportunities, including Community Rail Week;
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Play a key role in collective leadership, strategic focus and organisational development as a member of our senior leadership team, including through internal communications and cross-team working, annual planning, funder liaison and reporting, upholding our strategies and policies, and pursuing opportunities for continuous improvement.
Skills and competencies
- Strong leadership and management skills, including experience managing, developing and drawing on a multi-faceted team delivering complex campaigns or projects, and budget management;
- Excellent communication and external leadership skills; articulate, assertive, and with the ability to work diplomatically and persuasively with stakeholders at all levels;
- An understanding of public affairs, ideally in relation to community development, sustainability and/or transport, and a demonstrable ability to identify influencing opportunities, deliver thought-leadership, and engage with policy-makers, including sharing community insights;
- Politically astute, with awareness of and commitment to social inclusion, social justice and sustainability, and a good grasp of the importance of public transport sustainable travel, and community-led action, to these agendas;
- Understanding of political processes and experience of engaging with policy and decision-making, ideally at national, devolved and local levels;
- Sound knowledge of communication and marketing methods and channels, and ability to oversee messaging and targeting of public and professional audiences, and to align content across multiple channels;
- A demonstrable ability to think analytically and draw on statistical and qualitative research to construct robust, evidence-based arguments;
- Experience of working with the media and achieving coverage at national, regional and local level;
- Experience working collaboratively with partners and ideally funders to deliver communications and policy activity and forming professional networks;
- Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines while dealing with competing priorities, and to support team members to do so;
- IT literate with a good working knowledge of Office, the internet and social media;
- Appropriate qualifications and professional development demonstrating knowledge and skills in line with the above, and a commitment to ongoing learning and development.
Other information
As you will be home-based, we are flexible about your location. However, you will be expected to travel to in-person full team meetings quarterly (usually in West Yorkshire), and you will need to bring your team together (currently all West Yorkshire based) with similar regularity in between. Attendance at in-person events and meetings is also important. We therefore welcome applications from those with decent public transport links, not too far from a railway station, to enable journeys to be made sustainably.
This is a full-time position, 37 hours per week. We use a flexi-time system with core hours 10am-3pm, and are committed to being a flexible, supportive and understanding employer. This is a permanent position with a probationary period of six months.
Community Rail Network is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from disabled people and Black, Asian and other minoritised groups, who meet with the skills and competencies for this role. We will provide reasonable adjustments for interviews as required.
Championing the community rail movement | Connecting people and their railways | Creating inclusive, empowered, sustainable and healthy communities
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Role
We seek a Finance Manager to lead the day to day running of the charity’s finances including overseeing the work of our outsourced financial provider. As a grant giving organisation, there will be regular interaction with the programmatic workstreams in this position, offering a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to increase the capacity of a field-leading charity, help empower researchers in the Global South, and contribute to one of the world’s most important climate debates. If you are an ambitious qualified finance professional, this is an opportunity to step into a role with purpose, international influence, and real impact.
Working with the COO, you will undertake organisational financial planning, budgeting and forecasting so that the senior staff and trustees have comprehensive information for decision making. Furthermore, in cooperation with the Development Manager, this role will support the submission of funding bids and reporting to funders to ensure the continued growth of the charity.
Responsibilities
As this is a new role, responsibilities are expected to evolve but some key items include:
- Financial Oversight: Overseeing the outsourced finance provider, ensuring service delivery meets organisational needs and deadlines. You will be the primary liaison between our financial services provider and the staff, ensuring that they make payments on behalf of the organisation, runs payroll, completes the bookkeeping via QuickBooks, the monthly management accounts, and the annual statutory accounts.
- Budgeting & Forecasting: Preparing and monitoring annual organisational budgets including a mid-year adjustment, cash flow forecasts, financial models and annual accounts to support the annual business cycle and fundraising bids.
- Reporting: Finalising monthly management accounts prepared by outsourced financial provider, deliver financial reports for the COO, senior leadership, and trustees, and preparing donor financial reporting.
- Financial Strategy and Investment Oversight: Working with the COO to manage financial resources and reserves including developing the investment policy to support the long-term goals of the charity.
- Audit & Compliance: Leading on annual audits, maintain compliance with UK charity finance regulations, and ensure adherence to funder requirements.
- Programmatic financial support: Working closely with the programmes teams to ensure their payments processes run smoothly with the outsourced financial provider, and regularly reviewing their grant and event expenditure is in line with their own managed budgets.
- Process Improvement: Identifying opportunities to streamline financial processes and implement best practices, such as working with Operations to improve payments & expenses software, opening new bank accounts, or finding new platforms to reduce international payment fees.
Key relationships:
- Supervised by COO
- Primary liaison with our outsourced financial provider (including a management accountant, payments officer and bookkeeper)
- Works with the Development Manager
- Grants Manager
- Operations team
A dynamic charity working on climate change and global development



The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Application Closing Date: 16 January 2026
Location: Remote or hybrid working within the UK; individuals will be required to attend episodic in-person office days in London as needed and prescribed by the organisation. This role requires applicants to be able to show that they have the right to work in the UK.
Term: full time - 35 hours a week
Organisation: Global Greengrants Fund UK
Salary: Salaries at Global Greengrants Fund UK (GGF UK) are dependent on applicable salary scales, internal pay policies including equity considerations and budget. Due to the ways in which salary negotiations perpetuate existing structural inequities, GGF UK has moved away from salary negotiation processes for any candidate. Our best offer for this position is £42,000 per annum.
Benefits: We have improved our benefits package and we now offer 10% employer’s pension contribution, remote and flexible remote working, generous family and sick leave, employee assistance programme, health and life insurances, 28 days annual leave plus all UK bank holidays.
About Global Greengrants Fund:
Global Greengrants Fund (GGF) supports grassroots activists and civil society organisations around the world working to address environmental and social justice in over 160 countries.GGF applies a participatory and decentralised model in making grants to grassroots groups through regional and thematic boards of advisors, global partner networks and independent funds, to support grassroots environmental and social justice action.
Global Greengrants Fund comprises two organisations located in the USA, Global Greengrants Fund Inc (established in 1993), and Global Greengrants Fund UK (established in 2012). The two organisations work closely together with a shared grantmaking programme and strategic collaboration at the senior leadership level. GGF UK consists of thirteen staff members working on fundraising and influencing philanthropy; finance; communications; and operations, with all of these functions operating autonomously but in close collaboration with their US counterpart functions.
In 2025, Global Greengrants Fund is amid a strategic journey in which we collectively centre our values, including diversity, equity and inclusion, and organisational care in our work, and to rediscover our identity and potential after 30+ years of work. We have experienced tremendous growth over the past two years and we are thoughtfully, yet rapidly, growing our annual grantmaking, our philanthropic advocacy, and our global partnerships and collaborations to new levels. This includes creating a globally networked learning organisation and transforming our organisational culture to be more collaborative and self-steering – we call this our transformational journey. The Senior Finance and Operations Administrator needs to understand the challenges and opportunities that come with these transformations and can remain flexible, steady, and adaptable.
The Role
The Senior Finance and Operations Administrator is a critical, multi-functional role supporting the financial, operational and administrative systems of GGF UK. The role will report to the Head of Finance with a dotted line to the Operations Manager on all operational tasks.
Acting as a key liaison between grants management, operations and finance, this role requires taking ownership of specific financial processes – particularly those intersecting with grants payments, forex providers and internal systems. The ability to clarify issues and relay technical information across functions will be essential and hence demand high attention to detail, initiative, and the ability to navigate and communicate complex financial and grant-related processes to non-financial colleagues.
Coordinating closely with the Director of Finance and Operations, the postholder will provide proactive administrative support including diary management.
The candidate profile.
The successful applicant will have significant relevant experience in a similar role in a charitable, environmental, development, social justice, feminist, gender, human rights organisation, and/or grant-making organisation. They demonstrate knowledge and experience in charity/nonprofit grant accounting/financial issues and dealing with both financial and grant information and processes, understand accounting principles, and have knowledge of accounting, and grantmaking processes. They have experience of using banking services and payment experiences (including international payments). They demonstrate excellent administrative and organisational skills, and the ability to ensure the accuracy of work and demonstrate precise attention to detail. They will have the skills to give, receive, and work with feedback constructively. They also thrive in a virtual environment, motivated to take on challenges and collaboratively find innovative and creative solutions. Multiple language skills would be ideal, while English fluency is a must.
The right candidate will understand Global Greengrants Fund’s core values and be committed to the guiding principles and mission of Global Greengrants Fund and ensure they uphold them in the way they take up the responsibilities of the role. They will value transparency and accountability, demonstrating strong critical thinking, strategic risk management, and the ability to influence and resolve differences across boundaries. With a high degree of self-awareness and insight, the candidate will excel in building strong interpersonal relationships, both within and outside the organisation, and possess outstanding communication and collaboration skills.
How to apply:
Applications need to be submitted through GGF UK’s job platform by 16 January 2026 date at 23:00 GMT. To apply via the job platform and to see the detailed Job Description, please click on the 'Apply' button and you will be redirected to our recruitment platform. You will be required to complete a set of screening questions and upload a current CV. You will need to submit these in English. If you’re intrigued by this position but feel like you don’t fit the profile precisely, please still apply.
We thank all those who apply, but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Global Greengrants Fund UK is an equal opportunities employer. We strongly encourage applicants from all backgrounds and walks of life. We believe that diversity and inclusion among our team is critical to our success. We seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool and welcome applications from all qualified candidates. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Key info
Closing date: Sunday 25th January 2026 at 23:59.
Annual salary: £42,400
Hours: 37.5 hours per week (full time)
Contract length: 3 years initially, with contract extension subject to funding
Location: UK based, mainly remote with occasional in person work
The role
TransActual is recruiting a Communications Lead to join our rapidly growing team. You’ll be working alongside our board and Senior Management team to develop and implement a communications strategy across all media channels that supports the accurate representation of TransActual’s work to the wider world and our mission to advocate, empower and inform.
We are looking for someone with strong interpersonal skills both in terms of understanding and responding to underlying questions in a sometimes hostile media environment, identifying the effective ways of proactively and reactively communicating about our advocacy goals, and working closely with our Policy Lead, Director of Operations and for Healthcare, staff team, board and volunteers to achieve that.
Your responsibilities will include, but not be limited to, the creation of a communications strategy, communications processes, protocols and standards, press releasing and liaison, and line management of our communications officer. You will be responsible for forward planning of communications where events are foreseeable and will also be required to enable rapid and sensitive response to unpredictable events and consequent media inquiries.
An in-depth understanding of trans people’s lived experiences and an ongoing commitment to bringing about positive change for all trans people in the UK is absolutely essential for this role. This understanding can come from your own lived experience. You will demonstrate a strong understanding of and commitment to equity, particularly in relation to race equity and disability equity.
We particularly welcome and encourage applications from trans people, Black People and People of Colour, neurodivergent people and disabled people.
TransActual are working towards a world where trans people can live safely, in dignity and with access to the healthcare that we need.



The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Dancers’ Career Development (DCD), the national charity that enables and empowers dancers to thrive professionally and personally leading up to and beyond their performance careers, seek a Fundraiser.
DCD’s Fundraiser will work closely with the Executive Director and be instrumental in increasing fundraised and revenue income.
Our ideal candidate will be a creative thinker with an open mindset to propose and explore new avenues of fundraising and income streams.
This role is ideally suited to a self-starter with a passion for the performing arts, who is motivated to make a tangible difference to the quality of dancers’ lives.
If you are excited by this opportunity and resonate with DCD’s values, please get in touch; we would love to hear from you.
Contract: Full-time permanent role
Salary: £35,000 per annum, pro-rata
Start date: As early as possible
Location: This is a remote working role, with monthly in-person team meetings which take place in London or Birmingham. Due to additional in-person events and meetings, as appropriate to the role and usually in London, the Fundraiser should be either based in London or within commutable distance.
Benefits: 23 days holiday pro-rata plus Bank Holidays (increasing to 28 days with length of service), 5% Employers contribution to pension scheme, Health & Wellbeing package, Professional Development opportunities.
Deadline: Applications must be submitted by 9am, Thursday 22 January 2026
Info: Download job application pack from our website for full job spec and how to apply.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.