Policy and research assistant jobs in belfast
The National Lottery Community Fund has an exciting opportunity to recruit a Communications Assistant to join the newly restructured communications and engagement function, supporting in the delivery of our strategy, It Starts With Community.
The role is part of our ambitious transformation as we implement a significant pivot in our communications approach – building on our support for grant-making to demonstrate the powerful impact communities have in strengthening society and improving lives.
As Communications Assistant, you will help colleagues across the department raise the profile of The National Lottery Community Fund ensuring our operation runs smoothly, providing effective planning and administrative support across the organisation.
You will provide support to the communications and engagement function by contributing to campaigns, assisting with budget and procurement processes, and managing content flow and communication touchpoints for customers and grant holders.
This role sits within the Communications Strategy team, a UK-wide team designed to develop insight-driven plans for missions and developing portfolio key messages and campaigns.
Key responsibilities:
- Cross-functional support for the Fund’s communications teams, including occasional executive assistant support to the department leadership team
- Provide organisational support to team members and other internal stakeholders as required
- Ensure stakeholder lists and other cross-functional assets are up to date, accurate and well-structured, including supporting with Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) as required
- Contribute to new campaigns and projects as required
- Assist in budget management and other financial matters, including procurement
- Effective management of the multiple communications touchpoints in the Fund’s customer journey cycle
- Accountable for managing the flow of content and information between the department and the rest of the Fund.
Location: Hybrid
We have a hybrid approach to working, work pattern and location will be agreed with the successful candidate. The role can be based at any of our UK offices, these are Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Newcastle and Newtown.
Interview Date: Tuesday 22nd July or Wednesday 23rd July (virtual)
On application, please align your supporting statement to the criteria below
Essential criteria
- Experience of general administration, diary, expenses and travel management and event organisation
- Excellent communication skills, oral and written
- Proficient in Microsoft 365 products
- Good attention to detail and time management
- Experience working with external partners, suppliers and customers, and colleagues across up to leadership level
- Comfortable working in a complex, multifunctional institution
Desirable criteria
- Background or understanding of VCSE sector
- An understanding of Welsh language legislation and the Welsh Language Standards
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Communities in the UK come in all shapes and sizes. National Lottery funding is for everyone – therefore, we are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we work hard to ensure our funding reaches where it is needed.
We also believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. That’s why The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We recognise and celebrate the fact that our people come from diverse backgrounds. We positively welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities or longstanding health conditions, people who are LGBTQ+, and people from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, as well as people of all ages.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we take a proactive approach in making reasonable adjustments, if needed, throughout the recruitment process and during employment. (This can be related to a physical and mental health condition.)
Non Charity Employer
501 - 1000
It starts with community.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
This is a key leadership role within the CSA Centre, central to our ambition to raise awareness of the true scale and nature of sexual abuse and to drive evidence-informed improvements in policy and practice.
About the role:
The CSA Centre aims to reduce the impact of child sexual abuse through improved prevention and better response, and effective internal and external communication is absolutely central to that mission.
Leading our Communications Team, you will play a key role in developing and delivering the CSA Centre's communication plans over the immediate and longer term, helping us to ensure that our evidence, learning and resources have the widest possible reach into policy and practice at both local and national level.
As a member of the CSA Centre's Senior Management Team, you will work closely with the CSA Centre's multi-agency, multi-disciplinary team, enabling you to draw on expertise from a wide range of different professional backgrounds. You will lead our engagement with communications colleagues from across Government departments and key stakeholder groups.
We are looking for a highly motivated leader with strong skills and significant experience in communication roles, and the ability to manage an extensive and varied workload to deliver multiple objectives. Communication activity at the CSA Centre is extremely diverse; in any given week you might find yourself developing a new strategic approach to disseminating CSA Centre resources throughout practice, leading a briefing session on new research findings for prominent national media outlets, advising senior Government leads on plans for a new awareness raising campaign, working with expert stakeholders to develop national media guidelines for the reporting of child sexual abuse… No two days are the same!
As Assistant Director, Communications, you will play a role tackling child sexual abuse alongside the work of our colleagues across practice, research, policy and training. This is important work - the CSA Centre conservatively estimates that one in ten children will experience some form of child sexual abuse before age of 16, and our ambitious programme seeks to improve the knowledge, skills and confidence of professionals (social workers, teachers, social workers, nurses etc.) in identifying and responding to child sexual abuse. We have already made great progress, but there is much more to be done – and we need your leadership to help us do it!
Although this contract has a permanent status, CSA Centre roles are subject to funding until 31st March 2026, in line with our current grant funding arrangements. This contract is due to expire on 31st March 2026 however this will be reviewed in late 2025, as future funding for CSA Centre from 2026/27 onwards is confirmed. If this funding is not extended further, you may be subject to a redundancy consultation or a TUPE arrangement.
About us
We are the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre). Our aim is to reduce the impact of child sexual abuse through improved prevention and better response. To tackle child sexual abuse we must better understand its causes, scope, scale and impact.
Established since 2017, we are a multi-disciplinary team that is funded by the Home Office, hosted by Barnardo's and we work closely with key partners from academic institutions, local authorities, health, education, police and the voluntary sector. We're proudly independent and our team will challenge any barriers, assumptions, taboos and ways of working that prevent us from increasing our understanding and improving our approach to child sexual abuse.
We bring about change by:
- Collating and analysing existing research, policy, practice and the real experiences of those affected, and filling the gaps we identify with new research, insights and analysis;
- Using that evidence and insight to challenge and improve existing policy and practice, develop new approaches and increase everyone's knowledge and confidence to more effectively tackle the issue.
This role is home based with regular travel required, usually to London.
Salary:
The CSA Centre acknowledges that tackling child sexual abuse can feel challenging but is incredibly rewarding and positive when actively making change. Our open working environment ensures that there is support for all employees, across the team and with access to a therapist, if needed. Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of this further.
We believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore are open to offering flexible working arrangements.
The CSA Centre is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce. We actively encourage applications from disabled candidates and candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, as they are currently under-represented at the CSA Centre.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification and Job Description.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
This new role at Young Sounds UK will provide a wide range of support across the organisation, managing the logistics for our events, assisting our Development team with vital fundraising tasks, and handling a wide range of organisational administration.
You'll need to be proactive, highly organised, and looking for a busy role within a passionate team. With at least 3 years experience you'll be keen to use your strong communication skills and attention to detail to provide high standards of administrative support.
For full information on this role, including key responsibilities and person specification, please view the job pack.
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 15 July 2025 at 12 noon.
About Young Sounds UK
Young Sounds UK exists because musical talent is everywhere but opportunity isn’t: family finances and other obstacles too often get in the way. We’re here to change this in two key ways:
- We support young musicians from low-income families with funding and other help
- We support music education through training, advocacy and research.
Established in 1998 we work across genres and across the UK. Our four programme areas are:
- Discover: training teachers in how to spot young people’s musical potential
- Connect: targeting and sustaining young people’s emerging talent through strategic support
- Thrive: funding young talent UK wide through annual grants and tailor-made help for individual musicians
- Innovate: leading new thinking and action on talent development
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
The Senior Bid and Funding Officer is a new role for Involve as we seek to build the infrastructure to support the growth that we have experienced in recent years. This role will sit within our Finance & Support Services function and will work alongside colleagues at all levels in the Innovation & Practice, Capacity Building & Standards and Advocacy & Communications functions to identify and provide compelling proposals in response to fundraising and tender opportunities.
As Senior Bid and Funding Officer you will be responsible for identifying fundraising opportunities to bring forwards to the team for evaluation and coordinating the submission of returns ensuring high quality tenders are produced that meet the needs of funders and commissioners. You will support function leads in monitoring fundraising outcomes and comparing to income generation targets, developing a database of funders and improving tender response processes to reduce the administrative burden of tender responses without compromising on quality.
Our ideal candidate will have experience of managing the tender return process in other organisations, either in a commercial or charitable sector environment. You will bring strong project management skills, be able to coordinate tender submissions to set deadlines and have an inquisitive mindset to enjoy researching opportunities and thinking creatively how Involve can meet funder requirements while also advancing our mission.
We work across the UK, with offices in Belfast and London. Many of our staff work from home across the UK or in a hybrid pattern, rather than being based at one of our offices, though we meet up regularly as a team. We are flexible but you must be comfortable with regular travel both for project work and for Involve team activities. Must be able to travel to deliver work across the UK.
Please see our website for more details.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Salary: £36,910 - £44,160 per annum, dependent on experience, plus excellent benefits package
Hours: 35 per week
Contract: Permanent
Based: Home based with some travel to services required (estimated to be 1-2 days per month)
Ref: 1566
Cranstoun is a social justice and harm reduction charity, working in the areas of substance use, domestic abuse, criminal justice, housing and young people. We deliver world-class services that rebuild lives. We’ve been making a difference since 1969 by combining our expertise with new, innovative approaches, and putting people at the heart of everything we do.
The Bid Writer will work in our Business Development Team, planning, developing and writing high quality bid submissions that convey the organisation’s mission, values and expertise to commissioners and funders.
You will be responsible for coordinating strong tender submissions, resulting in successful outcomes. You will help ensure Cranstoun retains all existing contracts and wins new business, in line with the organisation’s strategic plans and targets for growth.
Within this role, you will work collaboratively with a variety of internal stakeholders, using exceptional writing and interpersonal skills to capture and convey Cranstoun’s approach to delivering services across a variety of areas.
We are seeking a confident self-starter, with demonstrable experience of high quality writing and clear evidence of successful outcomes in a business development context (70% success rate). The successful candidate will welcome the opportunity to tackle challenges and adopt a solutions-focused approach.
Above all, you’ll be interested in becoming part of a diverse, energetic team, committed to delivering innovative, person-centred services that make a tangible difference to people’s lives.
This post is subject to a Standard DBS Disclosure.
To download an application pack, please visit the website via the apply button.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept CVs.
Closing date: Sunday 3 August 2025.
Anticipated first interview date: w/c 11 August 2025.
Anticipated second interview date: w/c 18 August 2025.
We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
Registered Charity No. 1061582.
