2 Policy lead jobs in Woodberry Down, Greater London
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About us
New Local has a mission to transform public services and unlock community power. We publish research, lead peer learning, influence government and work with public sector organisations on some of today’s most pressing issues, informed by our network of 50-plus local authority members.
All of our work is guided by a belief in community power – the principle that communities themselves have the best insight into their own circumstances and should be able to participate in shaping their places and services. We believe that active, empowered communities should be at the heart of a wider shift towards place-based public services and a system focused on prevention, which can lead to better outcomes and a more sustainable system for all.
Purpose
This role sits within our Practice and Programmes team and will contribute to the development and delivery of New Local’s practice and policy work, supporting community-powered public sector reform in partnership with communities, individual councils, strategic authorities, central government, the NHS and other public and voluntary sector bodies.
In our practice work, you will confidently lead and contribute to projects alongside public sector partners and communities, using a range of innovation and practice approaches to address complex challenges and support change. This could include programme and service design, facilitation, strategy development, user-centred design, adaptive and collaborative learning, and approaches that help partners test, learn and adapt in practice. You will work with delivery partners where needed and collaborate closely with other New Local colleagues to deliver high-quality work and impact for our local authority members, wider clients and partners. Crucially, you will help partners not only to develop and test new approaches, but to understand what the learning means for wider strategy, systems and ways of working.
A key part of the role is connecting our practice work to wider strategy, policy and thought leadership. Our thought leadership and policy approach is deeply rooted in the practice we see in places and through our member and peer-learning networks. You will help draw out and communicate learning from pioneering work, developing practical insights and narratives that challenge thinking and inform wider strategy and policy. This could include contributing to blogs and thought pieces, shaping events and member sessions, sharing learning with wider audiences or supporting engagement with key stakeholders. You will identify connections between emerging local practice and national policy agendas and contribute to relationships and opportunities that advance New Local’s work on community power and public service reform.
Key tasks and responsibilities
- Contribute to the delivery of New Local practice projects, working closely with senior members of the New Local team and using a range of innovation and practice approaches including design, facilitation, strategy development, user-centred design, adaptive and collaborative learning, and approaches that enable partners to test, learn and adapt.
- Build and maintain excellent relationships with partners across local government, the wider public sector and communities, placing an emphasis on collaborative working, co-design and building the relationships needed to support meaningful change.
- Design and facilitate engaging processes and workshops that help partners explore complex challenges, develop new approaches, test ideas and build shared understanding and action.
- Help connect practice, strategy and policy, drawing out learning from innovation and working with partners to translate this into changes in policy, strategy, systems and services, while contributing to wider thinking about the conditions needed to enable and scale change.
- Ensure effective project management of our activities, working with colleagues and partners to deliver high-quality work and impact within agreed budgets and timelines.
- Support the development and growth of our practice work, including contributing to proposals, project scoping and budgets, and identifying opportunities to develop our work with existing and new partners.
- Communicate the process, findings and learning from our work, producing clear and compelling outputs for different audiences and helping to draw out wider insights that can inform strategy, practice and policy.
- Contribute to New Local’s thought leadership and policy work, identifying connections between emerging local practice and wider policy agendas, and contributing to blogs, thought pieces, events, member sessions and stakeholder engagement.
- Work collaboratively across New Local, including with our network and communications teams, using your practice expertise and learning from projects to strengthen the wider impact of our work on community power and public service reform.
How to apply
For the full job description, person specification and details on how to apply, please visit New Local's website.
An independent think tank and network, with a mission to transform public services and unlock community power.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Job Title: Interim Research and Policy Lead
Contract: Temporary contract - Maternity cover (13 months)
Hours: 21 hours per week
Salary: £21,600 per annum (£36,000 FTE)
Location: Hybrid (Home Based/London)
About Coram
Coram is committed to improving the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people.
We support children and young people from birth to independence, creating a change that lasts a lifetime.
Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity founded by Thomas Coram in London helping vulnerable children and young people since 1739. Today, the Coram group helps more than one million children, young people, families and professionals every year by providing access to the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.
About Coram PACEY
Coram PACEY (previously the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years) was formed in 1977, we are a professional association dedicated to supporting home-based childcare professionals including childminders and nannies to provide high quality services, information and advice to children, their families and carers. We want all children to experience high quality childcare and early education, helping them to have a bright future.
About the role
The purpose of this role is to lead Coram PACEY’s programme of policy and campaigning activity planned during an important year for Coram PACEY as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. This will include a landmark piece of research into the future of childminding, this is an exciting time to join the organisation.
As Maternity Cover Policy and Research Lead, this role will be key in developing and delivering Coram PACEY’s policy priorities and campaigns providing expertise across key policy areas, support the Head of Coram PACEY to represent members’ concerns, and work with decision-makers, campaigners and partners to influence meaningful change for childminders, home-based childcare professionals and the wider early years sector.
To apply for this role, please click on the 'apply now' button below to complete the application.
Closing Date: 13th September 2026 at 23:59
Interview Date: 21st September 2026
Coram is an equal opportunities employer and we believe a diverse workforce enables us to improve the services to the children and families we help. We are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from all sections of the community we seek to support. This includes those from global majority ethnic backgrounds, those that identify as LGBQT+, those with disabilities, those with lived experience of care, those with neuro-diversity, and those from other groups who are underrepresented at Coram.
If applicants feel comfortable, we would encourage them to draw on lived experience as well as professional experience in their personal statement as part of their application.
We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Registered Charity No. 312278.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.