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What you will be achieving
As a key member of the Academy’s Policy Team, the Senior Policy Officer will play an important role at a critical moment for the organisation. This role will help the Policy team to plan and deliver a new set of priorities for 2026/27. Relevant priorities for this role include, but are not limited to:
- Improving health outcomes in the UK and internationally.
- Mobilising the UK health research system to turn discovery into practice.
- Making the UK the best place in the world to have a career in medical sciences.
Within these overarching priorities, there are some distinct policy programmes the incoming Senior Policy Officer is likely to work on, which could include:
- Maximising the impact of medical sciences in prevention and early detection.
- Transforming the generation and application of clinical evidence to speed up translation from discovery to patient impact, ensuring equitable inclusion of underserved groups.
- Making the UK a global leader in responsible, effective and equitable AI and data use across the biomedical sciences.
- Conducting a foresight exercise to identify high-impact innovations that will be critical within the near future and ensure the health system is enabled to support them.
The Senior Policy Officer will be line managed by a Policy Manager.
What you will be doing
As Senior Policy Officer, you will lead on or support a range of policy projects and activities to inform and influence the policy landscape in accordance with Academy priorities. This work may include leading on or supporting the following:
- Major working group studies and corresponding outputs.
- Informing and responding to Government set pieces and announcements.
- Consultations and rapid responses, and shorter position papers.
- Roundtables, workshops, and other relevant policy events.
- Correspondence and briefings for senior stakeholders.
- Working closely with Fellows and other experts to identify and analyse key policy issues, gather data and expert opinion. Construct impactful conclusions and recommendations to advise internal and external stakeholders.
- Delivering implementation and follow-up activities on policy recommendations across external audiences and stakeholders.
- Maintaining an excellent understanding of the policy landscape by monitoring developments and key policy issues, including the use of animals in research (please see the Academy’s statement on the use of animals in research).
- Scoping potential new areas of policy work, and/or identify opportunities for the Policy Team.
External engagement
- Collaborating with organisations from academia, Government, healthcare, industry and the charity sector.
- Maintaining and developing an effective network of contacts across the sector (including our Fellows) to inform and increase the impact of policy work.
- Representing the Academy at external meetings, parliamentary engagements (such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Life Sciences) and political events (such as party conferences).
Supporting the Academy’s wider functions
- Supporting the Academy’s briefings and parliamentary monitoring functions.
- Coordinating across a wide range of Academy functions, including its Briefings, Impact, and Events capabilities, to maximise the effectiveness of policy work.
- Working with the Communications and Engagement teams to co-develop relevant outputs and activities.
- Briefing senior stakeholders for high-level meetings and events where necessary.
- Supporting the development of core scripts on priority policy topics across the Policy team.
- Supporting the Monitoring and Evaluation team with monitoring the policy team’s impact.
Budget and line management
- Occasionally managing policy budget lines.
- Occasionally supervising policy interns and placement students.
Benefits
We provide our staff with a comprehensive benefits package outlined as follows:
- Generous pension scheme with flexible contributions – we contribute between 8% - 13% of your gross salary (with employee contributions of 3% - 8%).
- Life assurance at three times your salary.
- Hybrid and agile working. 50% office attendance.
- 26 days annual leave, plus Christmas closure days and bank holidays.
- Buying and selling leave.
- Family-friendly policies including enhanced maternity and paternity leave (subject to a qualifying period).
- Complimentary subscriptions to Headspace and Classpass to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
- Support through tailored learning and development.
- A range of enhanced benefits become available once you’ve completed your probation period.
For more information and to apply, please visit our careers portal.
Closing date: 9.00am on Wednesday, 22 April 2026.
Interview date: Thursday, 7 May 2026 (held online).
Registered Charity 
Thank you!
The Academy of Medical Sciences’ FORUM is a neutral, independent platform for bringing together leaders from research, industry, the health system, charities and Government to share insight, exchange evidence and explore solutions to complex challenges in health and life sciences. Relevant Academy priorities for this role include, but are not limited to:
- Improving health outcomes in the UK and internationally
- Mobilising the UK health research system to turn discovery into practice.
- Making the UK the best place in the world to have a career in medical sciences
As Senior Policy Officer, you will help shape and deliver this high‑impact cross-sector programme — ensuring the Academy convenes the right people, on the right issues, at the right time. In the next year, policy areas you will work on may include prevention and early detection, using clinical evidence to speed up translation from discovery to patient impact, inclusion of underrepresented groups in research, and the use of AI and data across biomedical sciences.
You will lead delivery of a portfolio of policy meetings and workshops, produce influential outputs, and manage relationships across the FORUM network. You will use evidence, stakeholder insight and sound judgement to support decisions about where the Academy should focus its convening power, helping us maximise our impact while maintaining the high standards and values that underpin our work.
This role offers a unique opportunity to shape conversations across the life sciences and contribute to improving health through evidence-informed policy.
FORUM is a cross-sectoral programme, and we welcome applications from people with a variety of professional backgrounds. You might have experience in healthcare (including allied health profession such as nursing), medical research, Government, regulation, humanities, economics, community engagement, and/or industry. This list is not exhaustive, please do contact us if you would like to discuss the relevance of your experience.
Benefits
- Generous pension scheme with flexible contributions – we contribute between 8% - 13% of your gross salary (with employee contributions of 3% - 8%)
- Life assurance at three times your salary
- Hybrid and agile working. 50% office attendance
- 26 days annual leave, plus Christmas closure days and bank holidays
- Buying and selling leave
- Family-friendly policies including enhanced maternity and paternity leave (subject to a qualifying period)
- Complimentary subscriptions to Headspace and Classpass to support your physical and mental wellbeing
- Support through tailored learning and development
- A range of enhanced benefits become available once you’ve completed your probation period
For more information and to apply, please visit our careers page.
Closing date: 9.00am on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.
Interview date: Tuesday, 28 April 2026 (online).
Thank you!
Senior Policy and Research Officer
Job Description
Role Overview
Role title: Senior Policy and Research Officer
Team: Policy and Research
Reports to: Policy and Research Director
Salary: £32,000 – £34,000
Location: Kettering (flexible working considered)
Purpose of the role
The Senior Policy and Research Officer supports the organisation’s work to influence policy and practice by delivering high-quality research and analysis.
The role contributes to building a strong evidence base that informs decision-making by government, employers and partners, and supports Youth Employment UK’s position as a trusted source of insight.
What the role is accountable for
Outputs (what is delivered)
The role is responsible for designing, delivering and reporting research projects, including quantitative and qualitative analysis.
This includes analysing data, developing research tools, producing reports and briefings, and supporting the communication of findings to a range of audiences.
Outcomes (what success looks like)
Success in this role is demonstrated through the production of high-quality, reliable research that informs policy, supports organisational strategy, and is used by stakeholders.
The role contributes to strengthening the organisation’s evidence base, supporting policy development and influencing work, and enabling colleagues to use research effectively.
Behaviours (how the work is done)
The role requires a structured and analytical approach to work, with clear and accurate communication of complex information.
It involves working collaboratively with colleagues, maintaining high standards of quality and professionalism, and ensuring that research outputs are accessible and useful to different audiences.
Attitudes (ownership and judgement)
The role requires a strong sense of responsibility for the quality and accuracy of work.
This includes taking ownership of research tasks, managing competing priorities, identifying risks or issues early, and applying sound judgement when interpreting data and presenting findings.
Key priorities
The main focus of the role is on delivering research projects to a high standard, supporting policy development, ensuring research is accessible and usable, and contributing to the wider work of the team.
Skills and experience
The role requires experience in research within a policy or related environment.
Candidates should demonstrate strong quantitative and qualitative research skills, the ability to analyse and interpret complex data, experience using relevant tools, and the ability to communicate findings clearly.
An understanding of youth employment or related policy areas is desirable.
How success will be measured
Performance will be assessed through the quality and reliability of research outputs, ability to meet deadlines, contribution to policy work, effectiveness in communication, and alignment with organisational values.
Working arrangements and benefits
This role is based in Kettering, with flexibility considered depending on the needs of the role and team.
Youth Employment UK offers a supportive working environment and is committed to flexible working where possible. Benefits include annual leave, pension contribution, and opportunities for development.
Values
Youth Employment UK is committed to being a professional, collaborative and purpose-driven organisation.
All colleagues are expected to:
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work in a way that reflects our commitment to young people and employers
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demonstrate professionalism and integrity in their work
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collaborate effectively with colleagues and partners
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contribute to a positive and supportive working environment
Recruitment process
We aim to provide a clear and consistent recruitment experience.
The process for this role is expected to include an initial online interview (approximately 30 minutes), followed by a second-stage interview, usually held in person, including a structured interview and a role-related task.
Candidates who attend the interview will be informed of the outcome as soon as possible.
We are committed to fair and accessible recruitment. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process.
6 - 10
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.