Support jobs in copeland, greater london

Salary: £46,698 (London) / £42,373 (National) per annum

Hours:                       35 hrs per week

Contract: Fixed term contract (until March 2027)

Benefits

· 27 days annual leave + statutory holidays + 3 closures days over the Christmas period;

· Flexible working for all staff including working from home / hybrid working, and flexi-time/TOIL scheme;

· Attractive family friendly policies;

· Private healthcare cover;

· Season ticket loans;

· Employee awards, and training and development opportunities.

For more information about our benefits please visit our website.

Office locations:  London, Bristol or homeworker

The role will involve spending a substantial amount of time in the East of England (including early starts/late finishes and overnight stays where required) and regular travel nationwide for NHF events and meetings. 

Please note, if office based, the successful candidate will be expected to carry out two days in-person working per week on average which will include attendance at your office location.

Flexible working arrangements can be discussed and agreed with the line manager subject to role and business needs.

An exciting opportunity has arisen at the National Housing Federation (NHF) to join our team of External Affairs Managers on a fixed-term basis to cover maternity leave. The NHF is the voice of housing associations in England. We are the trade body to almost 600 housing associations, who have grown from philanthropic roots to provide 2.6 million homes to around 6 million people. You can find further information about the NHF on our website.

Could you be our new External Affairs Manager, working closely with our housing association members across the East of England?

This is a unique and varied role which would appeal to someone with a background in areas such as stakeholder management, policy, public affairs, communications, programme management – or a combination of these areas! For example, you may be looking to step into a role to further develop your leadership and stakeholder engagement skills, whilst still building on your policy or programme management experience and knowledge.

You will operate at the heart of social housing by working with key decision makers across the housing association sector – including managing relationships with chief executives, chairs of boards and executive directors. Strong communication and influencing skills are essential to the role, as well as the confidence to work at the most senior levels.  

It is crucial that you can work collegiately to lead key programmes of work across the NHF with colleagues in other teams, for example from our policy, press, events, and public affairs teams. Equally, you will be comfortable working autonomously and shaping your own work programme.

The core of the role involves being responsible for engagement with a whole geographic region of our membership; and working closely on or leading one of the NHF’s key themes of work, which include areas such as supported housing; devolution; developing new homes; decarbonising existing homes; ensuring the building safety agenda is delivered; or representing our rural or smaller housing associations.

The role is wide ranging and in addition to stakeholder management and programme leadership, will include running roundtables between our members and government, chairing sessions at NHF conferences, and presenting political and policy updates to senior teams within housing associations.

You will be part of a team of eight External Affairs Managers sitting within the member services directorate, which is there to ensure that we provide excellent value for money for our housing association members.

Key elements of the role:

· You will build and maintain brilliant relationships with housing associations leaders, using your well-developed communication and advocacy skills to maximum effect.

· You will develop knowledge, insight and understanding of housing associations to shape our policy and influencing work and to create structured programmes of member engagement on critical policy and political issues.

· You will be the contact point for housing associations in your region, ensuring they receive first class customer service on the issues which matter to them. Working closely with NHF members you will facilitate the organisation of regional chief executive or leaders forums and sounding boards.

· In addition to your regional work, you will lead on the strategic planning and delivery of a key NHF policy priority. This will require collaborative working with colleagues from across the organisation and working with members across every region and specialism.  You will play a leadership role, creating structured engagement strategies to ensure members are able to influence policy as well as engaging key NHF stakeholders and sharing best practice.

· Your role will be to implement structured member engagement to ensure our policy priorities, positions and influencing work are member-led. This will include working directly with members to inform our policy positions and lead our influencing work.

· You will influence debates at the highest level and you will spot in advance and act strategically to mitigate the risk to our membership. As such, this role requires a high degree of political and organisational acumen and the ability to horizon scan.

· You will work with colleagues in our Commercial and Events teams to maximise commercial opportunities and help shape content at our conferences, as well chairing conference sessions.

· To be the face and voice of the NHF with members, stakeholders and the media.

· To ensure that as an organisation we deliver as a whole team, seamlessly, to members to achieve greatest impact in line with the business strategy.

· To maintain high quality standards and follow NHF policy and process.

The successful candidate:

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

· A sound knowledge and understanding of housing associations and issues affecting the wider sector.

· A sound understanding of the political and policy landscape that housing associations operate in.

· Demonstrable knowledge and experience of establishing and maintaining relationships with senior stakeholders, demonstrating excellent customer service and value for money.

· Effective communication skills, in person and in writing, including the ability to credibly and confidently present at meetings and events.

· Ability to listen to and influence senior stakeholders, demonstrating diplomacy, effective communication and negotiation skills.

· Clear leadership skills, able to lead complex and strategic programmes of work effectively, including experience of matrix managing and motivating a team.

· Excellent analytical skills and strategic nous with the ability to summarise complex information effectively to aid decision making.

· A commitment to excellent customer service.

· A positive, energetic and agile approach to work.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

The NHF has published its equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, which was co-created with staff. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and we value the contribution each individual makes to our work.  

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and are working to increase the diversity profile of our workforce. We are currently under-represented by ethnic minorities, people with a disability or disabilities and LGBTQ+, and would particularly welcome applications from people in these groups.

Disability confident employer

We are a disability confident employer and if you are a disabled person who meets the skills and experience we consider essential for the role, we will offer you an interview.

Please note: there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. In certain recruitment situations such as high-volume of applications, we may be required to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.
In these circumstances the NHF will select the disabled candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than all of those that meet the minimum criteria, as we would do for non-disabled applicants. This is in line with the Disability Confident guidelines.

We are happy to consider reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process if you have a disability or have a condition that you feel may affect your performance during the recruitment process. Please contact the People team with your request or to arrange a time to discuss in more detail.

Our role profile and job advert can also be requested in large print or in accessible format via this email address.

Completing our Application Form

To apply for this role, please complete our online application form. The application form includes your employment and education history plus you will be asked to answer questions in relation to your knowledge, skills and experience, why you are applying for the role and questions in relation to our values. The application form is anonymous and will not require you to upload a CV or cover letter. This will help us to shortlist candidates for interview based solely on their knowledge, skills and experience.

Right to work in the UK/UK VISA sponsorship

You must have the right to work in the UK and it is important to note that the NHF does not sponsor individuals to work in the UK.

Closing date for applications: 4 January 2026

Interview date: 14 and 15 January 2026

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

IRC UK
IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees in England.
In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm. 

The Purpose of the Role

The HR Operations Manager has oversight of IRC UK’s onboarding processes, HR data, payroll, and wellbeing initiatives for approximately 200 UK-based staff.

The role exists to:
•  Lead Operational Delivery: Drive the implementation of the UK People & Culture (P&C) workplan, collaborating closely with European and global colleagues.
•  Ensure Excellence in HR Operations: Manage HR systems, processes, and compliance requirements to deliver a positive and seamless employee experience across IRC UK.

Key Working Relationships
•  All IRC UK-based staff and their line managers, both in the UK and globally
•  IRC global People & Culture colleagues
•  External suppliers, including pension providers, outsourced payroll provider, and benefits partners

Key Accountabilities

•  Lead HR Operations: Oversee and develop the HR Operations team’s core functions, including onboarding, HR administration, and payroll.
•  Safer Recruitment & Compliance: Act as IRC UK’s lead on Safer Recruitment processes and Right to Work requirements, including visa administration and advising on pre-travel preparations, security training, and medical requirements in line with IRC policies.
•  Payroll & Benefits Management: Oversee payroll and benefits administration, serving as the escalation point for HR and Finance colleagues, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
•  Customer-Focused Service: Ensure a high-quality, customer-focused approach to People Administration across all HR processes.
•  HR Systems & Data: Collaborate with colleagues to maintain and optimise HR systems, data management, and reporting capabilities.
•  Legal & Policy Compliance: Ensure operational compliance with UK employment law and internal policies across all HR activities.
•  Vendor Management: Manage relationships with external providers, including payroll, pension, and other benefits partners.
•  Information Governance: Implement robust data protection practices, ensuring secure handling, storage, and sharing of employee data in compliance with GDPR and other relevant legislation.
•  Audit & Continuous Improvement: Lead and coordinate HR Operations audit activities in collaboration with Finance and global teams, using audit outcomes to drive process improvements.
•  Project Delivery: Manage the implementation of projects aligned with the People & Culture workplan, including GEDI (Gender, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) initiatives.
•  Employee Relations Administration: Coordinate and administer employee relations matters, including flexible working requests, probation reviews, and redundancy processes, directly managing when possible and escalating risks, for example related to disciplinaries or grievances as appropriate.

Person Specification

•  Passion for Humanitarian Work: Demonstrated commitment to working within the humanitarian sector and supporting IRC mission and values.
•  HR Leadership Experience: Significant experience in leading HR operations, ideally within the charity or non-profit sector.
•  Recruitment Onboarding Expertise: Proven ability to lead safer recruitment practices and deliver effective recruitment initiatives.
•  HR Systems Management: Experience in managing and optimising HR systems and processes to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and meaningful data reporting. Experience of Workday would be helpful. 
•  Leadership & Communication: Excellent leadership, project management, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.
•  Process Improvement: Ability to apply process improvement methodologies to streamline workflows, enhance operational efficiency, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
•  Employment Law Knowledge: Up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law and regulatory requirements, ensuring compliance across payroll, contracts, policies, and employee entitlements.
•  Team Development: Strong leadership and emotional intelligence, with the ability to mentor HR staff, delegate effectively, and foster a high-performing, supportive team culture through clear communication and constructive feedback.
•  Time Management: Exceptional organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, meet tight deadlines, and maintain accuracy in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications
•  CIPD qualification or equivalent (Level 5 or above) preferred

Standard Responsibilities

Promote and actively participate in initiatives and efforts to build team engagement, inclusion and cohesion in IRC team.

Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies.

Related standard content: 

IRC strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a team and deliver the best possible services to our clients.

UK: 
Narrowing the Gender Gap: The IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including flexible hours (when possible), enhanced maternity/adoption leave and pay and gender-sensitive security protocols.

The salary for the role is £50,000-£55,000.

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

The application deadline is 14th December 2025.

Interviews will be on MS Teams on Thursday 18 December 2025. We may close this role early due to volume of applicants