Job Details

This role will support our public affairs work targeted at Westminster to make real change happen. This is a fantastic opportunity to work with the team to increase our profile and raise our key policy areas with decision-makers and drive forward the goal of putting the needs of people with arthritis on the political agenda. 

In this exciting role, you will be a critical member of our influencing team, helping to bring the voice of people living with arthritis right into the heart of Westminster. Working with the Public Affairs team, you will help to deliver the charity’s public affairs activities, building a strong profile with decision-makers to ensure our messages and policy priorities are front and centre of their thoughts.

You will support the delivery of exciting and engaging influencing strategies, working with colleagues to combine policy, public affairs, campaigning, media and social media in order to influence policy change.  You will also play a key role in organising and delivering the charity’s activities at Parliamentary events and political party conferences.

*As a hybrid worker the expectation is that you will spend around 40% of your working time in our office spaces or working in community settings. As an inclusive employer we will consider home-based working for anyone where office-based hybrid working would be a barrier to being able to work for us, for example for someone living with a long-term health condition or disability.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee you will be offered an interview if you disclose a disability and demonstrate sufficient evidence within your application that you meet the essential criteria for this role. We will also make any reasonable adjustments you may require for your interview.

About us

We have made a commitment in our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to increase the diversity of our charity and we welcome candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We want our employees, volunteers and trustees to represent the broad diversity of the communities of which we are a part.

There are over 10 million people living with arthritis. That’s one in six, with over half of those living in pain every single day. The impact is huge as the condition slowly intrudes on everyday life – affecting the ability to work, care for a family, to move free from pain and to live independently. Yet arthritis is often dismissed as an inevitable part of ageing or shrugged off as ‘just a bit of arthritis’. We don’t think that this is OK. Versus Arthritis is here to change that.

Your knowledge, skills and experience include the following then we’d love to hear from you:

• Strong communicator to help build external relationships with politicians, civil servants and other decision-makers, coupled with good understanding of the Westminster Parliamentary process, UK Government and the wider influencing environment to produce engaging materials and organise events.
• Excellent organisational skills are essential, to deliver a programme of events, politician visits and other activities in Westminster and across the devolved nations.
• Excellent attention to detail, and ability to adapt written and verbal communication styles for different audiences.
• Ability to work with colleagues to develop external briefings, internal briefings and engaging materials for Parliamentarians and policy-makers, with the ability to synthesize often complex policy information.
• Proven ability of monitoring and analysis of the external policy, political and Parliamentary landscape across the UK nations, alerting breaking news and important developments.
• A flexible approach.