Women’s Aid
Senior Policy Officer
Location: Remote
Salary: £34,200
Length of contract: 9 months
Hours per week: 37
Closing date: We reserve the right to adapt the advert at any time per organisational circumstances and to close this vacancy early for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Interviews: Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis
Who are Women’s Aid?
Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. We are a federation of just under 180 organisations which provide over 300 local lifesaving services to women and children across England. For 50 years we have campaigned on behalf of our members and survivors to shape policy and practice, and to raise awareness of domestic abuse.
Our support services, which include our Live Chat, the Survivors’ Forum, the No Woman Turned Away Project, the Survivor’s Handbook, Love Respect (our dedicated website for young people), the national Women’s Aid Directory and our advocacy projects, help thousands of women and children every year.
Purpose of the Senior Policy Officer:
The successful candidate will play an integral role in Women’s Aid’s busy and dynamic Policy team, leading on policy development relating to the key issues facing women and children survivors of domestic abuse–including survivors’ experiences of the family justice system, the current cost of living crisis and welfare reform. The Senior Policy Officer will work closely with both internal colleagues and external stakeholders to drive forward Women’s Aid’s policy programme to achieve change for survivors and specialist domestic abuse services, identifying and responding to the crucial policy issues they face, as well as developing evidence-based and survivor-led policy positions, and a range of influential policy materials.
What we are looking for in our Senior Policy Officer:
1. A thorough understanding of the policy development process and experience of identifying policy problems and working towards and securing policy change.
2. An excellent understanding of domestic abuse and its impact on women and children.
3. Experience of leading policy development on a range of issues, and delivering evidence based and influential policy positions.
4. Experience of building relationships with external stakeholders to build support for policy change, such as politicians and civil servants.
5. Experience of analysing evidence and information from a wide range of sources.
6. A clear understanding of the work of Women’s Aid, our members and our work on domestic abuse
7. Experience of writing and producing policy briefings, reports or other information resources on policy issues.
8. Sound knowledge of policy issues related to violence against women and girls.
9. Experience of engaging people with lived experience in policy development.
10. Experience of collecting, managing and communicating complex policy information for a variety of audiences.
11. Experience of managing projects, including producing plans, working across teams and departments and effectively leading their implementation.
Benefits of joining us as our Senior Policy Officerinclude:
12. Generous Annual Leave: 25 days + 2 Company Holidays + 8 UK Bank Holidays, with an extra 1 day per year after 1 year of service, up to a maximum of 5 additional days.
13. Valuable Pension Benefits: a generous 7% employer contribution.
14. Flexible Working: remote working, a generous TOIL scheme, and family-friendly policies
15. Wellness and Support: including a cycle to work scheme, free optician check-ups, annual flu vaccines, access to a 24-hour employee assistance counselling helpline, a ‘Headspace’ app for mindfulness, and ‘Reflective Practice’ sessions.
16. Making a Genuine Difference: in a rewarding role where your work will directly result in helping Women’s Aid to be able to provide lifesaving services for women and children across England.