Head of Policy and Public Affairs Reporting to: Director of Development & External Relations Responsible for: 2 staff Based: Our Head Office is based in London, but we have an agile working policy enabling people to work at another UK location up to 4 days/week. There will be regular travel for external meetings, where needed, particularly in London/Westminster Terms: Full-time (35 hours per week), permanent Salary: £45,448 to £55,744 per annum About the role The Head of Policy and Public Affairs plays a key strategic role in the BSA, with leadership of our policy and advocacy activities. Working with senior colleagues, you will ensure insights and evidence from our programmes and partnerships are helping to shape public and national policy, and that the BSA is able to influence the systems-change we believe is needed to achieve our three-year goals and manifesto. You will build strong relationships with policy-makers and other key stakeholders, and be an important ambassador for the BSA. And you will lead the delivery of key projects such as our public insights work, For Thought (our thought leadership programme), Future Forum (our youth insights programme) and the BSA’s role as secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Diversity and Inclusion in STEM. This is an exciting role, working in a dynamic sector and landscape – and which makes a demonstrable impact on the BSA’s mission to put people at the heart of science. Key responsibilities Advocacy Develop and deliver the BSA’s public affairs strategy, including engagement with Parliamentarians and policy-makers; responding to relevant consultations; and briefing relevant colleagues (e.g., the CEO, Chair) for stakeholder meetings. Provide leadership on BSA’s role as secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion, working closely with the Policy and External Relations Manager. Lead on the BSA’s engagement with Parliamentary and policy stakeholders for British Science Week, encouraging their involvement and support. Lead on the BSA’s delivery of key strategic advocacy projects, working with external partners. Represent the BSA at relevant meetings, which may require regular travel, particularly to London / Westminster. Insights and policy development Develop the BSA’s policy positions, working closely with the Director of Development & External Relations and CEO, and with BSA programme teams (Community Engagement, Ideas Fund, Education, Festivals) to ensure insights and evidence from our programmes are helping to shape our policy recommendations, and the BSA is advancing its goals in our Business Plan (2024-2027) and manifesto. Lead on the delivery and oversight of the BSA’s public insights work (including programmes such as Future Forum (our youth insights work) and our involvement in Sciencewise. Lead on horizon-scanning, so that the BSA is kept informed of relevant policy announcements and political updates, and proactively working with colleagues to shape the BSA’s response. Project delivery and partnerships Lead on the BSA’s ‘thought leadership’ work, including relevant opportunities such as our annual For Thought Summit. Develop and maintain relevant funding and other strategic partnerships, responding to new initiatives in the sector. Leadership Lead and inspire the Policy & Insights team, with line-management responsibility for two manager-level roles. Foster a collaborative, values-driven working environment for the team across the organisation, including close working with Business Development, Communications, and Programme teams. Work closely with the Director of Development & External Relations and CEO on key strategic and emerging issues such as stakeholder-engagement and emerging policy and political issues. In addition, the post-holder will be expected to: Support colleagues across the organisation especially at busy times or on specific areas of expertise. Other duties as reasonably required by your line manager. About you The Head of Policy and Public Affairs role would suit someone who has significant experience of leading and delivering influencing strategies, and of developing policy positions. You will have keen political instincts, able to spot opportunities and challenges. You will be a confident, diplomatic, and proactive networker, able to communicate complex information in an engaging and impact way. And you will manage and lead key strategic projects, requiring significant project management skills, the ability to manage multiple projects to deadlines, and excellent stakeholder management. You will lead a small, high-performing team and support their development and contribution to the team’s plans. You do not need to have worked in a science-based organisation previously, but it would be beneficial to have an understanding of, or interest, in the UK’s research and/or education and youth landscape. Benefits Agile working policy enabling you to work at home or in another UK location up to 4 days per week, if office-based, and to vary your working hours outside our 10am – 12pm and 2pm – 4pm core hours, subject to the needs of the BSA; 27 days holiday per annum plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time employees) Up to two days paid leave per year for significant voluntary commitments in support of professional and personal development, such as being a trustee of a charity or a school governor Auto-enrolment pension scheme (4% paid by employer) Up to five days’ unpaid leave per year (this is down to the Manager’s decision and ensuring it does not affect work) Life assurance from your first day, subject to scheme rules Occupational sick pay: up to six weeks’ full pay per year (pro-rata for part-time employees) Confidential telephone counselling service, offered by our legal insurance Interest-free loan for season ticket, bike to work, and assisted study Discounts may be offered on Science Museum tickets and in the shop. The closing date for applications is midnight 20th March 2025. First interviews are due to take place w/c 31st March 2025, and second interviews are likely to be 7th/8th April.You will be informed as soon as possible after the application deadline whether you have been selected for interview. Interested? If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position. As part of the British Science Association’s commitment to being a Disability Confident employer, all disabled applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under our guaranteed interview scheme. If you wish to apply under the guaranteed interview scheme, you will be asked to indicate this when you submit your application by selecting ‘yes’ in the relevant box when asked during the application process. Applicants do not need to state any further information or declare their disability at the application stage. The BSA follows government advice in that it is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations (such as a high number of applications), we may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, we could 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. Whether you are applying under the scheme or not, if you are successful in being shortlisted, we will ask candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions to let us know if they need any adjustments during the recruitment process. No agencies please.