Power to Change is the think-do tank that backs community business. We turn bold ideas into action so communities have the power to change what matters to them. We know community business works to build stronger communities and better places to live. We’ve seen people create resilient and prosperous local economies when power is in community hands. We also know the barriers that stand in the way of their success. We’re using our experience to bring partners together to do, test and learn what works. We’re shaping the conditions for community business to thrive. To do that, we need strong relationships in politics and in government at a time where there is an exciting opportunity to shape the conditions for community business to thrive. The External Affairs Officer will provide essential support across the organisation by identifying key stakeholders and determining the most effective tactics to build and maintain relationships in both politics and government. This includes monitoring parliamentary and political developments to spot opportunities, drafting high-quality briefings, articles and press releases, as well as coordinating politically-focused events, such as those held at party conferences.

Reporting to: Policy Manager (Advocacy)

Role purpose

The External Affairs Officer will provide essential support across the organisation by determining the most effective tactics to build and maintain relationships in both politics and government, including through relationships with allies, political influencers, and media. This includes monitoring parliamentary and political developments to spot opportunities, drafting highquality briefings and articles, and coordinating political outreach and politically-focused events, such as those held at party conferences.

Role responsibilities 

• Provide high level support to the Policy Managers across policy and public affairs priorities.
• Remain informed about political trends and schools of thought across the political spectrum to get a more nuanced understanding of political trends.
• Monitor the parliamentary, political, and media landscape to identify opportunities to engage with new and existing allies, and to land press coverage.
• Work with the Policy Managers to produce internal briefings to support our policy and public affairs work (such as event briefings and speaking notes).
• Work with the Policy Managers to produce compelling and politically attuned blogs, op-eds, reports and briefings for external stakeholders.
• Work with the Policy Managers to devise engaging ways of promoting findings from policy research and pilot projects and clearly communicating our policy positions to policy and political stakeholders.
• Map and develop tactics to engage with external stakeholders – including politicians, political influencers, and relevant media – working with colleagues across the organisation to maintain and build relationships with these stakeholders.
• Generate ideas for events and work with colleagues in the Policy and Insight team to plan, deliver and manage them on the day, including at the party conferences.
• Work with colleagues in communications to engage with the press, for example by generating ideas for news stories, op-eds, and assisting with drafting press releases and pitching stories.
• Work with the Strategy and Culture team to improve and embed operational processes in our activities.
• Work with the Insight Manager to ensure our outputs are evidence-based.
• Work with the Portfolio Management team to ensure our outputs from demonstrators, such as events or reports, are aligned with Power to Change’s ambition to influence national policy.

Organisation responsibilities

• Represent Power to Change, attending events, monitoring developments, and providing visibility through social media content, blogposts and analysis.
• Embed and continue to review diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work.
• Be an active and engaged colleague, taking part in support and learning activities.
• Provide ad-hoc assistance to other team members as required.

This job description is issued as a guideline to assist you in your duties, it is not exhaustive. Because of the evolving nature and changing demands of our work this job description may be subject to change. You may, on occasions, be required to undertake additional or other duties within the context of this job description.

Person specification

Skills and experience

• Knowledge of policymaking and the UK policy landscape.
• Political awareness and an ability to tailor messages for different political audiences.
• Previous experience of stakeholder engagement approaches.
• Excellent time management and ability to work on multiple projects effectively.
• Proficient at building and maintaining good working relationships internally and externally.
• Ability to write to a high standard and to communicate persuasively with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Good levels of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Willing to work flexibly and fluidly.
• Analytical in approach, able to quickly gain an understanding of complex work with confidence to ask for help.
• Good understanding of and experience of working in the social enterprise, community business or think tank sectors.