Permanent, Full Time (35 hours per week)
About the role
Our client is seeking a visionary leader to join them as Principal Policy Adviser (Work and Care) to drive the design, development and delivery of programmes that generate influential arguments, policies and ideas addressing the social and economic challenges underpinning poverty and economic insecurity in the UK today. This role is central to charting a course toward a fairer and more prosperous future.
You will actively seek out and engage with individuals and organisations developing innovative ideas and strategies that align with our mission. You will take ownership of how our client’s platform and resources can be best leveraged to support the development and diffusion.
In addition, you will lead the external projection of this work, shaping national conversations, influencing decision-making at the highest levels, building strategic alliances and partnerships and backing experimentation and real-world alternatives. Your leadership will help nurture longer term shifts in thinking and action, ensuring that our client’s work resonates and drives meaningful change across society.
The successful candidate will work collaboratively across the wider organisation, drawing on different disciplines and perspectives to strengthen policy and ideas work and maximise potential for change. You will engage closely with colleagues in teams across devolved nations, considering the territorial implications of their work and exploring how to address issues where responsibilities are devolved.
About you
Our client is seeking a candidate with strong expertise in UK labour markets or systems of care and a clear understanding of how these relate to poverty and economic insecurity. You will have a sophisticated grasp of how policy making works across the UK including devolved and sub-national governments and be well engaged with current political and policy debates. You will also understand how a range of analytical approaches, both quantitative and experiential, can be applied to complex policy issues, alongside a commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse culture.
You will be skilled at navigating complex dilemmas, using evidence, research and lived experience to develop insightful and original ideas. You will think critically and creatively, communicate persuasively and identify and support new ideas and perspectives. You will also be an effective collaborator, able to build partnerships and work with a diverse range of stakeholders.
You will bring a track record of shaping influential ideas or policies and experience of engaging and influencing at senior levels. You will have led successful projects or programmes, supported others through coaching and development and contributed to building high-performing, positive teams.
How to apply
If you share our client’s passion and this role sounds like you, then we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Please submit your CV and supporting information via our online application platform.
The closing date for applications is Sunday 10th May 2026
Interviews will take place on Wednesday 20th May 2026
We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward should enough quality applications be received prior to the current closing date.
Additional Information
Applications are welcome from all, regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or socioeconomic background.
Our client positively encourage applications from people from marginalised backgrounds, including but not limited to those with experience of living in poverty.
Our client is committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process.
In support of our client’s approach to flexible working, they are happy to receive applications from those seeking full-time employment, as well as those who may want to share the role on a part-time basis. When making your application, please state whether you want to be considered for either full or part-time work and, if part-time, the number of hours per week you would be looking for.
Our client are at their best when they are continually building on trust, showing they care and making a difference – and hope others will do the same. So, for those roles which allow it, our client are developing a more blended approach to how and where you work. This means you can expect to work flexibly between the office and home (with an expectation of two days a week in your home office).
Our client are a Disability Confident Employer. This means that they are committed to the recruitment, progression and retention of disabled individuals. Our client shall also offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the job. If you have a disability, please tell us if you would like to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.
If you have any additional needs and need reasonable adjustments to be made to the interview process, please let us know.