External Affairs and Policy Manager (Skills)

Skills for Care; Birmingham; Remote; GBP 53,000; Full time

Job summary

Skills for Care is seeking an External Affairs and Policy Manager to lead initiatives in skills policy for the adult social care sector. This home-based role involves developing an influencing plan, working with key stakeholders, and representing the sector in policy reforms. Candidates should possess significant experience in the skills and education policy landscape and advanced communication skills.

Qualifications

• Wealth of experience in skills and education policy landscape.
• Strong network of contacts in the skills sector.
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Developing policy positions and advancing them through public affairs activities.
• Owning and developing an influencing plan for skills development.
• Working with bodies like the Department for Education and Skills England.

Skills

Communication

Engagement

Influencing

Job description

Job Title: External Affairs and Policy Manager (Skills)

Hours: Full Time, 36 hours per week

Job Status: 12 month fixed term contract (with the possibility of extension).

Location: Home-based, with some travel within England

Salary: £52,575.15

Closing Date: 11.59pm, Sunday 15 June 2025.

Interview Date(s): like to be in the week commencing 23 June 2025.

Skills for Care the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England. We work with employers, Government and partners to ensure social care has the right people, skills and support required to deliver the highest quality care and support now and in the future.

Find out more by taking a look at www.skillsforcare.org.uk.

Skills for Care is recruiting an External Affairs and Policy Manager (Skills) to ensure we’re actively involved in skills policy and associated reform – to the benefit of the adult social care workforce. Reporting to the Head of External Affairs and Policy and working closely with our workforce skills team, the successful candidate will help the organisation to understand and influence skills policy - developing policy positions and advancing them through public affairs activities, supporting colleagues across the organisation to align workforce activities and initiatives with relevant changes within the skills landscape, and ensuring that the adult social care workforce is adequately represented and valued within the shaping and implementation of skills policy.

You’ll be responsible for owning and developing an influencing plan to enable an effective skills pipeline and skills development for adult social care. This will involve working with a wide range of bodies including the Department for Education, Skills England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Ideal candidates will bring a wealth of experience working in the skills and education policy landscape, a strong network of contacts in the skills sector, and be able to apply exceptional communication, engagement and influencing skills to ensure the adult social care sector is represented in skills policy and associated reforms.

If you are interested in these roles, please access the full job description for further information and we look forward to receiving your application.

At Skills for Care, we are committed to creating a culture of Belonging, where all of our People are able to contribute to their full potential. All our People are expected to contribute towards the achievement of our aspirations for equality, equity, diversity and inclusion. To find out more please check our website (https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/About-us/Equality-diversity-and-inclusion/Equality-diversity-and-inclusion.aspx).

At Skills for Care, we want our People to be representative of the society we support, this includes all equality characteristics such as age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief. This lived experience from a diverse group of people helps us with all the work that we do and ultimately supports the social care sector to provide the best quality care. We encourage applications from, but not limited to, people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities.

Candidates will always be selected based on experience and potential.

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Information about reasonable adjustments

We want all applicants to be able to fully participate in our selection processes. We welcome requests for adjustments to our recruitment and selection processes from applicants with disabilities, impairments, or health conditions, and will always consider support available in the recruitment process.

Please contact our People Team via email () to discuss any adjustments that you may need.