Policy and Practice Officer

Women's Aid; Bristol; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A national charity addressing domestic abuse is seeking a Policy and Practice Officer based in Bristol. The role involves engaging with local stakeholders and managing communications related to the Domestic Abuse Act. You will support a dynamic Policy team and have opportunities for event planning and policy work, contributing to high-profile issues in the domestic abuse sector. The successful candidate will have experience in stakeholder engagement and strong written communication skills.

Qualifications

• Experience in engaging with local stakeholders and authorities.
• Ability to manage communications and write newsletters.
• Flexibility to support various projects and tasks.

Responsibilities

• Lead on designing and delivering stakeholder engagement programs.
• Monitor local politics relevant to domestic abuse.
• Support the delivery of written communications for stakeholders.
• Organise events for members and local authorities.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Understanding of domestic abuse issues

Written communication

Event planning

Job description

As a Policy and Practise Officer, the successful candidate will play an integral role in engaging with local stakeholders, local authorities and commissioners as well as on high profile national policy issues. Working closely with the Policy and Practice Manager the successful appointee will support Women’s Aid’s busy and dynamic Policy team with its work. You will also support the implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act and identify how Women’s Aid can engage with Integrated Care Systems. This role is expansive and will see to local stakeholder engagement and co‑ordination, including and not limited to planning events, reactive and proactive communications, supporting briefings and policy work. In this role, you will have the ability to work on high‑profile domestic abuse issues, a dedicated line manager who will support you and oversee your work, an experienced Policy team to work alongside and learn from, and the chance to work with people from across Women’s Aid and the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector, hear from experts, and attend workshops, training and webinars.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead on designing and delivering a programme of engagement with key local stakeholders such as councillors, police and crime commissioners, managing the Domestic Abuse Councillor Network, drafting regular newsletters and meeting with relevant stakeholders.
• Support the Policy Manager to identify important influencing, training and funding opportunities for member services and the organisation.
• Monitor and stay up to date on local politics, ensuring a good understanding of local government is maintained and keeping the Policy & Survivor Services team updated on key developments.
• Ensure Women’s Aid member services have up to date and accurate information on the Domestic Abuse Act and other relevant legislation, supporting their front‑line responses to survivors; write briefings for a range of audiences, deliver policy‑related events and attend meetings on behalf of Women’s Aid.
• Support the Policy Manager in responding to a range of policy requests from local and national government and Parliament where appropriate.
• Contribute to the team’s policy development through supporting responses to policy requests (e.g. Government consultation responses, evidence submissions) from local and national government, and Parliament where appropriate.
• Lead on the delivery of written communication, including writing newsletters, resources, correspondence, and other content for stakeholders, ensuring effective and responsive engagement with local and regional stakeholders across the policy and practice team.
• Organise and support the Policy Manager to convene a range of events, including workshops for members, commissioners and local authorities on relevant policy developments or pieces of legislation.
• Support the Policy and Survivor Services team to respond to reactive communications, including from local authorities, commissioners and member services, leading on this directly where appropriate.
• Efficiently manage stakeholder relationships and maintain accurate, up‑to‑date records of all engagement activities.
• Support the Policy Manager to coordinate and organise internal projects related to local engagement, including organising internal meetings, recording project activity, supporting the R&E with monitoring and evaluation, and supporting planning of the Policy & Survivor Services team’s work.
• Monitor, evaluate and ensure accurate record keeping of work, including correspondence logs, ensuring activity meets deadlines and information is accessible.
• Support the Policy & Survivor Services team with planning for key organisational and high‑profile events such as the annual National Conference.

What we are looking for

• Attend relevant meetings and events, as required.
• Provide general administrative support to the Policy team as required, including attending meetings and taking minutes, deputising for the Senior Policy and Practice Officer where required.
• Abide by all organisational policies, codes of conduct and practice, and work within a framework of equal opportunities and anti‑discriminatory practice.
• Contribute to team meetings and organisational priorities, and to participate in supervision and appraisal meetings.
• Take direction on projects and priorities from your line manager, with a flexible approach.
• Maintain clear and adequate records of work done.
• Be flexible within the broad remit of the post.

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 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.