Senior Policy Lead - Reform & Stakeholder Engagement

Social Work England; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

25 days annual leave increasing to 30

Option to buy up to 5 extra days

TIDE inclusive culture

NEST pension and life insurance

Employee recognition scheme

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

Social Work England is seeking an experienced policy professional to lead strategic policy priorities, including children’s social care reform. You will work with the head of policy to provide expert guidance to the executive team and board, coordinating with government departments and external stakeholders.

You will drive multiple policy projects, manage risks, and lead a matrix-based team to deliver evidence-based proposals, with a strong emphasis on inclusion and regulatory insight.

Qualifications

• Experience of leading high-quality policy advice and publications from conception to implementation, with demonstrable public impact.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build and sustain trusting, cooperative relationships, and approach problem-solving with a calm and collaborative manner.
• Ability to take a lead role in coordinating our approach to proposals put forward by government departments.
• Ability to use project management approaches to plan and deliver projects at pace, lead matrix structures, and liaise confidently with senior leaders.
• Effective leadership skills with an ability to set clear objectives for team members and motivate them to deliver to a high standard, at times under pressure.
• Highly attuned to the public policy and regulatory environment with the initiative to spot links between public developments and our work, with an ability to direct team members to respond effectively and develop timely, expert advice.
• Excellent organisation and time management skills and the ability to manage multiple tasks while maintaining a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Outstanding drafting skills and a keen editing eye with the ability to author, as well as oversee, multiple publications, papers and briefings, often produced through others.
• Exercise sound judgement to consider issues raised by colleagues and provide direction on how to support ideas, manage risks, and elevate them appropriately.
• A demonstrable commitment to inclusion, equality and diversity, working collaboratively across teams to assess the fairness of our work and advance our EDI commitments.
• Strong IT skills with good working knowledge of Microsoft Outlook and Word.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert and strategic policy advice to the executive leadership team, policy committee, and board.
• Make effective decisions based on the best available information, elevating risks when needed.
• Drive forward activity across multiple policy and project areas and deliver outputs to a high standard and on time.
• Lead and coordinate projects that assess benefits and risks across our regulation and reform agenda.
• Work effectively in matrix and project structures with clear objectives and responsibilities.
• Lead liaison with external stakeholders in the Department for Education, DHSC, and wider sectors.
• Provide leadership and management to direct reports and the wider team, building capability and ensuring alignment with objectives.
• Oversee briefing papers, publications and leadership papers, coordinating cross-team communications.
• Address equality, diversity and inclusion considerations in all work streams.
• Collaborate with senior leaders to deliver well-considered policy proposals.

Skills

Policy advice

Stakeholder management

Public policy

Proposals coordination

Project management

Leadership

Regulatory environment

Editing/drafting

Risk management

Equality & inclusion

Communication

IT skills

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Job description

Social Work England is seeking an experienced policy professional to lead strategic policy priorities, including children’s social care reform. You will work with the head of policy to provide expert guidance to the executive team and board, coordinating with government departments and external stakeholders.

You will drive multiple policy projects, manage risks, and lead a matrix-based team to deliver evidence-based proposals, with a strong emphasis on inclusion and regulatory insight.