UKSIF – Public Affairs Manager

UKSIF – Public Affairs Manager

Candidate Information

Salary: £40-50k
Annual leave: 25 days holiday per annum plus 3 additional fixed days at Christmas / New Year.
Location: UKSIF’s central London office with potential flexibility for homeworking
Reports to: Head of Public Affairs and Communications
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: 28 April 2025

About UKSIF
The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) is the membership organisation for those in financial services committed to promoting a more sustainable and resilient financial system that works for the benefit of society, the environment, and us all.

UKSIF represents a diverse range of financial services firms committed to these aims, and our 300+ members, managing over £19trn in assets under management (AUM), include investment managers, pension funds, banks, financial advisers, research providers, NGOs, among others. Our members are a significant part of the UK’s financial ecosystem, and have a critical part to play in the change needed to progress the rapid decarbonisation of the economy and to address some of the pressing social issues facing society.

UKSIF and our members are hugely supportive of efforts to promote the sustainable finance agenda and work closely with policymakers and others to find new ways to overcome the barriers to the growth of sustainability in the UK.

Public Affairs Manager role
You will support the delivery of UKSIF’s Public Affairs programme, building on our existing advocacy activities in the UK, as part of our Public Affairs team. Working closely with UKSIF members and likeminded organisations in sustainable finance, you will support the drive to a more sustainable finance system and to achieving the UK’s sustainability goals, ensuring that our calls for policy and regulatory change are heard and ultimately delivered to help enact UKSIF’s vision for a more sustainable future.

The Public Affairs Manager will support the development and delivery of UKSIF’s public affairs strategy, ensuring it is focused on delivering strong public policy outcomes. The postholder will ensure sustainable finance issues are prioritised both in Parliament, at the highest levels of government, and by regulators. Our public affairs strategy includes: regular meetings and briefings with politicians, reports and research, legislative contributions such as amendments to proposed legislation, events in Westminster and a presence at party conferences.

Furthermore, you will help to drive consistent and evidence-based political messaging from across the sustainable finance community and wider stakeholders (e.g., investor groups, think tanks and academia). This includes working with third-party partner organisations to co-ordinate messaging, develop prioritised campaign areas outlining the key policy changes we wish to see, developing the evidence base for these changes (including with polling firms and other partners) and ensuring these messages are communicated to government, opposition parties, media and other key stakeholders in a clear and consistent way.

You will also support the Head of Public Affairs and Communications to liaise with UKSIF’s funding partners for this work, including creating impact reports and coordinating future funding. You will also actively engage with UKSIF members on key issues.

This is an exciting full-time position, suited to a candidate with a background in politics and/or public affairs – ideally with experience of sustainability and/or financial services policy. You should have a passion for driving positive change on sustainability, climate change, inclusion, corporate responsibility, and the future of investment. You will need to have excellent written and verbal communication skills, sound judgement, a flair for driving change, and a passion for achieving UKSIF’s mission, to flourish in our small yet dynamic and highly motivated team.

Key Responsibilities

1. Play a key role in delivering UKSIF’s Public Affairs programme, working closely with the Head of Public Affairs and Communications, Head of Policy and Regulation and Media Relations Manager to understand member views, UKSIF policy positions and determine how to ensure these are delivered through policymaker and media engagement.
2. Work within and develop UKSIF’s public affairs strategy to deliver a high-quality programme achieving strong outcomes.
3. Support on the relationship with UKSIF’s members and funders, ensuring accurate and impactful reporting is prepared and the programme meets expectations.
4. Responsible for ‘selling’ our perspectives, policy positions and responses to parliamentarians, ministers, select committees and advisers – including preparing written policy briefings for political audiences, supporting the CEO, Head of Public Affairs and Communications, and others with parliamentary appearances, and (over time) representing UKSIF as a key spokesperson.
5. Organise and (over time) lead on meetings with policymakers, and coordinate events in parliament and attendance at major political conferences.
6. Support the Head of Public Affairs and Communications to commission research, economic analysis, polling etc, as necessary and as budgets allow, to strengthen the case for UKSIF’s policy proposals and ensure key influencers are aware of the arguments in favour of our positions.
7. Engage with a wide variety of stakeholders to promote and remove barriers to sustainable finance and investment, and build and maintain relationships to further our mission.
8. Continually monitor political developments to determine opportunities for UKSIF to engage and ensure setbacks are minimised.
9. Support the delivery of UKSIF’s annual events programme, including moderating panels and facilitating roundtables.
10. Support the preparations for meetings of UKSIF’s Policy Committee.
11. Take an active role in your own personal development.
12. Support the Media Relations Manager on media activities where additional resource is required.
13. Other tasks as may be reasonably required, including supporting the wider team, such as events and membership, to deliver UKSIF’s activities.

Person Specification
The successful candidate will have many of these attributes:

Very important

1. A passion for UKSIF’s mission and a belief in a more sustainable economy combined with an understanding of members’ commercial aims.
2. Experience of developing innovative public affairs strategies that drive mission delivery and achieve demonstrable positive impact.
3. A minimum of 3 years’ experience in politics, public affairs or related roles.
4. Experience in financial services and/or sustainable investment and finance. A strong understanding of key policy and political issues in sustainable finance and investment, particularly as these relate to achieving net zero.
5. Experience in developing and communicating policy positions.
6. Strong project management skills to deliver programmes and outputs to requirements and on budget.
7. A deep understanding of the wider political, economic, and business issues that affect the successful delivery of our strategy.
8. A track record of balancing potentially competing interests, providing solutions to complex scenarios and issues.
9. Experience in managing relationships with senior industry and political stakeholders, and the ability to leverage contacts and networks to advance our policy goals.
10. A fast and accurate working style, excellent written and verbal communication skills, the ability to manage a wide variety of tasks, great judgement and excellent attention to detail.
11. Ability to engage with and relate to our varied membership and our goals.
12. A strong understanding of approaches to influence Parliament to achieve our goals.
13. Excellent planning abilities, particularly to plan and implement public affairs and communications programmes.

Desirable

1. Experience operating in a not-for-profit environment.
2. A strong understanding of approaches to influence the media to achieve our goals.
3. Experience in proactive and reactive media relations.
4. A relevant degree or post-graduate qualification.

We encourage you to apply if you meet the job specification, already have the right to work in the UK and have enthusiasm for what we do.

UKSIF is committed to maintaining a progressive and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, religious belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status or disability.

How to apply
Please send a covering letter explaining why you are suitable for this post and your available start date, together with your CV by email to Joe.Dharampal-Hornby@UKSIF.org with your name and “Public Affairs Manager” in the subject line.

If you require additional equipment, resources or support in order to participate in the job application or interview process, please let us know and we will work with you to ensure that your accessibility needs are met.

The closing date for applications is 28 April 2025. Unfortunately, we are not able to assist with work permit applications for this post.