Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns

Are you passionate about driving real change and making a positive impact on society? Do you thrive in a dynamic environment where your ideas can shape policy and influence decision-making at both national and local levels? If so, join Samaritans and lead our Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns team, at the UK and Ireland’s leading suicide prevention charity.
- £56,000-£58,000 per annum
- Permanent, full-time role (35 hours per week)
- Hybrid working: Linked to our Ewell (Surrey) office with home working and the option to work from our London office in EC3R
- In office working - we'd love to see you in person at least twice a month
- We are passionate about flexible working, talk to us about your preferences

**The Team**

The team of seven works alongside people with lived experience, our campaigners, supporters and volunteers to push for the public policy and legal changes that will help us achieve our vision. We work to achieve system change with the Westminster parliament, and influence every government department to play their part in suicide prevention, alongside our offices in the nations.

**Why Samaritans?**

Make a real difference in the lives of those affected by suicide, all whilst working in a supportive and inclusive environment. As the Head of Policy, Public Affairs, and Campaigns, you'll play a pivotal role in leading our efforts to drive meaningful change to help prevent suicide.

**Your Role**

You'll lead a dedicated team focused on shaping public policy, influencing decision-makers, and driving advocacy campaigns.

Your key responsibilities include:

- Providing exceptional leadership and support to your team, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture.
- Crafting ambitious strategies to advance our policy priorities, leveraging evidence-based approaches and best practices.
- Ensuring the development of impactful advocacy campaigns and public affairs work, engaging both internal and external stakeholders to amplify our message.
- Ensuring the voices of those with lived experience of suicide and self-harm are central to our advocacy efforts.

**What You'll Bring**:
We're looking for a strategic thinker with a track record of successfully managing advocacy work. You'll have:

- Great people management skills.
- Proven experience in developing and executing impactful influencing strategies.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences effectively.
- Experience in developing inspiring advocacy campaigns that drive change.
- A deep understanding of the current health and public health political landscape in England and the UK

**Full Job Description here**

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**What’s in it for you - our benefits**

So, you want to work for us? Good choice. We like it here too. We offer competitive salaries, flexible and hybrid working to suit your needs, family-friendly policies, 28 days annual leave inclusive of wellbeing days and a matched pension contribution up to 5%. You’ll have a structured induction and ongoing projects, secondments & learning opportunities. We also have colleague-led affinity groups made up of people with shared identities.

Your health and wellbeing is our priority. We have a staff community of Mental Health First Aiders, a Health Cash Plan and an Employee Assistance Programme. You’ll have free subscriptions to Headspace (your personal guide to mindfulness, sleep, focus, movement, and more) & Perkbox (an employee benefits platform with online exercise classes). That’s not all. We listen to your ideas and have staff forum and social committee networks.

**Hybrid and flexible working**

We are a flexible organisation, and we embrace hybrid working - a mix of connecting in person and remotely. We’re aware that the world is changing, and we all want and need different things from our work and home lives. So, if you need to walk the dog, go to the gym, or have commitments outside of work, we’re open to talking through flexible working options that work for you and us.

**Being Inclusive**

**Application