Research and Policy Officer

**The Role**

Social Work England are the specialist regulator for social work in England, focused on enabling positive change in social work. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We are taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate - to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.

The policy team makes recommendations and gives advice to the organisation on matters of public and regulatory policy. We lead and commission research, run public consultations, and publish standards and guidance for social workers, always keeping in focus our responsibility of public protection. As part of a small but dynamic policy team, this role contributes to work across the organisation, leading strategic advice and using exceptional policy skills to problem-solve and support considered decision-making. This includes supporting fast-paced work in response to public policy, political, and parliamentary developments.

**Purpose of the role**

Working to the research manager, you will provide support to enable the delivery of Social Work England’s research activity. Your role will contribute to policy development that responds to improvements in our regulation, protects the public and maintains public confidence in social workers. You will monitor the external environment, developing bespoke briefings and coordinating organisational responses to consultations by other regulators or stakeholders, and parliamentary calls for evidence.

**What you will do**
- Support the policy managers to draft policy briefings, publications and internal papers, and lead on the team’s quarterly reports for the Policy Committee.
- With the research manager and senior policy manager, consult with internal and external stakeholders and find best practice examples and benchmarks to underpin a new approach to research.
- Alongside the research manager, develop a systematic means of managing research relationships, increasing our integration into relevant research communities, and raising our work and profile.
- Act as the point of contact within the policy team for members of the National Advisory Forum, liaising with the wider team and EDI colleagues about how to effectively include people in the development of our policy work.
- Monitor and identify consultations launched by external stakeholders and, where needed, prepare written briefings summarising consultation proposals, gather feedback and prepare responses.
- Interpret, prepare and ready research for publication. Develop materials that condense complex and lengthy information into engaging formats and into summaries for use in external engagement and comms.
- Design and deliver workshops or other engagement events with relevant stakeholders, attend external events, and support with practical and logístical support where necessary.
- Provide high quality advice on relevant policy issues, developing and contributing your expertise within the team and as part of our wider role of providing policy advice across the organisation.
- Ensure the good functioning and organisation of the team by developing and maintaining key documentation and records relating to research or policy activity, including monitoring and evaluation, and equality impact assessments.
- Support the research manager in commissioning research via competitive tendering processes, including procurement and ongoing monitoring of commissioned research projects.
- Bring an innovative approach to how we develop research and policy that effectively identifies and addresses disproportionate impacts of our work and seeks to protect the public modelling inclusivity and fairness.

**Your skills, knowledge and experience**
- Education, experience of, or demonstrable interest in, public policy with a firm understanding of the role of a policy team in a national public body.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to write clearly, accurately and succinctly in a variety of formats, for a range of audiences.
- Experience of, and/or a keen interest in, staying up to date with developments in legislation, policy, politics, research and ideally experience of this in support of an organisation. An understanding of health and social care, or regulation would be a distinct advantage.
- Excellent planning and organisational skills with the ability and commitment to deliver high quality, accurate work to agreed deadlines.
- Knowledge of and/or experience of research methods, such as carrying out interviews, analysing data, and working with people with lived experience of social work, and a willingness to develop these skills further.
- Experience with providing business support to a team, including organisation of records and documents, arranging meetings, taking minutes, and working flexibly to support the success