External Affairs Support Officer

Age UK's impactful External Affairs Team are currently offering a 12 month Fixed Term Contract for an External Affairs Support Officer.

In this role, you'll support the delivery of our highly effective campaigns and public affairs activities which positively change the lives of older people. This is the perfect opportunity to develop a career in campaigning or public affairs, offering you varied experience and exposure to public and parliamentary campaigning, as well as supporting our Network of local Age UKs to campaign locally.

As External Affairs Support Officer, you'll provide efficient administrative support to the External Affairs team, assist with logistical planning and event organisation, keep track of relevant parliamentary activity; whilst preparing engaging communications relating to our campaigns and public affairs work for a range of audiences.

With an astute attention to detail, you'll be able to prioritise your workload, critically listen and confidently communicate both verbally and in written form; as well as having a sincere interest in politics and/or campaigning for change.

This is a hybrid opportunity, a blend of homebased and office working. Our linked office for this role is in London and you would be expected to attend the office once a week and more often if needed, to support events or campaign activity.

Closing date for applications - Friday 5th April
There will be an initial task for shortlisted applicants - 11th/12th April

Must haves:

• Confident written and verbal communication skills. You are comfortable writing for a range of audiences and tailoring style and content appropriately.
• Experience of organising or supporting events.
• An ability to provide appropriate attention to detail.
• An empathetic and sensitive approach to working with people sharing their personal experiences.
• Interest in politics and/or campaigning for change.
• Good organisational and planning skills, along with an ability to prioritise workload and competing demands.

Great to haves:

• Understanding of the voluntary sector.
• Broad understanding of the issues facing older people.
• Knowledge of the political process.
• Experience of using a range of digital tools.

What we offer in return

• Competitive salary, 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + annual leave purchase scheme
• Excellent pension scheme, life assurance, health cashback plan and EAP
• Car Benefit Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme and Season Ticket Loan
• Techscheme - buy any tech from Apple or Currys, up to £1000, and spread the cost over 12 months, interest free
• Blue Light Card Scheme
• You Did It Awards - recognition awards from £100-250.

Additional Information

For a full list of benefits please click here https://about-us/jobs/employee-benefits/

All CVs will be anonymised by our recruitment system when you apply for a role at Age UK. Please note that our system is unable to anonymise cover letters, and we would therefore ask that to support the work we are doing on making our recruitment selection process fairer and more unbiased, that you remove any personal information from your cover letter/supporting statement, including your name before uploading this. All equalities monitoring information is also anonymised and not shared with the hiring panel. Your name and address will only be known to us once you are invited for an interview.

Age UK is an Equal Opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates, regardless of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital/civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria under the Disability Confident Scheme. Please note that on occasion, due to high numbers of applications, Age UK reserves the right to limit the overall number of interviews offered, and therefore, it may not always be practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job.

Age UK is committed to safeguarding adults at risk, and children, from abuse and neglect. We expect everyone who works with us to share this commitment.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert at any time.

Age UK politely requests no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We do not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.