Address
Form of work
SalaryRole Summary
As the Director of Research and Public Affairs you lead a team working across the full range of research work (including commissioning, grant-making and in-house research) and Public Affairs work (including policy analysis, advocacy work and mobilising our activists). You also contribute to the charity’s strategies, leadership and governance as a member of the Executive Team. Ultimately, your role is to generate new knowledge; and communicate knowledge, ideas and emotions to change hearts and minds, creating tangible reductions in alcohol harm across the UK.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
Leadership, strategy & planning
1. Lead the research and Public Affairs functions at Alcohol Change UK.
2. Produce and deliver plans across our research and Public Affairs work programmes that are ambitious for change (impact), realistic given our resources, and consistent with our strategy, our other work programmes, and our values.
3. Set budgets, tightly control costs and identify opportunities for making savings, growing income and making the case for investment.
4. Appropriately monitor and evaluate our research and Public Affairs work with a view to knowing, growing and showing the impact we make.
Research
5. Work closely with the CEO, Policy and Research Manager, R&P sub-committee and Wales Office to determine and oversee the charity’s programme of commissioned research, research grants, and in-house research.
6. Ensure that all research is designed with impact-in-mind and, once complete, that it delivers on that impact through active and ongoing communication of the findings to the right audiences with the right messages through the right channels.
7. Lead the research function to be the central hub for the charity on the topic of alcohol harm and its solutions, staying on top of new research.
8. Influence the research spending of other agencies (e.g. NIHR) with a view to maximising funding into alcohol research in general.
Public Affairs
9. Lead and manage the charity’s Public Affairs activity, deploying the CEO, Research & Policy Officer and other staff as a team.
10. Lead our work with external alliances, such as the Alcohol Health Alliance and the Alcohol and Families Alliance, and on the APPG on Alcohol Harm.
11. Develop excellent relationships with Parliamentarians, civil servants, charities and other important institutional actors in our field.
12. Build Campaigner journeys for our engagement audience to best mobilise them to help us with our influencing work.
13. Lead on the commissioning and management of any external Public Affairs agencies, parliamentary monitoring services and similar suppliers.
14. Ensure our policy positions are kept up-to-date, based on emerging evidence and contemporary thinking, and consistent with our principles.
15. Work closely with the Director of Engagement and Fundraising to effectively mobilise and deploy our activists, Community Champions and other supporters so they (i) make a difference, (ii) become better informed over time, and (iii) remain motivated to campaign for our cause.
16. Work closely with the Director of Marketing and Communications to influence all forms of media to better support our desired outcomes.
Team Leadership and Management
17. Lead and manage the research and Public Affairs team(s), ensuring excellent line management.
18. Lead the process of recruiting and inducting new team members, as appropriate.
19. Proactively develop your own skills and experience as well as those of staff within your team.
Cross-organisational Role
20. Act as a spokesperson for the charity at high profile events and across media, including radio and TV.
21. Be an active and positive member of the charity’s Executive Team.
22. Work with colleagues across the charity to support their work and to act as ‘one team’.
23. Work particularly closely with colleagues in the Wales office, optimising opportunities for joint working.
24. Contribute actively and positively to the development of charity-wide strategies and activity.
Other Duties
25. Continually develop your knowledge of alcohol harm and solutions to it.
26. Act as a positive ambassador for Alcohol Change UK at all times.
27. Know, embrace and actively uphold the values of Alcohol Change UK at all times.
Other reasonable duties at the request of the CEO.
