Senior Policy Officer (Health)

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work in ShareAction’s UK policy team on a brand new workstream to advocate for changes to financial rules and other policies that promote and support better health. We are looking to appoint a Senior Policy Officer who will work across the Policy and Health teams. They will help influence regulation and policy making to drive a more responsible investment sector that genuinely works to improve health outcomes. Covid-19 shone a light on the link between good health and economic prosperity, yet the financial sector still has much work to do to properly embed health in investment decision making. We want to reform the rules of the game to change this.

Working with different teams across ShareAction, you will help to build a campaign to advocate for enhanced corporate and investor disclosures in relation to health. You will lead on taking this campaign to policy makers to advocate for legal and regulatory change that promotes an investment system which understands and prioritises good health. This will include engaging with Parliamentarians, the Government and regulators to educate them on the importance of people’s health and to build a case for policy and regulatory change.

If you are looking for a career in public policy then this role is a fantastic opportunity to hone your advocacy, relationship building and communication skills, and develop your engagement with UK policy making processes, the financial system and social issues. We don’t expect you to have expertise in all of these elements, and will provide on-the-job training and development to support you in this role.

More information about our policy activities is available on our webpage at https://shareaction.org/policy-and-regulation/.

The role will be varied and open to some change in the activities you will undertake, below are the types of activities that you can expect to do. You will:

• Working with the Policy and Health teams, build the case for public policy reform, particularly around corporate and investor health disclosures.
• Work with practitioners and policymakers to build interest in ShareAction’s health programme (LIPH) and identify and respond to key opportunities for influencing policymakers.
• Help to develop and implement a strategy on influencing key policymakers on corporate and investor disclosure reform, identifying opportunities and prioritising policy targets. This may include drafting and disseminating Parliamentary questions, drafting amendments to legislation and using other parliamentary tools, drafting consultation responses and briefings, under guidance from your line manager and others in the team.
• Liaise with the Policy and Health teams to keep colleagues updated on health-policy related developments and the ongoing progress of the health workstream. Helping to organise events aimed at influencing practitioners and policymakers.
• Amplify our health reform message including via briefings, working with investors to add weight to our calls, social media, blogs, articles and other communications.
• Communicate progress of our health policy-focused work to the broader team, external allies and funders.
• Keep up to date on new legislation and relevant developments.
• Attend external events and sharing learnings with the ShareAction team.

Please note that this list isn’t exhaustive and the role might change slightly from time to time

We are looking for a passionate, determined individual, with the following experience and skills:

Essential

• A passion for campaigning and making a difference in the policy space with an ability to evidence previous success.
• An ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide variety of industry and policy stakeholders.
• Understanding of the UK Parliamentary and/or policymaking process;
• An interest in public health and some understanding of the drivers of good health and / or an interest in the financial and investment system and how they can drive change (we will also provide learning and development support in these areas).
• Excellent communication skills, in both written and spoken English, including an ability to communicate complex issues in a clear and accessible way;
• Organised and self-directed on work initiatives with a strong attention to detail;
• Proven capacity to undertake varied tasks simultaneously and to tight deadlines;
• Good interpersonal skills with ability to work as part of a team and to build strong relationships with external stakeholders;
• Willingness to work with politicians from a range of political parties;
• An understanding and interest in ShareAction’s mission and work;
• Strong commitment to collaborative working;
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word and PowerPoint.

Desirable

• Any legal background, whether through education/training or work experience;
• Knowledge of financial markets and/or sustainable finance;
• Experience of working or campaigning on responsible/sustainable investment issues, whether in the private sector or in the third sector;
• Familiarity with the policy debates around social issues, health, inequalities and the role of companies in this;;
• Experience of policy-making or law-making gained through work experience;
• Experience of working with Microsoft Office 365, particularly SharePoint;
• Experience of working with CRM systems, ideally Salesforce.