Head of Policy and Public Affairs

The Difference is an education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning. Our vision is to see lost learning falling nationally by 2030 and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, particularly those most vulnerable.

We are a small, growing charity delivering many school leadership programmes, with a growing research and policy arm. We have had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to capture this, share learning with schools and policy-makers, and campaign to lower exclusions across England.

The Role
This is an exciting time to join The Difference as we increase our impact, reach more schools, and develop our influencing strategy. As Head of Policy and Public Affairs you will:

Design and execute an impactful influencing plan

• Design an influencing plan - Identify via horizon scanning opportunities to influence national policy using open policy windows, or by nudging/creating new ones.

• Execute an influencing plan - Utilise own assets and assets across the organisation, including the Director team, to deliver against the influencing plan.

• Relationship building - Build highly credible and impactful relationships with a variety of stakeholders who hold power. This will include policy makers in national governments, local government officials, politicians, other third sector organisations and think tanks.

• Leadership - Play a significant role internally and externally in communicating the organisation s policy position, raising organisational and own brand.

Build policy capacity and credibility across the organisation

• Policy positions and solutions- Use the concepts, work and experience of The Difference s programmes to develop new, and refine existing, national policy positions to shift incentives.

• Thought leadership - Be the organisation s education policy and political expert.

• Generating income - Use own and team s expertise and credibility to generate income via speaking engagements and consultancy to support the organisation s financial sustainability.

Person Specification

Essential We are looking for someone with the following knowledge, experience and skills, though you may be stronger in some areas than others:

• Deep expertise in education policy, particularly on the topic of lost learning and the various policy and political debates, including areas of controversy, surrounding this policy topic.

• Strategic thinker with a proven track record in identifying policy windows and designing activities that lead to meaningful national policy change.

• Excellent relationship builder, who brings with them their own network of influential stakeholders and has a plan for building new relationships. Adept at navigating tricky situations and explaining complex, sometimes difficult, messages.

• Expert convener with a strong knowledge of the education sector, including which schools, trusts and local authorities are influential and experience in bringing a variety of perspectives together to generate consensus.

• Persuasive and clear writing style for publication, including reports, press, blogs and ghost writing for members of the senior leadership team, often based on consensus positions, and designed to communicate key messages for impact.

• Confidence and credibility in communicating nuanced messages in a contentious landscape, in writing, verbally and in public (e.g. on panels), to raise the profile of The Difference.

• Strong project manager who can design systems and processes to keep self, team and other stakeholders on task and on time. Experience of designing programmes of work and monitoring their effectiveness. Flexible project management style that can adapt to a changing environment. Confidence in managing a variety of stakeholders and supporting them to deliver on time.

Desired You are more likely to be successful in your application if you have one or more of the following:

• Familiarity with The Difference s programmatic work, theory and practice.

• Lived experience or insight into the school experiences of marginalised young people (e.g. those with experience of the care system, mental ill health, special educational needs, exclusion, and racism).

We know that some people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, may hesitate to apply unless they meet every listed requirement. If this role excites you and you believe you could make a strong contribution, we warmly encourage you to apply.

We actively welcome applications from people whose backgrounds are under-represented in the charity sector, including but not limited to: people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the case system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.