External Affairs Adviser

External Affairs Adviser 
Contract type: Permanent  
Full time: 34.5 hours, we are open to a conversation about how you work these hours 
Location: Hybrid or mobile worker (depending on where in the UK you are based) with regular travel expected. As part of our business need and commitment to having representation across the four nations of the UK, we will be prioritising applicants from Northern Ireland. However, we will be considering applications from across the UK. 
Salary range: £35,200 - £39,200

About us

At Macmillan you'll find talented people working together to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. We're going all out to find even better ways to help even more people who need our support. Our values are at the heart of who we are and everything we do, inspiring our thinking and guiding our actions.  

Our organisational strategy sets out how we’ll fight even harder to make every pound raised count for even more. With your help, we’ll transform cancer care for good. 

About the role

Do you have experience influencing change and navigating complex political systems? We are looking for an External Affairs Adviser to join our wider Partnerships team at Macmillan to help us to deliver meaningful change for people with cancer, particularly the most marginalised groups. 

The External Affairs team is central to Macmillan’s work shaping change and influencing decision makers across the UK, and a key part of your role will be building and stewarding relationships with our external stakeholders.  

As an External Affairs Adviser you’ll work flexibly across a whole range of influencing projects to shape the political agenda, which might be in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, at a regional level in England and in Westminster, reflecting our ambitious plans to deliver change for people with cancer across the whole of the UK.  

You’ll be exposed to a variety of political systems, decision makers and ways of working that will allow you to build on and develop your skills in public affairs, policy analysis, relationship management and communication.

About you

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following skills and experience: 

• Experience of influencing change - this might be from working in a charity, for a politician, in local or national government, a public affairs agency or think tank.  
• Experience analysing and translating data and evidence into external messaging to influence a wide range of audiences. 
• Experience of working in at least one political context in the UK, and willingness to adapt your skills to working within a wide range of influencing environments and different stakeholders. 
• An adaptable approach, with a willingness to respond to quickly changing external circumstances and work at pace to navigate through complex issues.  
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams and working collaboratively with others to deliver projects.  

In return, we offer a range of benefits including: 

• 25 days holiday plus flexible bank holiday options, increasing by 1 day every year of service up to 30 days  
• Pension matched up to 7.5% 
• 120+ learning and development offers, with access to external professional qualifications 
• Flexible working patterns, such as compressed hours, flexibility to work earlier or later around our core working hours of 10am-4pm 
• Holiday buying and selling scheme, life insurance, free wills, retail discounts and much more 

Recruitment process

Application deadline: 23:59 on Monday 31st August   
1st stage interview dates: Virtual interviews will be held on the week commencing 14th September  
2nd stage interview dates: Virtual interviews will be held on the week commencing 21st September 

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. 

So we can support you to be your best during the application or interview process, please contact Macmillan TA Team TATeam@macmillan.org.uk for advice and reasonable adjustments.  

We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.