Reporting to: England Policy and Public Affairs Manager

Location of work: Flexible. This post holder will be hybrid with homeworking but travelling to meetings is expected. The role will involve some irregular travel throughout England and Scotland. 

Contract type: Ideally full-time, 35 hours per week, although flexible hours may be considered. The role may require occasional evening and weekend work 

Contract Length: Permanent 

Salary: £31,500 - £34,500

BACKGROUND 

Magic Breakfast is a registered charity providing healthy breakfasts to children and young people in the UK who arrive at school too hungry to learn, and expert support to their schools. Over 200,000 children and young people are on roll at Primary, Secondary, ASL / Special Educational Needs Schools and Pupil Referral Units that the charity works with, in disadvantaged areas of Scotland and England. Providing breakfast ensures that children start their school day with the energy and nutrition they need to be able to make the most of their morning lessons.  Magic Breakfast also undertakes research, and campaigns for long-term solutions to end hunger as a barrier to learning.  

This is an exciting time at Magic Breakfast, as we accelerate our policy and public affairs work to end child morning hunger for good. To enable us to make progress towards this, we are seeking a UK Policy and Public Affairs Officer to support the Policy and Public Affairs team.

JOB PURPOSE 

Magic Breakfast’s mission is to end child morning hunger as a barrier to learning in the UK now and for good. The role of the Policy and Public Affairs team is to support us to deliver on this mission through influencing decision makers across Westminster, Whitehall and Holyrood to shape policy frameworks which will enable every child to fulfil their dreams.

Within the team, the Policy and Public Affairs Officer will play a pivotal role in developing policy briefings and reports and responding to government consultations to make the social and economic case for investment in school breakfasts. You will also play a role in engaging elected officials, civil servants and external stakeholders to build support for Magic Breakfast’s policy positions.

In keeping abreast of political developments relevant to Magic Breakfast, you will identify opportunities to respond, influence and shape the debate, working with our Campaigns, Media and Service Delivery teams to maximise our impact. You will be able to put complex policy ideas across in simple and effective terms both in person and through written documents.

We are looking for someone who can act with initiative, proactively manage their own workload and has an infectious passion for driving systemic change.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES                                                         

·       Build and maintain a strong network of civil servants and elected officials in the UK and Scottish governments.

·       Develop evidenced based and actionable policy positions, briefings and reports across Magic Breakfast’s areas of interest.

·       Create compelling communication assets to summarise Magic Breakfast’s policy positions to policy makers at Westminster and Holyrood.

·       Monitor, analyse and circulate summaries of relevant policy developments.

·       Identify, establish and build relationships with new organisations and alliances that will enable us to positively influence political decision making. 

·       Monitor and report on our parliamentarian influencing in Westminster, identifying and using systems and tools to support

·       Liaising to arrange meetings, send briefings and gather information

·       Organise school visits for parliamentarians in their constituencies, accompanying where required

·       Input into our stakeholder database, ensuring that it is regularly updated and effective.

·       Monitor and report on public affairs developments in England and Scotland, providing high quality insight and support for colleagues

·       Support with delivery of Magic Breakfast’s presence at party conferences and at any parliamentary events

·       Support development and delivery of our campaigning to impact and influence relevant audiences and policies, including identifying relevant material and key moments for campaign leverage

General

·       Contribute to team meetings, sharing best practice and supporting team members where necessary.

·       Help to maintain a positive working environment; keeping the vision of Magic Breakfast at the heart of everything we do.

·       Uphold a culture that encourages curiosity, and continuous improvement, optimism, and a steadfast commitment to social impact.

·       Work collaboratively across the organisation more widely to build good working relations across the organisation and provide ad-hoc support to other teams and members of staff.

·       Adhere to all Magic Breakfast policies and procedures.

·       Ensure that all activity is compliant with current legislation, GDPR and child safeguarding requirements.

·       Participate in occasional work-related events at external venues and perform support related activities as required be willing to undertake occasional work outside of regular office hours and UK travel.

·       Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Knowledge and Experience 

·       Experience of drafting policy reports and briefings for political audiences

·       Experience of working with, or an understanding of, the structures of national and local government in England and Scotland

·       Experience of engaging with civil society networks and coalitions

·       Experience of drafting parliamentary questions, letters and briefings

·       Experience of organising meetings

·       Desirable: Experience of undertaking research and analysis

·       Desirable: Experience of responding to government consultations

Skills and Abilities

·       Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate messages confidently, engagingly and with impact

·       Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders

·       A collaborative team player with the confidence to work both self-sufficiently and across teams and departments, proactively engaging colleagues on projects and initiatives

·       Outstanding time management and organisational skills with the ability to autonomously prioritise work, and work to tight deadlines

·       Excellent attention to detail

·       High level of competency in the use of Microsoft Office and CRM software

Other

·       Passion and commitment to Magic Breakfast’s aim of alleviating morning hunger as a barrier to learning for children in the UK.

·       Commitment to the Magic Breakfast values of being child and young person centred, brave, compassionate, collaborative, open, and solution focused.

·       Share Magic Breakfast’s commitment to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion within the workplace.

·       Willing to travel within the UK occasionally for meetings and other events

·       Desirable: Experience of working for a charity, especially in the area of children and young people, poverty or health

APPLICATION PROCESS

We have a firm commitment to encouraging fairness and diversity in our workforce and we encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority background, who are underrepresented in our organisation.  

Should you wish to discuss the role before applying please email our People and Culture Team, hr@magicbreakfast.  com

Closing date for applications: 14th January 2024

Shortlisting: 15th January 2024

First round interviews: 23rd/24th January 2024

Second round interviews: 30th/31st January 2024