12 Month Contract covering Maternity leave. Starting 12 June 2023

About Responsible Finance and this role

Responsible Finance is the membership association for the UK’s Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). CDFIs are community lenders which offer affordable finance on fair terms to businesses, social enterprises and people unable to access it elsewhere.

To enable us to meet our ambitious strategy and deliver our vision for scaling up the sector we need an exceptional candidate to lead our policy change activity.

No prior knowledge about CDFIs is required as long as you have a keen interest to learn about the sector. Do not be discouraged from applying if you do not meet all the criteria listed in this job description. If you are passionate about increasing access to fair finance for people, businesses and communities, we would welcome hearing from you.

Purpose of the role

This role is central to Responsible Finance’s delivery of our strategy. As Policy and Research Manager at Responsible Finance you will have the unique opportunity to lead Responsible Finance’s policy change activity at a critical time for the sector. This is a varied and dynamic role, working closely with our member organisations as well as stakeholders and government departments. The purpose is to:

• Lead our influencing activity, identifying priority areas and working closely with our members and stakeholders to achieve change

• Maintain and develop Responsible Finance’s evidence base of member activities and impact, which underpins our policy and research work. This means leading on all aspects of Responsible Finance’s annual impact survey and report, including data collection, cleaning, analysis, and writing of the report

• Respond to Government and regulatory consultations

• Represent Responsible Finance at external meetings and events

• Act as a central point of contact for all policy, regulatory and research enquiries

• Monitor the latest research, track political debates and identify new policy developments in the areas of community finance, inclusive growth and financial inclusion

• Lead on collating Responsible Finance’s monthly stakeholder newsletter, including writing opinion pieces and sourcing guest blogs from stakeholders

• Build strong, evidence-led arguments

• Write campaign materials including briefings, blogs, articles and reports

• Assist with planning Responsible Finance’s annual Member Day, in particular identifying speakers and preparing briefings

Skills and abilities

This role requires the following knowledge, skills and experience:

• Experience of building strong, evidence-led arguments and making sense of complex information

• Excellent writing skills, including compelling reports, opinion pieces, and consultation responses

• Demonstrated ability to lead meetings and represent organisation at external meetings and events

• The ability to build relationships with and create buy in from a range of stakeholders

• Experience and comfort with data collection, analysis and presentation

• Organised and ability to manage and successfully deliver multiple workstreams at once

• Experience of monitoring policy developments and identifying opportunities for input

• Ability to thrive in a very small team with limited oversight

• A background in or interest in social finance, lending or accounting is desirable as many initiatives are lending specific

To apply

Equality and fairness are at the core of our organisation and we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can be their best.

Please apply on Applied by Friday 31st March. If you would like to have an informal call about the role, please get in touch with Theodora Hadjimichael (t.hadjimichael@responsiblefinance.org.uk).

Interviews will be held virtually in April. The process will comprise:

• Round 1: 30 minute interview with two members of the Responsible Finance team.

• Round 2: 45-60 minute interview with two members of the Responsible Finance team and one member of Responsible Finance’s Board.

You will be asked to complete a short pre-interview assignment.