About the role

This is a policy role with an unusual amount of independence. Our approach is to hire the best people and give them the autonomy to succeed. Driven by our mission and with the support of our highly collaborative policy team, you will advance and expand our work in the exclusion and absence policy areas.

Currently, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are 40% less likely to achieve key GCSEs in English and maths and four times as likely to be excluded from school. More than one in three of these young people miss school at least 10% of school time.

These are the problems you will be tackling. And we're keen to hear from policy professionals who share our passion and are committed to getting these young people the support they need to succeed in school, work and life.

Before the general election, the Senior Policy Advisor will be responsible for our work in two areas: School exclusions (roughly half your time from the beginning). We've set up the Who's Losing Learning coalition, alongside The Difference and IPPR, with reports due in the coming months on the problems in school exclusions and potential exclusions. You will oversee our work with the coalition and have space to develop a workplan based on the priorities that come out of these reports. You will also ensure we capitalise on reports we've commissioned from EPI which are also due for release shortly. Absence (growing to roughly half your time as you are onboarded). This is a new area for Impetus. Building on some research from the autumn, you'll help us develop our first set of policies in this area. In particular, this involves taking up our social and emotional learning agenda, which we think is part of the answer. You'll write a report based on some data analysis undertaken by the Impetus team, working with data collected by ImpactEd Evaluation. Following the general election, the Senior Policy Advisor will help us decide on our next steps in these areas, factoring in the election result and dovetailing with our organisation strategy (due for completion by March 2023). We drive all our policy agendas as best we can with both government and opposition. But politically, these policy areas are likely to find more fertile ground in left of centre politics, and it's likely the successful candidate will have a strong enough grasp of the dynamics of left of centre politics to help us also think about left of centre engagement in our other policy areas like youth employment and alternative provision.

Fancy a chat? Please feel free to reach out to Ben Gadsby, Head of Policy and Research,

About the team

Our Public Affairs team consists of the Policy and Communications teams. This Senior Policy Advisor role sits in the Policy team which is led by the Head of Policy and Research and includes a Policy Advisor.

The Policy team influences key decision makers through direct engagement with senior officials, commissioning and sharing research and insight and supporting coalitions which include our portfolio charities to take their voice to decision makers to secure policy and funding commitments.

The team also works across the organisation, presenting insight to inform our investment decisions and making a compelling case to generate new financial commitments for our work.

The outcomes Impetus focusses on are school attendance and exclusions, GCSE attainment in English and Maths, widening participation in higher education and tackling youth unemployment. We also hold a brief to share our impact model in discussions on the future of civil society.

Key responsibilities Identifying and seizing opportunities for influencing public policy to improve the outcomes of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Mapping power, identifying key points of influence and planning strategies to deliver change in policy decisions. Working directly with our charity portfolio and Investment team to gather their insights and reflect these in our policy making and influencing. Generating and appraising policy options and proposing solutions, taking account of the practicalities and risks as well as opportunities for implementation. Representing Impetus at speaking events and briefing staff speaking at events. Establishing, promoting and maintaining strong relationships across local and national government and political parties, civil society leaders, academics and influential voices strengthening our reputation as a rigorous and trusted source of analysis and ideas. Working with the Communications team to maintain and grow our external profile across all our audiences, honing our policy media messages and ensuring we gain media profile for our work. Supporting internal team processes by monitoring an allocated set of information sources, providing content for monthly external newsletter, ensuring information management systems are kept up to date (e.g. a single source of truth for policy positions, team calendar), and contributing to our collaborative team culture. Person specification An excellent communicator, able to make a compelling case for change and write and speak persuasively with a wide range of external audiences, including using communications to shape the political agenda and the public debate. A passion for engaging in public policy debates in education and tackling the barriers that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds face, which could come from a background or working in an education institution, in a policy team in national or local government, a charity, membership organisation or a think tank. You may instead have a strong track record of policy experience in a different field, and a demonstrable interest in moving into this sector. Experience of leveraging influential and senior stakeholders which might include civil servants, senior politicians, economic and social researchers, and/or charities. Experience of influencing civil servants would be particularly advantageous. Ability to analyse to complex policy problems and craft solutions that balance a variety of competing requirements. A track record of producing a range of high-quality and influential written outputs, including policy briefings, blogs and consultation responses. Profile and/or existing relationships within either the education sector or left of centre policy circles. Collaborative style able to build great working relationships across an organisation and with partners, working co-operatively as part of a team. A commitment to Impetus' mission. A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Bonus criteria

While not explicitly required, we would love to find a candidate who also had The public affairs skills to know what might interest stakeholders in a dataset combined with the Excel skills to investigate! In practice this is likely to be an understanding of how and when to use tools like pivot tables or index/match to analyse government statistical releases. Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

We believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more open, creative, and gets better results.

We want our team at Impetus to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our team to be one where different experiences, expertise, and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

We want to reach a diverse pool of candidates. We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good work/life balance. We do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, working part-time, job shares, and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you would like to explore.

Impetus is an equal opportunity employer and is determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, or marital status. We value diversity and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.

How to apply

Please use the URL link to People ATS ATS to apply before 10am Monday 15 January 2024

You will need to: Complete the online form (including the equal opportunities monitoring form) Upload a comprehensive CV and supporting statement The supporting statement should be no more than two sides of A4 and should address the criteria in the person specification.

You should also include the contact details of two referees, one of whom must be your current or most recent employer. Referees will only be approached with your express permission.

As part of our commitment to flexible working we will consider a range of options for the successful applicant. All options can be discussed at interview stage.

You will also be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK.

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties . click apply for full job details