Policy and Public Affairs Advisor

THE ROLE

This is an opportunity to play a role at the forefront of tackling the climate and nature emergencies and the cost-of-living crisis in the UK. Our inefficient buildings are the second largest source of climate emissions and bold government action is needed to drive change at scale and pace.

UKGBC is looking for a dynamic, enthusiastic, and well organised Policy and Public Affairs Advisor to help influence policies from governments at a national, devolved, and local level.

Our membership of over 700 climate and nature-ambitious businesses, public bodies and local authorities make UKGBC a respected expert voice. Your job will be to bring that collective experience and determination to political and policy-making decision makers. The person we are looking for will have experience and knowledge of the UK political scene and be a great communicator who works well in teams and thrives in a fast-moving environment. You will be familiar with, and passionate about, UKGBC’s agenda and be a quick learner.

This is a chance to use all your strategic, stakeholder and policy skills and your knowledge of how well-judged policy recommendations and public affairs can achieve change.

UKGBC OVERVIEW

UKGBC is the membership-led industry network radically transforming the sustainability of the built environment. We represent the unified voice of our industry’s current and future leaders who are working together to deliver a just transition across the sector, in response to the climate and nature crises.

As a charity, our mission is to radically improve the sustainability of the built environment, by transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained, operated and repurposed.

We collaborate to advocate, enable, and inspire accelerated leadership and action, primarily by business and government, on climate change, resource use, nature & biodiversity, health & wellbeing and socio-economic impact.

We engage our members in advocating a progressive message to the government, informing, and influencing policy at national, devolved and local levels.

Our vision is a built environment that enables people and the planet to thrive by:

• 
  Mitigating and adapting to climate change
• Eliminating waste and maximising resource efficiency
• Embracing and restoring nature and promoting biodiversity
• Optimizing the health and well-being of people
• Creating long-term value for society and improving quality of life

UKGBC is growing fast in profile, impact, membership and staff size as momentum around tackling the climate and nature crises build. We are an organisation which values employee wellbeing and development. Our lively, flexible approach to working enables us to be an inclusive, diverse, and caring employer with a people-focused culture.

UKGBC is committed to providing equal opportunities to all existing and prospective colleagues. We aim to be inclusive to everyone regardless of ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation or political beliefs.

Job title: Policy and Public Affairs Advisor

Job purpose: To develop big policy ideas, build broad coalitions of support and engage with politicians of all stripes to champion transformational change.

Line Manager: Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Length of contract: Permanent

JOB DESCRIPTION

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Policy and Public Affairs

Policy

• Lead the development of policy recommendations in key areas in collaboration with our members.
• Respond to government consultations and analyse and comment on government policy announcements.
• Provide expert policy advice and knowledge, internally and to external stakeholders, translating complex ideas into clear concise and compelling analysis and recommendations.
• Write briefing notes and policy updates for a range of member engagement and advocacy purposes, tailored for different audiences.

Alliance Building

• Build broad-based support for UKGBC’s flagship policies amongst UKGBC’s membership and stakeholders, fostering and maintaining relationships across industry, think tanks, NGOs and academia.
• Keep up to date records of stakeholder engagement through Salesforce to support organisation-wide coordination and reporting.
• Support the membership team to identify and recruit new UKGBC members.

Advocacy

• Develop and deliver political strategies and advocate for UKGBC policies to national, devolved and local government political and civil servant audiences in line with UKGBC’s strategic goals.
• Represent UKGBC as a spokesperson at meetings, conferences and events and to the media.
• Monitor and analyse political opportunities and network using your relationships to help to maximise the impact of UKGBC’s work.

Media and social media

• Support UKGBC’s media and social media efforts including drafting key messages, written comments and analysis pieces and briefing journalists.

Management and leadership

Project Management

• Manage the full lifecycle of projects with clear objectives, outputs and timelines. Organise a range of activities including project group meetings, stakeholder engagement, online and offline launch events, member sign-on letters. Anticipate and respond to challenges and opportunities. Collaborate with team members and colleagues across the organisation.

Leadership

• Champion and act as a role model for an enthusiastic, high-performing organisational culture.
• Facilitate efficient, integrated work processes and protocols.
• Share your knowledge and experience to support colleagues.
• Solicit and provide feedback across the internal network.

Planning & Reporting

• Contribute to annual and quarterly team planning and resource allocation, impact strategy, monitoring and reporting.

Budgets and Fundraising

• Plan and manage project related budgets.
• Identify opportunities for and secure income streams via existing and prospective members and funding bodies for events, projects, and other initiatives.

UKGBC team activities and personal development

• Take a pro-active approach to your on-going learning and development.
• Champion the organisational culture by adopting a solutions-driven, positive, and efficient attitude.
• Upskill the wider team by drawing upon personal experience on relevant topics and capabilities.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Passionate about the climate and nature crises and committed to UKGBC’s mission and values.
• Confident, enthusiastic, and self-motivated, with good use of initiative and a flexible and collaborative approach.
• Honest with integrity and the highest standards of probity.
• An impact-driven approach and ability to thrive in a fast-paced dynamic team.
• Excellent planning, organisational, time and project management skills to allow you to juggle multiple projects and activities, work to tight deadlines, and respond with agility and creativity to changing political circumstances and opportunities.
• Ability to foresee issues and opportunities, think creatively to solve problems and manage risks where not all the factors are within your control.
• Communicate vision, strategy and plans at a project-level clearly and effectively.
• Listen and respond to feedback and actively work to develop skills and experience and to encourage consensus-driven solutions.
• Communicate effectively and appropriately with a wide range of people, both in writing and verbally including presentational skills – distilling complex ideas and policy into big picture compelling messages, narratives, and facts.
• Ability to facilitate discussion of diverse viewpoints and broker agreement.
• Good stakeholder management and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, maintaining open communications.

Desirable

• Salesforce knowledge
• Relevant political, policy and sector relationships

• Policy experience on environmental issues and demonstrable ability to learn new policy areas quickly.
• In-depth knowledge and interest in UK politics, including proven track record of designing and delivering successful public relations campaigns and working with Parliamentary processes at a national or devolved government level.
• Successful experience of development and delivery of political and alliance building strategies to achieve policy goals with an agile impact-oriented approach.
• Educated to degree level or relevant high-level experience sufficient to be able to effectively communicate and respond to the complex policy and political context.

Desirable

• Sustainable built environment policy expertise
• Financial management skills - able to manage a budget to meet income and expenditure targets.