We are recruiting for two External Affairs Officer at The National Lottery Community Fund. One permanent role and one fixed term contract (FTC) role for 18 months. You will join the External Affairs Team within Communications, Impact and Influence Directorate.
Candidates should indicate their interest in permanent, fixed-term or both opportunities within their supporting statement.
You will work across the External Affairs team to support the Fund’s external presence and deliver convening activities for a range of stakeholders. In this role you will help advance community priorities through evidence-based advocacy that demonstrates how our funding strengthens communities. Through events, briefings, clear communications and team support, you will show how National Lottery funding makes a difference.
What you will do
You will work with the External Affairs team to organise activities with people and organisations connected to the Fund across the UK. Events and building relationships will be central to your work, as well as the ability and enthusiasm to support the wider team on administrative tasks such as invitation management, invoice processing, event logistics and data management using our stakeholder relationship management system (SRM).
A typical day could involve organising a group discussion or visit, preparing a briefing for a senior colleague, or supporting on sending communications to a group of key stakeholders. You will also follow political developments to help the team plan its work with decision-makers and other contacts.
Key responsibilities may include:
- Organise and run events, group discussions, meetings and visits that bring people and organisations together around shared goals, the Fund's missions and community priorities.
- Alongside the other two External Affairs Officers, support the team’s administration tasks including inbox / invitation management, invoice processing, event logistics, reporting, data entry and analysis.
- Prepare clear, accurate briefings, summaries and key messages, drawing on research and input from colleagues.
- Follow changes in politics, policy and the sectors we work with. Share useful information to help the team plan activities and use evidence to explain the Fund's work and priorities.
- Build and maintain working relationships with staff and organisations in communities and the sectors we work with, and support engagement with elected representatives.
- Share useful information and plan activities with communications colleagues so our messages and activities support each other.
- Keep stakeholder contact details, activity records and useful feedback up to date in our Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) system.
- Support the team’s wider projects, planning and processes.
What you will bring
You will bring experience of helping organise events or activities that involve people and organisations, ideally with a background in communication and engagement in the following sectors: political, voluntary, community, social enterprise, think tanks.
You will be able to communicate clearly and have an interest in communities and working with decision-makers. You will be able to find useful information, explain the main points and organise your work to meet deadlines. You will work with colleagues to prepare briefings, build relationships and run activities. Strong project management skills will be vital, with proactivity to lead and improve on our team projects and processes.
Your experience may come from paid work, volunteering, community involvement or other settings. We are interested in what you have done and how you would use that experience in this role.
Interview details:
- Date: Week commencing 7th December
- Format: Online
- Location: UK-wide
We have a hybrid approach to working. Work pattern will be agreed with the successful candidate. There will be some travel required within the UK. The role can be based at any of our offices: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle.
We will be hosting a briefing session on: 23 November at 15:00. To register or ask any questions please email: [email protected]
How to apply:
Upload your CV in Word format and a 1,000-word supporting statement explaining how you meet the criteria below. We will use these criteria to assess your application.
Please use specific examples to show how you meet the six essential criteria and, where relevant, the two desirable criteria.
Essential Criteria:
- Experience of supporting and developing relationships with stakeholders, partners or community organisations, helping build productive working relationships and engagement activities.
- Experience of team support and administration, including timely stakeholder communications, event logistics, reporting and data entry.
- Experience of helping to plan and deliver engagement events, roundtables, meetings or visits that support organisational priorities and objectives.
- Ability to communicate clearly in writing and verbally, including preparing briefings, summaries, key messages or other materials for different audiences.
- Ability to find, analyse and explain political, policy or sector information, identifying issues and their relevance to the Fund's work and preparing presentations, briefing materials or other stakeholder-facing content using that information.
- Ability to organise and manage multiple pieces of work, delivering high-quality outputs to agreed deadlines while working with colleagues across teams.
Desirable Criteria:
- An interest in, or understanding of, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, public policy, public affairs or civil society, gained through work, volunteering or community involvement.
- Experience of maintaining stakeholder records, contact information or engagement activity using a database, such as Salesforce or similar software.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Communities in the UK come in all shapes and sizes. National Lottery funding is for everyone – therefore, we are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we work hard to ensure our funding reaches where it is needed.
We also believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. That’s why The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We recognise and celebrate the fact that our people come from diverse backgrounds. We positively welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities or longstanding health conditions, people who are LGBTQ+, and people from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, as well as people of all ages.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we take a proactive approach in making reasonable adjustments, if needed, throughout the recruitment process and during employment. (This can be related to a physical and mental health condition.)