Senior Policy and Influencing Manager

Workers Educational Association

Hours
35 hours per week

About the Organisation

Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education, dedicated to bringing learning opportunities to individuals and communities, particularly those who face barriers to education. Founded in 1903, the WEA was established to provide working-class adults with access to education, empowering them to improve their lives and contribute to society.

WEA aims to promote social justice, equality, and lifelong learning by delivering high-quality, accessible, and inclusive education. It focuses on engaging people who might not otherwise have access to learning due to financial, social, or personal barriers.

About the role

WEA are looking for talented individuals to help us deliver our mission to bring education within reach. If that sounds like you, then please read on! As the Senior Policy and Influencing Manager, you will lead our influencing strategy, helping us to raise the profile of lifelong learning in Whitehall and beyond, whilst enabling our movement to secure wins that bring learning within reach for 1000’s of adults.

Working across multiple policy areas, providing expert guidance to the Leadership Team, supporting them to engage with national and devolved public policy, and enabling colleagues to bring their subject matter expertise to the fore. To support colleagues to engage with regional and local decision-makers, such as Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Authorities.

You will play an instrumental role in driving our wider movement to advocate for lifelong learning, ensuring our campaigns are impactful, meaningful and engaging. As part of the Charitable Purpose Team, the Senior Policy Manager also has line management responsibility for the Research Specialist, ensuring a close fit between research projects and wider campaigning and influencing strategies.

Responsibilities

• Using political monitoring, news outlets, and social media, monitor political developments and keep track of policy and public funding decision-makers, officials and their influencers and brief colleagues on developments.
• Develop campaigning and mobilising strategies that engage our learners and wider supporter base based on effective campaigning methodology.
• Lead stakeholder engagement by developing and delivering a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and operational plan, adapting to the twists and turns of public policy, political churn, and public interest.
• Support the Leadership Team with briefings, coaching, speech and presentation writing, and setting up 1-2-1 meetings to develop and maintain relationships with MPs, Peers, Civil Servants, and ambassadors.
• Build our reputation for thought leadership, securing speaking opportunities in front of key stakeholders, supporting their blog-writing on our website, commentary in social media, and placing thought leadership pieces in sector media, working alongside other colleagues in the communications team.
• Devise and deliver, with the support of the wider Charitable Purpose Team, engagement events to attract key stakeholders, from functions in Westminster, to focused round tables, ensuring the maximum number of target stakeholders attend and are convinced of our case.
• Lead on consultation submission, working closely with the Leadership team and subject matter experts across the organisation, providing submissions which stick to our manifesto messages, open opportunities for our learners, and are accurate and deliverable operationally.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Experience & Qualifications:

• Extensive experience in engaging with politicians and officials on education and social policy areas
• Experience of delivering campaigns that engage and mobilise supporters
• Experience in networking and engaging with people in the public eye, and harnessing them to raise the profile of your cause
• Experience of briefing and supporting a leadership team to build their reputation as thought leaders to achieve our strategic goals
• Experience in writing consultation responses, which have resulted in positive outcomes
• Experience of working in a rapid response environment, managing competing demands, and making strategic priority choices independently and involving your manager when appropriate

Key Skills:

• Effective researcher, able to identify and predict political and social trends, analyse the impact or opportunity they bring, and propose response actions.
• Strategic thinker able to identify campaigning opportunities ·
• Highly numerate and proficient in statistical data analysis. ·
• Good strategic judgement to design and deliver effective key stakeholder engagement ·
• An enthusiastic advocate, you will be motivated by the goal of making
• lifelong learning accessible to all who need it, whatever their prior attainment. ·
• A strong project manager able to flex plans in response to a turbulent political world. ·
• An effective networker able to create and maintain useful connections personally and support leadership colleagues to do the same. ·
• A creative, concise, engaging and impactful copy writer able to adjust styles to the audience and channel.

Core competencies:

• Accountability
• Collaboration
• Customer service

Role competencies:

• WEA values focused
• Achieves results
• Works collaboratively
• Manages self, CPD

Required Qualifications

• Relevant degree or equivalent experience

Compensation & Benefits

• Enhanced holiday entitlement (30 days, plus bank holidays);  
• Agile working opportunities.  
• Life insurance cover.  
• EA Programme.  
• Cycle to work scheme.  
• One free WEA course per year. 

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• Apply to our website
• Should you need any support with your application, please email [email protected]. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Interviews

• Interviews to be held online, virtually on 16th April 2026.

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