Policy Advisor

What if your expertise is the catalyst for change?

What if you were collaborating with diverse stakeholders to shape the future of engineering and technology?

What if you were our Policy Advisor?

At the IET, making our world a better place starts by creating a better place for our people. At the IET you’ll have more than just a job. Our work is exciting and challenging, connecting the people who solve the problems that matter. It means working with us has real meaning and impact, and you’ll grow - professionally and personally - in ways you never thought possible. We’re also making significant investments in our people, including providing a modern, vibrant workplace and embracing hybrid working.

What you’ll be doing

The Policy Advisor will collaborate across the IET’s policy team, staying ahead of current policy issues and the political cycle. You will play a pivotal role in identifying, monitoring, and evaluating policy developments related to our main themes. Your influence and thought leadership will be key, working closely with Policy and Public Affairs Managers to initiate and formulate policy responses, establishing the IET as the go-to for credible, independent advice. As an advocate, you will explain and promote IET’s policy positions through various channels, including briefings, presentations, submissions to government, and publications.

What we hope you can bring to the role

Our ideal candidate will have a background in policy, complemented by a deep understanding of the UK's political landscape and experience in influencing government and policymakers, ideally in the STEM field. You’ll demonstrate your ability to work seamlessly with diverse stakeholders, guiding complex groups to successful outcomes and your highly developed communication, influencing, and interpersonal skills will be crucial, capable of nurturing strategic networks.

We’d love to get to know you

Is Imposter syndrome creeping in? Don’t worry - we’d rather hear from you this time than not hear from you at all! Read on for a little more information about the role; but also, keep in mind that we’re open to discussing flexible ways of working, including reduced hours and working in an agile way, supported by a hybrid working framework that allows you to find the best place to do your best work.

A little more about the role

• Under the guidance of the Head of Policy and Policy Managers:

o identify, monitor, and evaluate policy developments relevant to the IET’s strategic objectives,

o help establish and support strategic cross-cutting work groups aligned to the IET’s societal challenges and strategy.

• Help create an agile and responsive team that is able to respond rapidly to evidence coming from strategic market analysis and public affairs insight by:

o working with Managers to develop and implement public affairs strategies that include outputs that result in meaningful and sustained engagement with Government and policy makers (including but not limited to meeting, events, white papers, consultations, submissions, workshops and relevant publications).

o working closely with the Public Affairs, Content, Strategic Marketing, and Communications teams to plan the strategic release of public affairs outputs for maximum impact.

• Engage with a wide range of stakeholders to understand the industry and academic attitudes to key policy agendas and increase the impact of the IET’s work - both within the IET and externally.
• Work with our volunteers to draft responses to consultations, create policy briefings and identify opportunities for dissemination.
• Support the Managers to shape our engagement with key public policy events and discussions and help coordinate roundtables and workshops in response to requests for engineering input into a range of policy challenges.
• Comply with departmental processes including monthly reporting on KPIs, contribution to team meetings, responsibility for budget within their areas, formal consultation processes, volunteer registers, and financial processes.
• Support voluntary panels and their members.
• Undertake any other duties and projects as required.

A little more about what we’re looking for

• Experience of working in a policy environment, in government, or with a thinktank, trade organisation or membership body.
• Excellent written and verbal skills and an ability to communicate with impact.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills able to collaborate across professional boundaries and proactively develop and nurture networks
• Ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear and compelling way
• An interest in public policy, public affairs and ideally engineering and technology
• A creative and critical thinker who is open to new ideas, and enjoys collaborative ways of working
• A strong team player who is also able to demonstrate initiative, with sound organisational and planning skills, and the ability to work under pressure and to deadline
• Strong analytical skills and ability to assimilate complex information quickly

Desirable:

• Experience of working with committees and/or volunteers
• Project management experience

What if you could be you? The IET is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To find out more, head over to our 'Work for the IET’ site.