Public Affairs Officer

Location (UK): Office Hybrid* - London
Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week
Salary: £32,716 per annum (London)
Benefits: Read more about the excellent benefits we offer
Contract type: Permanent
Travel: Occasional travel within London and UK venues
Closing date: 23:59 hours, Sunday, 31 August 2025

Join us and use your skills, knowledge, passion and energy to help us achieve a future free from arthritis.

The UK Advocacy team focuses on creating lasting change for people with arthritis. We identify the policy changes that are needed, and influence decision-makers with engaging public affairs tactics and by campaigning alongside people with arthritis.

This role will support our public affairs work targeted at Westminster to make real change happen. This is a fantastic opportunity to work with the team to increase our profile and raise our key policy areas with decision-makers and drive forward the goal of putting the needs of people with arthritis on the political agenda.

About the role

In this exciting role, you will be a critical member of our influencing team, helping to bring the voice of people living with arthritis right into the heart of Westminster. Working with the Public Affairs team, you will help to deliver the charity’s public affairs activities, building a strong profile with decision-makers to ensure our messages and policy priorities are front and centre of their thoughts.

You will support the delivery of exciting and engaging influencing strategies, working with colleagues to combine policy, public affairs, campaigning, media and social media in order to influence policy change. You will also play a key role in organising and delivering the charity’s activities at Parliamentary events and political party conferences.

About you

If your knowledge, skills and experience include the following then we’d love to hear from you:

Strong communicator to help build external relationships with politicians, civil servants and other decision-makers, coupled with good understanding of the Westminster Parliamentary process, UK Government and the wider influencing environment to produce engaging materials and organise events.
Excellent organisational skills are essential, to deliver a programme of events, politician visits and other activities in Westminster and across the devolved nations.
Excellent attention to detail, and ability to adapt written and verbal communication styles for different audiences.
Ability to work with colleagues to develop external briefings, internal briefings and engaging materials for Parliamentarians and policy-makers, with the ability to synthesize often complex policy information.
Proven ability of monitoring and analysis of the external policy, political and Parliamentary landscape across the UK nations, alerting breaking news and important developments.
A flexible approach.

*As a hybrid worker the expectation is that you will spend around 40% of your working time in our office spaces or working in community settings. As an inclusive employer we will consider home-based working for anyone where office-based hybrid working would be a barrier to being able to work for us, for example for someone living with a long-term health condition or disability.

Download the job description and person specification for the Public Affairs Officer role (Word 65KB).

Benefits

Your excellent benefits include:

Flexible hours, environments and working practices to promote a healthy work/life balance.
Health and wellbeing support – including the Employee Assistance Programme (free confidential 24/7 support with mental health, legal and financial queries).
Simplyhealth cash plan.
Supportive and inclusive culture, with a wide range of employee networks and support groups available to join.
Learning and personal development opportunities.
Competitive annual leave, with the option to buy/sell up to five days per year.
Generous pension plan, with employer contribution of up to 10%.
Life Assurance plan (4 x salary).

How to apply

You must be based, and hold the right to work, in the UK to apply for this position.

To apply you MUST submit:

a concise, up-to-date CV
along with a completed Application form (Word 41.2KB) demonstrating how you meet the key requirements set out in the job description and person specification for the Public Affairs Officer role (Word 65KB). All sections must be completed.

Email both documents as Word or PDF attachments by 23:59 hours, Sunday 31 August 2025 to recruitment@versusarthritis.org.

If you have a health condition that prevents you from following the steps above, please email us regarding alternative ways to apply. 

Application deadline and shortlisting 

We advise candidates to apply early as we reserve the right to close applications ahead of this date.  
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

We do not wish to receive contact from agencies or media sales. 

Please note that we do not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) during our recruitment and selection processes, and we would respectfully ask that you also refrain from using AI during the selection process. Whilst we do recognise that AI may be a beneficial tool for some when aiding research and preparation for an application or interview, we want to maintain a fair, inclusive and positive recruitment experience at Versus Arthritis where candidates can feel supported to demonstrate their experience, knowledge, and skills without the use of AI generated answers.

Interview

Interviews expected during the week commencing 08 September 2025

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee you will be offered an interview if you disclose a disability and demonstrate sufficient evidence within your application that you meet the essential criteria for this role. We will also make any reasonable adjustments you may require for your interview.

About us

We have made a commitment in our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to increase the diversity of our charity and we welcome candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We want our employees, volunteers and trustees to represent the broad diversity of the communities of which we are a part.

There are over 10 million people living with arthritis. That’s one in six, with over half of those living in pain every single day. The impact is huge as the condition slowly intrudes on everyday life – affecting the ability to work, care for a family, to move free from pain and to live independently. Yet arthritis is often dismissed as an inevitable part of ageing or shrugged off as ‘just a bit of arthritis’. We don’t think that this is OK. Versus Arthritis is here to change that.

Versus Arthritis is committed to keeping children, young people and vulnerable adults safe from harm. During the recruitment process we will undertake safer recruitment practices and relevant checks to ensure applicants are suitable to work with children, young people and vulnerable adults.