Public Affairs & Engagement Assistant

Job Description

About the roleThis is an exciting opportunity for someone from a public affairs background who is interested in politics and wants to be at the heart of devolution and Levelling Up the North of England; to work with northern leaders to deliver transformationalchange for the region.Youll help TfN by providing external engagement and public affairs support to the Head of Communications and Engagement and the wider team. Youll lead on organising TfNs annual conference, representing the organisation at meeting in Whitehall and Westminsterand at the annual political party conferences, and working with northern MPs by helping to manage the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transport Across the North. You will also be expected to help deliver our TfN Talks series of online seminars, and ourcorporate podcast.In addition, youll draft and research responses and reports and build relationships with sector bodies and stakeholders. Youll play a central role in our approach to influencing, including how we strategically manage stakeholder relations. Furthermore,you will be expected to support our Board members, who make up the leaders of the North of England, with an engagement service around our board and committee meetings.What were looking forYou will probably have an interest in UK politics and politics in the North of England, and a passion for infrastructure or transport policy:Excellent written and oral communication skills for drafting briefings, reports, letters and other documents for internal and external use, and for internal and external events.Prepared to organise and manage events on behalf of the organisation, in particular our annual conference.Prepared to organise and attend events at Westminster and annual political party conferences.Able to manage competing short and long-term priorities effectively and systematically.Highly self-motivated and will pursue goals with gusto.Understanding of the current transport and related policy environments, or experience of working in the political, infrastructure or transport sectors.Experience of undertaking or managing research and / or analysis to enhance business performance and understanding of key issues.Be able to quickly understand and explain the links between Government policy changes and day-to-day operations.Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office including Work, Excel and PowerPoint.DesirableExperience of undertaking political engagement and influencing work.Experience of managing and / or using stakeholder management systems.An understanding of the workings of the UK Parliament and central and local government.Experience of using social media and digital campaigning tools.Essential qualifications:Educated to degree level and/or relevant professional qualification.Provisional Interview Date: 20th December 2022In return, as well as a competitive salary, our other benefits are: 27 days holiday per annum plus bank holidays Access to the local government pension scheme Access to various salary sacrifice benefits, including Travel Pass purchase scheme. Access to TfNs Flexi-Time Scheme, allowing accrual of up to 18 additional days leave per yearIf you believe you have the skills and experience, were looking for please apply online, ensuring that in your application you provide evidence in the form of specific examples of how you meet the essential criteria in the role profile.At TfN, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We are particularly keen to encourage applications from women, members of ethnic minority groups and people withdisabilities who are currently under-represented.As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, all applications will be considered on their merit.As an organisation we always strive to do the right thing and understand that in order to make a difference in our society and workplace, we must be committed to respecting equality and diversity, showing kindness, tackling discrimination and promoting inclusionand have signed the CIHT Diversity and Inclusion Charter Statement to further endorse our commitment. We are also an accredited Living Wage Employer, this means that every member of staff working for Transport for the North, earns a real Living Wage and arerecognised as a Disability Confident employer (stage 2) acting as a Disability Confident champion within our local and business communities and business networks.