Policy and Campaigns Manager

Guide Dogs - Be Part of Something Life‑Changing

Come and join us as a proactive and purpose‑led Policy and Campaigns Manager for Northern Ireland and be part of something life‑changing - helping people with sight loss live the life they choose.

As a Policy and Campaigns Manager at Guide Dogs, you'll be at the forefront of creating lasting change for people with sight loss across Northern Ireland. You'll develop and influence policy, lead impactful campaigns, and build strong partnerships with government bodies, local authorities, and key stakeholders to advance Guide Dogs' strategic objectives and improve outcomes for blind and partially sighted people. The Policy and Campaigns Manager will be an expert in policy development, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, political influencing, and campaign leadership, with the ability to turn insight into action and drive meaningful change in policy and practice. Our Policy and Campaigns Managers play a vital role in ensuring everything we do enables us to deliver on our purpose and exceed expectations.

This is an office-based role with flexibility for hybrid working. Ideally the successful candidate will live within a reasonable travelling distance of Belfast, as regular travel across Northern Ireland and attendance at meetings and events will be required. Occasionally you may be required to attend meetings and events across the UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of policy positions and consultation responses that influence decision-makers and support Guide Dogs' strategic objectives across Northern Ireland.
• Develop and deliver impactful campaigns that raise awareness, drive change, and improve outcomes for people with sight loss.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including elected representatives, government officials, local authorities, and partner organisations.
• Act as Guide Dogs' regional policy and campaigns expert, monitoring relevant developments and ensuring the organisation remains informed and influential on key issues.
• Recruit, support, and empower volunteer campaigners, enabling them to champion issues affecting blind and partially sighted people within their communities.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across policy, communications, marketing, engagement, and service teams to maximise the impact of campaigns and policy activity.
• Engage with people with sight loss, customer groups, and local forums to identify priorities and ensure their voices shape Guide Dogs' policy and campaigning work.

You

You’ll have a collaborative and influential approach to policy development and campaigning. You’ll enjoy building strong relationships and driving positive change for people with sight loss. You'll act with integrity and honesty in everything you do.

Skills and Competencies

• A degree level qualification.
• Experience of working in a policy role with responsibility for liaison, internal and external networking, project leadership and reporting.
• Experience of networking with and influencing opinion formers including politicians, civil servants and professional groups.
• Experience of campaigning to secure change in policy and practice and working with groups of campaigners. 
• Knowledge of local government and devolved administration. 
• Knowledge of political framework and environment in UK, campaigning techniques and advocacy-based campaigning.
• Knowledge of Equality Legislation.

Benefits

We wouldn’t be able to change the lives of people with sight loss without our people. That’s why it’s important for us to provide a variety of benefits that reward our colleagues in a way that suits them and recognises the hard work and contribution that they make.

• 26 days annual leave. After three years of continuous employment, this increases to 28 days plus bank holidays.
• Real Living Wage Employer
• Flex pot - equal to a proportion of your annual salary to use on our wide variety of flexible benefits
• The option to buy and sell annual leave
• Discounts and cash-back scheme
• Excellent pension scheme (We will match your pension contributions plus 2% up to a maximum of 9% employer contribution)
• And lots more!

For high volumes of applications, we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than advertised.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Behind Every Guide Dog Is Someone Like You - We’re passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that celebrates and values diversity. Bring your whole self to work regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We don’t want you to ‘fit’ our culture, we want you to enrich it. 

How to apply

Further details on the full role are attached below. When you are ready to apply, submit an online application form via this page.  Please note - If you are successful you will need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK via our digital ID checking supplier.  We cannot offer visa sponsorship at this time.

As part of your application ensure you provide evidence and examples of how your skills & experience meet the criteria as set out in the attached job description. You will also be asked to complete a few job-specific questions, so please be prepared to write your answers to these questions.

If you choose to use AI tools to assist in completing your application, please use them appropriately.  We value authenticity. If you want to stand out, using a generic AI-generated response isn’t going to separate you from the crowd. This is your time to shine and showcase your unique skills, personality, and thought processes!  You can find our full statement on the use of AI to complete applications on our careers website.

If you would like to have an informal conversation about the role before applying, or require any accessibility support to apply, our friendly recruitment team is ready and waiting to help. Call them on 0118 3540345 or drop an email to [email protected].

Safer recruitment

Guide Dogs follow Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding the vulnerable people we work with. As part of this, we require a full work history with any gaps accounted for & a minimum of 2 professional referee details fully covering the past 5 years. If you are applying for a disclosure role, please note that you will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and sign up to the DBS update service.

At Guide Dogs, we believe in fair and equitable hiring practices. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify an applicant from consideration for a position. Each case will be evaluated individually. We encourage all candidates to disclose relevant information, and we assure you that it will be handled confidentially and fairly.