Head of Policy

Head of Policy

Job description

Location Westminster, London (with flexibility to work from home)

Contract type Full time, permanent

Salary £60,000 - £85,000

Closing date Rolling recruitment

How to apply Please send a CV and cover letter to [email protected]

About the role
We require a highly capable, motivated and public-service-orientated Head of Policy with a
proven track record in at least one of local government, social security policy or quantitative
research, with a desire to operate across all three.

Our goals are to improve and empower the lives of low income families. You will be accountable to
the senior leadership team for driving our policy impact and ensuring our insights deliver practical
impact on the frontline through our products.

You will oversee the delivery of our policy output to our core market sectors and ensure our
products and our analytical insights meet the needs of central and local government professionals.

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

Job description

Policy and research duties

• Grow and develop a passionate team of policy and research professionals. You will grow

their policy knowledge, research capabilities, and ability to apply that knowledge to drive
both policy and commercial impact.

• Win, oversee and provide quality assurance over the delivery of our policy output, ensuring

this meets the needs of our clients and internal stakeholders.

• Communicate our policy insights through blogs, presentations, webinars and in press and

broadcast media.

• Win and oversee the delivery of revenue building policy projects, for example, through the

successful submission of research and grant proposal.s

• Develop new and valued data science capabilities, secure access to new datasets, and

deliver value through our data to the public, under appropriate governance practices.

• Represent the company at policy discussions with external organisations.
• Grow to oversee the accuracy of our policy engine and analytics in these and other social

policy areas:

• Improve the quality of our core products and services, ensuring these reflect current

client needs, regulation and practice

• Develop and maintain a deep knowledge of welfare policy and communicate this in

a clear and simple way to others across the business

• Understand and apply this knowledge to the administrative data we get from

clients, ensuring it drives impact and supports growth and retention

• Ensure our analytics and code management is quality assured, well maintained and

communicated

Client management Encourage and support clients to take part in research projects. Understand how these

projects can help overcome challenges for clients and deliver on opportunities.

• Create customer delight through our policy and research output.
• Support the on time and high-quality delivery of our analysis, research and software

services.

• Demonstrate the ability to oversee the CTR projects.
• Work with marketing colleagues to raise awareness of our products and support client

retention.

• Draw out high impact case studies (client stories, RoI, How to)

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

Team Management

You will support our team of policy and research analysts to deliver technically rigorous output;
and to develop wider writing, presentation and stakeholder management skills to deliver impact.

You will have line management responsibilities and ensure a strong focus on core business
priorities, a commercial focus, and professionalism internally and externally.

You will also support the senior team in the development and execution of business strategy.

The Ideal Candidate
We’re looking for a strategic and hands-on leader with a strong background in social policy,
research, and people management. You will combine deep policy expertise with commercial
acumen, a commitment to quality, and the ability to inspire and develop others. You’ll bring clarity
to complex issues and ensure our products and services drive impact for clients and the people
they support.

Essential skills and experience

• Strong understanding of UK welfare and social policy, with the ability to communicate

insights clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop policy and research teams, building skills in

policy analysis, research methods, and communication.

• Experience overseeing and quality-assuring a wide range of policy outputs, including

reports, blogs, webinars, and presentations.

• Proven track record of managing and delivering impactful policy or research projects for

government, think tanks, or social organisations.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience representing an organisation at

roundtables, client meetings, and public forums.

• Skilled in line management, with a focus on professional development, strategic alignment,

and delivery of business goals.

• Able to apply policy knowledge to data analysis and client datasets, ensuring accuracy,

relevance, and value.

• Experience supporting business strategy and aligning team outputs to commercial and

operational priorities.

• Comfortable supporting the delivery of technically rigorous work, including data analytics,

research, and code management.

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience developing or improving products, particularly in a data-driven or tech-for-good

environment.

• Successful track record in winning research grants or funding proposals from foundations

or government.

• Familiarity with Mayoral Combined Authorities, central government procurement, or public

sector bidding processes.

• An understanding of data governance, access, and innovation within social policy contexts.
• Background in using research to support client success, retention, or marketing activities

(e.g., case studies, RoI stories).

• Media experience or confidence communicating in press and broadcast environments.
• Knowledge of agile project delivery and cross-functional collaboration with product, tech,

or client services teams.

About Policy in Practice
Policy in Practice believes data and technology have the ability to empower people and change
lives. Our goal is to be the single point of access for all people on means tested benefits and
enable effective public services through citizen centred services.

We aim to reach as many households as possible across the UK. We will do this via the growth of
existing products in public and private sector organisations and through expansion into new
markets.

Policy in Practice is at a pivotal point as we continue to move from start up to scale up. We have
invested in our capability, and development has moved from ideas to prototypes and in some
cases to production.

Policy in Practice’s vision and mission
Vision

We believe data and technology have the ability to empower people and change lives.

Mission

Empower people via proactive, integrated support.

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

We will help more people to live better lives using our expertise in social policy, data and
technology.

We are transforming the way society supports low income families through citizen centred
approaches. We focus on improving how all policy areas, sectors and journeys combined can have
an impact on people and their outcomes.

Values
Purposeful and passionate

• We push for opportunities to improve, not just for our clients or for ourselves, but also for

the people who need our help.

• We take responsibility. Details Matter. We have a genuine passion to help people, with a

willingness to take action.

Insightful and impactful We go beyond straightforward analysis to get to the ‘So What?’, driving our policy insight

and services to deliver impact.

• We think deeply and communicate simply in a way that helps people make the right

decisions.

Respectful and supportive We are willing to discuss and debate openly, listening to both sides and relying on

evidence and strong relationships to reach shared positions.

• We have each other's back.

Why work here? Working in a thought-leading organisation where you can empower people and change

lives.

• Flexible working arrangements with hybrid and remote working available
• Opportunities for quick career progression
• Policy in Practice colleagues say:

“Everyone is lovely and we do such impactful work. There is a very caring employee culture, and a
drive to share expertise.”

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

“I appreciate how our work helps shape policies and the supportive team environment here
encourages everyone to grow. Flexible working options make it easier to balance life and work and
our inclusive culture makes this a welcoming place to be.”

“The work is extremely meaningful and translates directly into tangible benefits.”

How to apply
Please send your CV with a cover letter that clearly outlines your suitability and your interest in
the post to [email protected] as soon as possible.

www.policyinpractice.co.uk