Political Officer

The opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity for a policy and public affairs professional to join UAL’s growing Policy and Advocacy Team and play a key role using your political knowledge to support our 10-year strategy to bring creativity to the world.

As Political Officer, you will join UAL’s Social Purpose Lab, where the Policy and Advocacy Team is based. We believe policy is a powerful vehicle for change and want to shape the external policy landscape to give our students the education they need to flourish in a changing world, and to use our community’s immense expertise and creativity to influence decision-making in public policy.

As the Policy and Advocacy Team continues to grow and establish itself across UAL and begins to explore new policy areas, this is an exciting time to join the team.

You will support the delivery of the team’s public affairs strategy. This will involve monitoring key political developments and identifying influencing opportunities, supporting colleagues with stakeholder engagement, managing UAL’s stakeholder database, coordinating policy newsletters, developing policy notes, and supporting with policy events.

Your profile

You’ll have experience of working in policy, public affairs or campaigns, and a close interest in higher education and the creative economy. A good understanding of the UK political system, parliamentary procedures and key parliamentary events is essential.

You’ll have great communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex information succinctly, and experience of drafting a wide range of documents for internal and external audiences, including briefings.

Experience of engaging with external networks, setting up meetings with senior stakeholders, and stakeholder database management is equally important.

We are UAL

University of the Arts London (UAL) generates and inspires the creativity the world needs for a better future. Since 1842, our colleges have been defining creative education. With curiosity, imagination and intent we make work which creates lasting change for people and our planet. London is core to who we are, a place where we meet and share ideas with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Our creative network influences learning, culture, industry and society on a global scale. Our academics and practitioners deliver creative education and inspire new ways of thinking through research and innovation. We work with students at every level from pre-degree and short courses to postgraduate and online learning, enabling them to build the careers they want. Together, we are a community of makers, thinkers, pioneers and storytellers redesigning the future.

As a University we are ranked second in the world for Art and Design. We are formed of 6 Colleges with unique histories and identities: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Arts. UAL also has 4 Institutes, 5 Research Centres, 1 Pre-Degree School and 2 subsidiary companies delivering specialist activities.

Application process

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Thus, you will need to create an account and submit an application through our job board. As part of this, you will need to provide a supporting statement/answer some competency questions to demonstrate your suitability. Our recruitment process involves: Application, Shortlisting, Interview and Assessment, Offer, Onboarding.

We understand the benefits of using AI in work. But, if you are thinking of using it to submit an application, we ask you to think about what value it adds. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

If we receive a high volume of applications, the closing day date might close early. We aim to communicate any changes to the closing date with at least 24 hours’ notice. If you have any general questions or have accessibility needs, please refer to our Contact us page.

THIS JOB HAS NOW CLOSED