Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager Full Time

Campaign for Science and Engineering

The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) is the UK’s leading independent advocate for science and engineering. Our mission is to ensure that the UK has the policies, funding and skills to help science and engineering thrive in a way that improves people’s lives and livelihoods.

CaSE is seeking an ambitious and creative Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager to join our Discovery Decade programme. If you enjoy the pace and responsibility of a working in a small team where everyone’s efforts matter, this is a chance to play a key role in a project that aims to make research and development (R&D) matter to more people across society.

Started in 2021, and supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust, the Discovery Decade programme is exploring public opinions towards R&D as a political and societal priority. Working closely with CaSE members and the wider R&D community, this work has delivered a landmark dataset on public opinion, which has continued to expand to include polling data from >20,000 people, 14 focus groups, and a newly initiated public dialogue exercise.

Building on this expansive source of novel data, the team are distilling practical advice for those who champion R&D to the public and politicians, and jump-starting local messaging strategies for groups of R&D organisations in towns and cities across the UK. With a General Election expected in 2024, we want to seize this opportunity to draw political and public attention towards R&D as a tool that can help fix the problems around us.

The role

You’ll be part of the small but energetic Discovery Decade team. Ben Bleasdale, the programme’s Director will be your line manager, and you’ll be at the heart of a deeply collaborative CaSE team and working closely with CaSE’s Advocacy and Engagement Officer, Communications Manager, and a well-established Policy team.

You’ll have full access to our growing portfolio of Discovery Decade opinion data, advocacy tools and guidance, our clear set of evidence-led policy priorities, and CaSE’s broad network of connections across the R&D sector and politics. You’ll be backed by a supportive team, and resources from our Wellcome Trust grant.

We’ll be asking you to weave together CaSE’s policy and public opinion assets to develop and deliver messages that cut through with public and political audiences. We want someone who can get our new advocacy tools and guidance into the right hands across the R&D sector, and rally a clear and compelling voice for R&D that has momentum through the General Election period and beyond.

We want you to develop your own ambitious programme of campaign activities that can help us achieve five goals:

• Adopt a more public-centred narrative for R&D as a societal and political cause. You’ll work with us to transform our public opinion data into a clear call to action for R&D advocates, and then use our finding to help these stakeholders create a more tangible sense of place and purpose around R&D and investment into it.
• Nurture new political supporters who view R&D as a policy priority. You’ll draw on our public opinion data to identify new ways to make R&D feel relevant to different political perspectives, and work proactively to nurture a new generation of political supporters within the next parliament.
• Drive uptake of CaSE’s new advocacy tools among the R&D sector. You’ll help get our advocacy guidance adopted across the R&D sector, and partner with our creative agency to develop and socialise a new visual label or identifier for the sector that can help link together examples of R&D across society.
• Promote collaborative advocacy across, and from outside, the R&D sector. You’ll work with leading R&D organisations to broker a more unified approach to our sector’s messaging, and help us identify and secure unexpected allies from outside our usual circle of advocacy partners.
• Deploy further opinion research to keep our messaging relevant. You’ll help design responsive public opinion polling and focus groups to generate eye-catching findings, and work with the Communications Manager to leverage the media opportunities these will create to show that R&D is relevant to the evolving election dialogue.

With this work, our definition of R&D and the R&D sector includes the full range of academia, charities, businesses, and public engagement organisations. Likewise, we adopt a broad disciplinary view, spanning from STEM to social sciences, the arts and humanities.

Essential skills and experience:

• Experience of building and delivering campaigns, including focussing resources and capacity towards different target audiences.
• A track record of crafting compelling messages and finding new and effective ways to deliver these to the right audiences.
• An ability to work responsively in a fast-paced environment.
• A high degree of initiative, and enthusiasm to contribute as part of a small team.
• A collaborative and persuasive style of achieving goals, and an ability to rapidly become an ambassador for CaSE and our projects.

Desirable skills and experience

Familiiarity with the following areas would be desirable, but we can also support you to get up to full speed on them:

• Familiarity with the R&D sector, including its influential organisations and policy priorities for the next General Election
• Familiarity with the design, analysis and outputs of public opinion polls.

For an informal chat about any aspect of the role, please contact Daniel Rathbone or Rebeccca Hill via the email addresses listed on our website.

Application process

The deadline for applications is 09:00 GMT on 15 January 2024.

To apply, please email (see our website for details) your CV and a covering letter (one page max) that sets out how your qualities, skills and experience are relevant to this role. Applications will then be anonymised before being assessed.

We are committed to CaSE being a diverse and inclusive workplace, where everyone can thrive. We welcome applications from all individuals and aim to make our recruitment processes as inclusive as possible – if you need any adjustments, please let us know.

First-round interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams on 6 February, and successful applicants will then be invited to interview at the CaSE offices in central London on 13 February.

Term and conditions:

• Salary: £40,000-£42,000 per annum, pro rata
• Hours: The post is advertised as full time at 35 hours a week, Monday to Friday, with options for flexible working. We’ll consider requests for part-time working, and welcome secondments.
• Holidays: Holiday entitlement is 25 days paid leave per year, plus public holidays. In addition, the CaSE office closes for 3 days each year between Christmas and New Year.
• Pension: CaSE will provide an annual pension contribution equal to 11% of gross salary.
• Location: CaSE is a hybrid workplace, with both home working and office working at CaSE’s office in 1 Naoroji Street, London, WC1X 0GB on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for full-time staff.
• Eligibility: Applicants must have right to work in the UK.