Policy and Engagement Manager at University of Birmingham

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £34,980 to £44,263 with potential progression once in post to £46,974. Grade: 7

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to June 2028 

As an Engagement, Impact and Policy Manager you will play a key role in leading impact and engagement activities for a £15M 5-year programme on energy demand research. You will facilitate knowledge exchange across the research institutions, engaging and disseminating findings to external stakeholder partners including the general public and policymakers, as well as monitoring and facilitating impact. This involves working with research partners, academia, industry, policy, NGOs and the media. The post-holder has a key role on the Centre’s Operations team to ensure impact is realised across the Centre’s geography.

Our overarching vision for EDRC is to inform and inspire energy demand reductions that support an affordable, comfortable and secure Net Zero society. Our five main research themes are:

• Futures: to understand the underlying conditions needed to deliver a low energy future in the UK to contribute to rapid greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions.
• Flexibility: to assess the needs, impacts and implications of demand-side flexibility – i.e. the capacity to use energy in different locations at different times of the day or the year – and to explore solutions that enable effective and equitable deployment of demand-side flexibility. 

We have a strong focus on engagement with key stakeholders in academia, industry, policy, NGOs and the media, in order to achieve high impact for our research. Our team comprises of 45 people from different academic backgrounds and disciplines, located across 12 different universities. We are committed to the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and our core values are: 

• Fair to people and the planet 
• Transparent in our approach 
• Bold in our thoughts and actions

Main Duties

• Work closely with EDRC’s Operations Manager, and Director and Co-Director to oversee the successful delivery of EDRC’s vision.
• Lead the development and monitoring of EDRC’s engagement and impact strategy.
• Work with partners to design and implement a robust framework for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning to ensure EDRC maximises impact and delivers its Theory of Change.
• Co-ordination of administrators and researchers across EDRC locations to collate, monitor and analyse impact information.
• Work with EDRC’s Communications Manager to develop engaging material for a wider range of stakeholders (including business, government, NGOs, charities, funders, and the public) to disseminate and raise awareness of the Centre’s research and impact.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Experience of achieving impact in Higher Education or similar large organisation or in development work.
• High level of communication skills. 
• Experience of producing communications and engagement material using a range of different media, that is suitable for a wide range of audiences.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to develop effective working relationships with a range of staff and to work well within and across teams.
• Knowledge of impact monitoring and evaluation methods such as Theory of Change, Partnership Assessment Tool,
• Experience of engaging with policymakers

Informal enquiries to Claire Moran, c.e.moran.1@bham.ac.uk   

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the above ‘Apply’ button.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity & inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community & are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.