We are the voice of dentists and dental students in the UK. We bring dentists together, support our members through advice and education, and represent their interests. This is a challenging and dynamic period for dentistry and the BDA is recruiting a Public Affairs Adviser to manage our busy Communications and External Relations team.

This role focuses on promoting the British Dental Association (BDA) through parliamentary, public affairs and campaigning activity. It demands a proactive approach to relationship building and identifying opportunities for the Association to influence.

The post-holder will play a leading role in developing the BDA’s interaction with politicians, their staff and other stakeholders, fostering the profession’s relationships with them. The role will involve the production of targeted briefings, arranging meetings at Westminster, and coordinating activities with key healthcare, trade union and sector partners.

The post-holder will also be expected to work beyond Westminster, supporting colleagues in the BDA’s Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales offices as well as developing campaigning activity that engages the BDA’s membership and supports lobbying activity will also be an important aspect of the role.

To achieve their goals the post-holder will be expected to develop and maintain a thorough working knowledge of relevant healthcare, oral health and dentistry and the BDA’s policies and positions, liaising closely with the BDA’s elected officers and policy team.

The successful candidate should have proven experience of working in Parliament or in a parliamentary or public affairs role, experience of coordinating briefings, meetings and other activity at Westminster including running events. Confident in engaging directly with political stakeholders at a range of levels, excellent relationship-building and communications skills, including strong writing and editing for political, policy and lay audiences, excellent information and data monitoring and analysis skills and experience in using public affairs contacts databases.