Are you passionate about dogs and their welfare? Do you have successful experience in political campaigning, policy research and development?
We are recruiting for a Senior Public Affairs Officer to lead on the planning, coordination, and implementation of Dogs Trust’s political engagement in the UK.

About this role:
As Senior Public Affairs Officer, you’ll:

• be responsible for implementing our Public Affairs programme, which includes coordinating political activities and responses, drafting and updating our manifestos,
• organise and attend political events, such parliamentary receptions, briefings, and politician visits to our rehoming centres across the country,
• identify opportunities for our work to be amplified by media/social media coverage, to ensure that our message reaches as many decision makers as possible,
• represent Dogs Trust at external meetings and events, ensuring our positions are represented at all times.

About you:
To be successful in this role, you’ll need demonstrable experience in public and parliamentary affairs, with an in-depth knowledge of the political landscape in the UK, including the working of Westminster, Whitehall, and the devolved administrations. You’ll also need proven experience of political campaigning and lobbying, working on policy research and development and excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate.

Please note, Dogs Trust is a wholly independent organisation, free of association with any political party. Our independence is critical, as it allows us to pursue our mission to campaign on dog welfare issues, on behalf of the UK’s dogs and their owners. For our public affairs roles, the ability to display political neutrality in the public eye or when working with MPs is essential.