We are recruiting for a Mission Manager (Policy) for A Healthy Life Mission

About Nesta

We are Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society’s biggest problems. Our three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future where the economy works for both people and the planet.

For over 20 years, we have worked to support, encourage and inspire innovation. We work in three roles: as an innovation partner working with frontline organisations to design and test new solutions, as a venture builder supporting new and early stage businesses, and as a system shaper creating the conditions for innovation.

Harnessing the rigour of science and the creativity of design, we work relentlessly to change millions of lives for the better. Find out more at nesta.org.uk.

About this mission: A Healthy Life

We are seeking a policy professional to work in Nesta’s ‘A Healthy Life’ mission. We want to increase the number of years lived in good health for all and our focus is on tackling one of the biggest drivers of lost years of healthy life: obesity. Our priority is improving our food environments i.e. making healthy food more available, accessible, affordable, appealing and convenient for all. We work across sectors - with businesses, national policymakers, local government, academics and other charities - in order to drive the changes we need to see to improve health.

The role

This role supports Nesta’s A Healthy Life mission. You will lead the scoping, design and delivery of policy projects that advance our mission, while also building a pipeline of partnerships and collaborations across government and the wider policy sector to extend our impact. Working with multi-disciplinary teams, you will translate insights into practical policy proposals and demonstrable outcomes.

This role will suit an experienced policy professional who is curious and eager to broaden their skills by working across disciplines. One day you might draft a briefing for our CEO ahead of a meeting with the Secretary of State; another you could be interpreting the latest official statistics on obesity; or another developing detailed implementation plans for one of our flagship policy proposals.

The skills we are looking for are:

• Project management: Lead on the scoping, design and delivery of policy projects working with the Mission Director and Deputy Directors. You will be expected to identify opportunities, proactively develop a pipeline of partnerships or collaborations, and run complex projects effectively to deliver on time and to high standards.
• Policy knowledge, development and analysis: Scope policy ideas and solutions to help deliver the mission, and help navigate the policy environment the mission is operating within.
• Team management: Provide line management to team members, as well as direction setting for projects.
• Domain knowledge: Have prior experience and/or knowledge of the fields of health and/or obesity, as well as specific experience in developing or delivering policy.
• Writing skills: Have the ability to draft policy proposals clearly and concisely, and to make complex or technical issues and ideas easy to understand, adapting your communication to suit different audiences.
• Communication: Communicate confidently and clearly both within the organisation and with partners to drive forward work and influence the wider debate. This may include representing Nesta’s healthy life mission to external audiences.
• Stakeholder engagement: Owning relationships with stakeholders sponsoring the project and making sure they love working with Nesta.
• Research and analysis: Demonstrate an understanding of different research and analysis methodologies, including assessing the use of different methods, the ability to interpret and evaluate research findings and translating this into actionable next steps.

Required experience

• Policy expertise: A strong understanding of the UK policy making context, and experience of developing or delivering policy within the context of the Healthy Life mission.
• UK government experience: Direct experience of leading a team and/or programme of work in a UK government department, for example developing or delivering national policy, briefing ministers and senior officials, coordinating across departments, and supporting legislation through parliament.
• Project/ programme management skills: A proven track record of delivering high impact projects and programmes. You can proactively plan work, execute against the plan, identify and act on risks and issues, ensure that key stakeholders are engaged throughout, and keep track of spend against budget.
• Stakeholder management skills: You can present ideas persuasively and navigate complex stakeholder discussion to keep focussed on impact, maintain project momentum, build strong working relationships, and drive better work through including more voices in the planning, designing, delivery and criticism of it.
• Research skills: You understand the fundamentals of exploratory research and evaluation. For example, you can interpret research findings, understand common statistics, assess the strength of evidence for something, and understand good practice for key research activities.
• Partnership building: Ability to proactively develop a pipeline of partnerships or collaborations opportunities in support of this mission

What we offer

Salary: £56,700 - £70,600 (offers are expected to be made towards the bottom of the band)plus array of benefits, including health cash plans, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more .

Location: This role is based in London, Blackfriars, hybrid working arrangement with a minimum of two days in the office

Term: Permanent. We are also open to considering long-term secondments (minimum 18 months).

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

Reports to: Lauren Bowes Byatt, Deputy Director for A Healthy Life Mission

Making an application

Please submit your CV and answer to the following question (max 250 words): tell us about a time when you designed and delivered a policy project that drove impact. In your answer, you may want to cover your role, the research and analysis you used, and how you communicated the findings.

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 29th September at 8am.

The next stage of the application process will be a task and interview to be completed in early October with final interviews taking place the week commencing 20th October. Exact dates to be confirmed.

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.