Policy and public affairs roles in the not-for-profit sector are no longer niche, they are becoming central to organisational strategy. Our own data shows the shift is real, measurable, and accelerating.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen twice as many policy and public affairs roles come to us, compared to the year before. Our in-house specialist recruitment advertising has noted the same pattern, with advertised policy or public affairs roles up 14%.
We don’t think this is a blip. Charities are investing in their ability to influence, and there are some clear reasons why.
These roles don’t appear from nowhere
Most of the policy and public affairs hires we’re working on aren’t brand new functions built from scratch. They’re a natural next step from research and evidence work that already exists in the organisation. Charities have employed research officers for years, quietly building the evidence base behind their strategy. What’s changed is that this evidence is now being pushed outward — into Parliament, into government departments, into the press — rather than sitting in an internal report.
Typical career progression:
Research / Evidence Officer → Policy & Research Officer → Policy & Public Affairs Lead
For hiring managers, this matters. Some of the best candidates for senior policy roles haven’t come up through public affairs at all — they’ve built their credibility through academia or through research first. Worth keeping an open mind on background, not just job titles.
Why now?
Government’s actually listening
The Civil Society Covenant, launched July 2025, commits government to co-designing policy with charities rather than just consulting them after the fact. Charities with a credible, evidence-led voice are getting real access to departments and spending reviews.
Funding is political now
Government grants have fallen by roughly £1 billion a year in real terms since 2020. Influencing how funding decisions get made isn’t a nice-to-have anymore — for a lot of charities it’s a survival issue.
The closures are real
Major UK charity closures jumped 73% in 2024/25 — 151 versus 87 the year before. Policy influence is one of the few levers organisations have left to protect their funding and their services.
The right to speak out is under pressure
Plans to widen Charity Commission powers — including suspending trustees and shutting charities down — have sector bodies warning this could chill legitimate campaigning. We’ve seen similar pressure on civil society elsewhere, including the US cuts to NGO funding. Charities are waking up to the fact that the freedom to advocate can’t be taken for granted.
Desk-based or out in the room — depends what you need
Not every policy hire should look the same, and we’d push back on the assumption that “policy person” means one type of profile.
Desk-based:
Research, evidence, consultation responses, briefings, tracking legislation. Quiet but essential — the groundwork everything else is built on.
Out in the room:
Relationships with MPs, civil servants and coalitions. Representing the charity at events and select committees. Turning evidence into actual pressure.
Plenty of roles are a mix of both, but it should be a deliberate choice, not a default. A charity that needs a stronger evidence base is hiring a different person than one that needs someone who already has the relationships and the confidence to walk into Westminster tomorrow.
This is happening because politics is changing
None of this is happening in a vacuum. Westminster’s old two-party shape is breaking up — Reform UK’s rise and the growing presence of the Greens means charities can’t just build a relationship with whoever’s in government and call it done. Add in the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and English local elections all landing in 2026, and the number of people charities need relationships with has grown considerably.
That’s not all downside. More entry points means more chances to be heard. But it also means the ground can shift fast, sometimes within a single news cycle — and a charity with no one watching that space is going to get caught out.
What we’re seeing
We’re also seeing these hires get more senior. It’s not just a policy officer being added to a comms team anymore — organisations are building out Head of Policy & Public Affairs functions, growing teams across the devolved nations, and in some cases standing up entirely new external affairs directorates.
The charities currently shaping the conversation on welfare reform, housing, social care and sector funding aren’t there by luck. They’ve put the people and the structure in place to be in the room.
Building out your policy and influencing capability?
We place policy, public affairs and external affairs professionals across the charity and not-for-profit sector regularly. Whether it’s a first hire or growing an existing team, we can help. Reach out to our team of recruitment experts to arrange a conversation.
