Policy and Public Affairs Manager

Rainbow Migration, the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system, is recruiting a Policy and Public Affairs Manager. The Policy and Public Affairs Manager will join our management team and lead on developing our policy positions and engaging with parliament and government.

Responsibilities will include:

• Developing and delivering influencing strategies.
• Monitoring and evaluating our policy and public affairs work.
• Writing high-quality policy and briefing papers or reports.
• Engaging with civil servants, parliamentarians, ministers and other policymakers, influencers or allies.
• Working collaboratively with other organisations and stakeholders to achieve change.
• Ensuring meaningful involvement of people with lived experience – especially our Refugee Advisory Panel – in our influencing work.
• Managing occasional research projects.

Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can settle in the UK and lead fulfilling lives.

Our values are:

• Safety: We believe everyone should be safe from persecution and safe to be themselves. We strive to create a safe workplace culture, and we place importance on the wellbeing of everyone involved with Rainbow Migration.
• Integrity: We are thorough and honest in everything we do, and we take responsibility for our actions. We want to be accountable to our communities and those who support us.
• Belonging: We welcome and include all LGBTQI+ people, and we celebrate and value their range of experience in terms of gender, religion, race, age, disability status and class. We try to remove obstacles to participation, champion equality and promote a sense of family or home through our services.
• Respect: We believe that every person is equal and deserves the same level of courtesy, care, and attention. We respect the rights, wishes and feelings of our service users, and campaign for their rights to be respected as they go through the asylum and immigration system.

Diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression

At Rainbow Migration, we don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We consider all qualified applicants, consistent with any legal requirements.

We strive to build a team that reflects the diversity of the community we work in. We are also reviewing what we do and how we do it through an anti-oppression and anti-racism lens and are investing in being more informed and led by LGBTQI+ people who have sought asylum.

Role overview

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Full-time (35 hours per week); working part-time (minimum 21 hours) will be considered. Occasional work in the evenings and at weekends will be required but with plenty of notice. Rainbow Migration encourages staff to maintain a good work life balance and has a TOIL system in place.

Salary: Starting at £46,000 with a potential step increase each year up to £51,253 (pro rata if working part time), plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. We also try to give a separate inflationary increase every April.

Location: Remote or from Rainbow Migration’s step‑free offices which are based in London between Vauxhall and the Oval. Hybrid working will also be considered and can be agreed with the line manager as per our hybrid working policy. The successful candidate could work from anywhere in the UK but would be expected to occasionally travel to London and other parts of the country for meetings and events. At the time of posting this advert, staff mostly work from home. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Annual Leave: Initially 25 days per year. After two years of employment, this will increase by one day per year up to a maximum of 28 days (pro rata if working part-time).

Benefits

• Two days of wellbeing leave to be taken at short notice in each calendar year (pro rata for part-time staff).
• Enhanced parental leave and pay.
• Full pay for jury service (up to four weeks), compassionate leave (up to two weeks) and dependants’ leave (up to four days, pro rata for part-time staff).
• Potential for two salary increases a year: a step increase and an inflationary increase.
• TOIL system.
• Hybrid working policy, including possibility of working abroad for 10 working days (pro rata for part-time staff) each year.
• Policy on staff loans or salary advances for difficult times.
• Training and learning opportunities.
• Occupational health assessments for disabled employees to understand how we can support and make reasonable adjustments.
• Employee assistance programme which includes counselling service, wellness advice, legal and money advice, and other matters.
• Clinical supervision for staff delivering services (a safe space with an independent therapist to offload and discuss feelings and challenges).