Education and Skills Policy Manager (Part Time)

We are a not-for-profit organisation committed to increasing the diversity and numbers of young people entering engineering and technology to meet the future workforce needs, as well as promoting roles that help us work towards net zero and drive environmental sustainability.

Are you looking for a role in a dynamic and busy policy and public affairs team operating in the education and skills policy arena? Are you interested in a role that will provide you with the opportunity to use your research skills and work with a range of stakeholders on developing impactful policy? Then this is your opportunity.

EngineeringUK is looking for a temporary Policy Manager ready to lead on the development of some of our organisational policy priorities and positions to ensure that government policy addresses EngineeringUK’s concerns in relation to apprenticeships, Skills England, diversity in engineering and technology pathways, and STEM teacher shortages.

It is an exciting time to work in policy and if you have excellent verbal and written communication skills, experience in drafting policy reports and recommendations, and a good understanding of how to sell these to policymakers, we want to hear from you.

About the role

Reporting to the Head of Policy and Public Affairs and working closely with colleagues across EngineeringUK as well as our partners, you will be instrumental to the delivery of our policy and public affairs programme. You will lead on policy projects and on developing organisational policy positions, producing reports and responses to government consultations (with a focus on education and skills). You will be working with the Public Affairs Advisor and other colleagues to communicate these messages to government. You will also be responsible for engaging with stakeholders, internally and externally, requiring you to be an excellent team player and collaborator. You will have a good understanding of how to use research and data to identify trends and support policy development and be a confident and persuasive communicator. You need to be able to work independently and be adept at managing multiple tasks in a deadline driven environment.

The role is London based at our office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN and may involve some travel in the UK. We believe that hybrid working has many benefits and are pleased to offer flexible working with a minimum of 2 days (or 40%) a week in the office and the option for a flexible start and end to the working day in our vibrant central London office overlooking the Thames.

Further details of the role can be found in the job description and person specification.

About EngineeringUK

Our purpose is to drive change so more young people choose engineering and technology careers. Our vision is that the UK has the diverse workforce needed for engineering and technology to thrive and drive economic prosperity, improve sustainability and to achieve net zero. Our mission is to enable more young people from all backgrounds to be informed, inspired and progress into engineering and technology.

In the UK, we don’t have enough engineers and demand is going up. So, we need more young people to realise there could be a future for them in engineering and technology. To really thrive, we need a stronger, more diverse and representative workforce and for that we have to do things differently to make engineering more appealing.

We are a not-for-profit working with hundreds of organisations across business, education, professional institutions and the third sector so we can all grow the future talent pool together. We drive that collective effort through research and evidence, leadership, activities for schools and advocacy, with a focus on long-term sustainability.

We are guided by a series of values that we apply to all our activity:

• Inclusivity: We care about diversity and create opportunities for everyone's voice to be heard.
• Collaboration: We listen, share and work in partnership to achieve our vision.
• Curiosity: We challenge ourselves and others to innovate and experiment.
• Insight: We evaluate what we do and draw on research to make decisions and improve our collective understanding.
• Purpose: We are determined to make an impact and achieve our goals.

About you

Essential Skills / Competencies

• Demonstrable experience of developing organisational policy positions, policy responses and report writing as well as leading on impactful policy engagement with government stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience of using government and other datasets to support policy development.
• Demonstrable experience managing policy projects including relevant stakeholder management that leads to lasting partnerships.
• Proven ability to lead a project and take people – internal and external to the organisation - with you.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including a proven ability to simplify complex research and policy messages, and to write confidently and concisely for a variety of audiences.
• Good understanding of the education and skills landscape, as well as the political environment surrounding it.
• Proven ability to work independently and prioritise in response to many competing demands and time, but also take direction, be flexible and work collaboratively with others, contributing to team decisions and facilitating cross-organisational working.
• Pro-active approach to working.
• Commitment to our mission and values, particularly supporting our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Desirable Skills / Competencies

• An existing network of contacts across the education, skills and/or the engineering sector in and outside of government.

Education / level of experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent, or similar ability gained through work experience relevant to the role.
• Expected level of work experience – minimum 3 to 5 years in a similar role.

EngineeringUK is committed to being an inclusive workplace, where everyone feels they belong. This is supported by the dedicated work we are doing to ensure our policies and practices are inclusive and that our staff are trained to fulfil this commitment. We value the benefits of a diverse workforce and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. Our recruitment process is designed to be as accessible and inclusive as possible and to ensure people are individually assessed regardless of their backgrounds or characteristics. We are an equal opportunities employer and are open to flexible working, including job share.

Applying for this role

If you would like to request to submit your application in an alternative format to support accessibility, please let us know. We want to hear your voice and experience in your application. We acknowledge that you may use AI tools to polish a response, but your application should reflect your experience and voice. All applications are reviewed and scored by our human hiring team. Our system flags responses that it judges to be AI generated and your application may be disregarded if we feel it has been completely AI generated.

The deadline for applications is 5 pm on Monday 4th May 2026. The role would be available for someone to take up from mid-June 2026.

Interviews

Applications will be assessed against the requirements for the post as set out in the job description and in the ‘about you’ section above. We are a Disability Confident committed employer. We guarantee an interview to any disabled people who meet the minimum requirements of the role. Additionally, if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to make this process easier for you then we are happy to do so. Just complete the relevant sections of the online application form. We aim to notify candidates who have been shortlisted on Friday 8th May 2026. If you have not heard from us after this date, please assume that you have not been successful. First interviews will be held on 13th and 14th May 2026.

What can we offer you?

• Competitive salary
• 28 days paid annual leave (plus bank holidays), in addition we normally close for the Christmas week
• Competitive pension (10% employer contribution)
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Flexible working
• A vibrant office with terrace overlooking the Thames embankment and Tower Bridge
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Life Insurance (4 x salary)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Long term illness/incapacity insurance cover (permanent health insurance or PHI)
• Annual private health check for employees
• Discounted gym membership
• Yearly flu vaccination