Senior Engagement & Change Officer (Immediate start) in Surrey

Make a meaningful impact through people focused change and engagement. Are you passionate about creating exceptional workplace and volunteer experiences? Do you have the expertise to guide organisations through change with empathy, clarity and connection? If so, we would love to hear from you.

We are looking for a Senior Engagement Change Officer to help bring Samaritans internal engagement plan to life, supporting how we communicate, engage and inspire our staff and volunteers across the UK and Ireland. You will play a vital role in shaping our internal culture and driving positive, inclusive change across the organisation.

Working alongside key stakeholders, including senior staff and volunteer leaders, you will be responsible for developing and delivering impactful internal communication plans to support key projects and campaigns, helping us explain changes, showcase achievements, share stories and save lives.

Contract: 12 month fixed term contract

Salary: £40,000 to £42,000 per annum depending on experience plus benefits

Hours: Full time (35 hours per week)

Working Arrangement: Hybrid working - linked to our Ewell (Surrey) office with home and office working. Office based working encouraged as a minimum of 2 days per month. We are passionate about flexible working, please talk to us about your preferences.

Due to the urgency of this role, we are ideally looking for someone to join us as soon as possible. We are unable to consider individuals with more than a one month notice period.

What you will do:

• Lead change engagement: Provide expert change management support for key cross-organisational projects, ensuring our people feel heard, informed and involved.
• Engage and connect: Support the delivery of our internal engagement plan, ensuring volunteers and staff across all locations are kept engaged and connected.
• Listen and act: Help manage our biennial engagement surveys, delve into the results, and project manage the follow-up actions that truly make a difference.
• Create compelling communications: Write and coordinate thoughtful, clear and inclusive internal communications that support key changes and build trust.
• Build capability: Support colleagues in developing their own communication and engagement skills, helping us embed good practice across teams.
• Champion collaboration: Work closely with senior leaders, teams, and volunteers, including the Executive Leadership Team and Board members to keep engagement aligned with our values.

What you will bring:

• Experience managing change and engagement projects, ideally across complex organisations.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to work with senior staff and volunteers.
• A genuine commitment to positive staff and volunteer experience, diversity and inclusion.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to adapt tone and style.
• Comfortable managing multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• A proactive, well-organised and solutions-focused approach.
• Experience working in a charity or not-for-profit setting, and/or with volunteers, would be beneficial.

Why Samaritans?

At Samaritans, you will be part of a people-first organisation deeply committed to inclusion, compassion and learning. You will contribute to a team where your voice matters, your expertise makes a difference, and your work helps save lives. We welcome applications from individuals with lived experience and encourage those from underrepresented communities to apply. We are committed to creating an environment where all our people feel seen, heard and supported.

You will join a values-led organisation with a powerful mission and a collaborative culture. We offer flexible hybrid working, excellent benefits, and the chance to make a tangible difference in suicide prevention across the UK and Ireland.

For further information about Samaritans, including our charity structure, values, employee benefits, and application process, please read our recruitment brochure available below. You can also visit our careers website to access this.

We recognise the enormous benefits and the social justice imperatives of ensuring diversity at every level of our organisation. Samaritans is wholly committed to inclusion and diversity and to building a culture and environment where everyone is appreciated for the unique person they are. To ensure Samaritans is representative of those we support and who support us, we particularly welcome applications from disabled, racialised minority and LGBTQ+ candidates, as these people are under-represented at Samaritans.

Apply now: Please note that we are seeking candidates who are available to start immediately. We are moving faster than usual for this role because it is critical to our current work. While this isn’t our usual approach, on this occasion we may need to interview candidates ahead of the closing date. We value your time and interest in our cause and in this case, we recommend only applying if you are able to start quickly and are also available to attend virtual interviews in the weeks either leading up to or immediately after the closing date for applications.

If this sounds like the opportunity for you, please apply. You will be asked to answer some short application questions and to upload your CV and covering letter. Applications will close at midnight on Tuesday 10 February 2026, with video interviews expected to take place 12 February or earlier, if suitable applications are received before the closing date.

We kindly ask that you don’t rely on AI tools for your application answers, cover letter or to generate interview answers. Your written and verbal communication skills need to be of a high standard for this role and we want to see your style and personality really shine through in your responses. While it’s important that your application stands out from the crowd, we also want it to showcase you and your strengths not that of a chatbot!