Senior Policy Manager in London

Reporting to: Associate Director, Policy and Impact

Location: Central London / Hybrid working (twice a week in the office)

Salary Range: £56,500 - £58,500

Length of Contract: 12 Months

We are the national body for careers education in England, delivering support to schools and colleges to deliver modern, 21st century careers education. The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) is a great place to work. We operate within a fast-paced and collaborative environment. We are brought together by one thing: our passion to ensure young people get the best possible start in life and are supported to find their best next step. Do you want to be part of a mission-driven team focused on transforming young people’s lives? If so, we’d love to hear from you!

Role Summary

The relationship between careers education and broader education, skills and socio-economic policy remains vitally important. The Senior Policy Manager will report to the Associate Director, Policy and Impact and play a key role in:

• Leading and contributing to policy and strategy that support CEC’s strategic objective to influence on behalf of careers education to help every young person find their best next step.
• Influencing CEC’s policy response to government priorities related to CEC’s agenda including in education reform, NEET prevention, raising awareness and supporting take-up of vocational and technical options, and supporting young people with additional needs.

The post holder will:

• Bring together evidence from a range of sources and turn complex information into clear, structured advice and options to create evidence-based policy positions.
• Offer knowledge and experience of areas related to CEC’s work, including intersection with education, skills and youth employment.
• Be a highly effective writer with experience of leading on high impact reports and responses to inquiries and consultations.
• Confidently develop strong, supportive relationships with Whitehall policy makers and peers across the sector.
• Help connect policy development to corporate affairs and strategic communications to ensure that CEC can amplify great practice and insight to drive impact for young people.

The post sits within the Policy & Impact team as part of CEC’s Strategy & Communications directorate.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support CEC representation at senior levels externally.
• Develop CEC’s policy and impact positions, ensuring accuracy and fair representation of progress and opportunities within the careers system, with a focus on:
• Evidence – Filling evidence gaps and understanding of what works, working closely with impact and insight colleagues to analyse and present evidence.
• Influence – Shaping coherent, innovative, high quality and connected solutions to government priorities which amplify and embed the infrastructure and role of CEC.
• Proactive coordination – Leading internal and external efforts to identify opportunities and connect programmes and projects to amplify CEC’s mission, for example on NEET prevention or skills pipelines.

Essential Criteria:

• Demonstrable skills at converting policy to impact including proven experience of working on strategic implementation of skills policy and good practice in education engagement.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills including building effective relationships and excellent writing skills.
• Sound programme and project management skills: proactive, organised and able to run effective policy development processes, with clear outcomes.

TO APPLY: Please complete the online application form, on our website, including a copy of your most recent CV, removing any personal details (i.e. name, DOB, address) and a report or publication you have led on, highlighting how you used evidence to inform policy. For more information and to apply, visit our website via the ‘apply’ button. Closing date: 28th June 2026.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

At the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) we are committed to fostering a culture of belonging. We know that engagement at work relies on feeling included and valued. Inclusion is both a choice and a practice, for us as an organisation and for individuals within our team. We aim to drive inclusion through every aspect of our work and we understand that diverse teams are essential for innovative careers education and are central to our mission and impact. CEC values the visible and invisible qualities that makes each member of our team who they are. We are a disability confident employer and if you need any help or support through the application process, please contact the HR team and details can be found on our website.