Programme Officer (South West)
Employer: Citizens UK
Location: Hybrid · South West, home-based with travel around the region and to London for team meetings, flex
Working hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week, 5 days per week (Open to part time or alternative working patterns)
Salary: £32,281
Closing date: 11:59pm, 3rd Sep 2026 BST
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Citizens UK
Citizens UK is the UK’s biggest, most diverse and most effective people-powered alliance. We bring communities and local organisations together to work on issues that matter; from campaigning for zebra crossings on dangerous roads, to reforming the immigration system, to the Living Wage campaign. We have a track record of winning change through hundreds of local and national campaigns. We know everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. We believe that through developing local leaders, we can drive nationwide change and create community-led solutions to big and small problems.
Living Wage Foundation
The Living Wage movement began in 2001, after Citizens UK brought together communities in East London to discuss poverty and low pay. The campaign grew in momentum and soon required a mechanism to recognise employers who wanted to join the movement, which saw the establishment of the Living Wage Foundation in 2011.
Still part of Citizens UK today, the Living Wage Foundation continues to work with community organisations to make sure the voices of both workers and businesses are part of the Living Wage movement. We now work with over 16,000 employers, benefitting over 475,000 people and winning over £3bn of better wages for people who need it most.
Citizens UK works with a broad base of institutions across the political spectrum. At the Living Wage Foundation, we take the same deliberately broad-based approach and accredit all organisations who pay the real Living Wage to their directly and indirectly employed staff and are committed to tackling in work poverty. As a team we work across a range of industries and sectors to achieve this mission. We seek pragmatic coalitions in order to progress specific campaigns, and partnership around a particular issue such as Living Wage, does not imply an endorsement of broader purpose and policies.
Purpose
At Citizens UK, our organisers and project staff work within communities to develop leaders, strengthen organisations, campaign for change and organise across difference. There are various project roles and operational, communication, finance and HR roles that support the organisation and project staff and organisers to deliver on this mission and work. This work is rewarding and can be challenging; it requires a personal commitment to inclusion, a willingness to listen and disagree respectfully, and an interest in working in an organisation where our staff, member institutions and leaders will come from a diversity of backgrounds and often hold views that may be very different from our own. More information about how we operate within this context and build trusted relationships across difference can be found on our website and is covered in induction. Onboarding and navigating this relational culture, and type of work, is supported by line managers and further training.
Main Responsibilities
We are looking for highly motivated and organised individual to coordinate our accreditation scheme. The role will work with our network of employers, and support new organisations through the accreditation process.
The Programme Officer will lead our work across the South West and support our managers to grow and deepen engagement with Living Wage Employers through our associated schemes. You will help to ensure our resources and publicity materials are well written and up-to-date, and to coordinate events to grow our employer network.
Working as the Programme Officer for Citizens UK, reporting to a Programme Manager, your main responsibilities will include:
Contribute towards the achievement of CUK and LWF’s strategic objectives
Understand how the role contributes to LWF’s purpose and the core mission of CUK
Reliably implement CUK’s and LWF’s policies, procedures, and values in own work
Work with CUK community organisers and leaders to promote civic engagement with and ownership of the Living Wage campaign
Feed into the LWF strategy and objectives development
Living Wage Accreditation
Support key contacts at potential LW Employers through the accreditation process, from dealing with initial enquiries to guiding them through the employer journey, to checking and processing their accreditation
Develop rewarding relationships with key employers, industry, and campaign partners within our networks to build interest in the Living Wage and deliver a high-quality experience to our accredited employers
With support from the wider team, develop plans and strategies to grow the number of accreditations in specific regions or industries
Collate and disseminate Living Wage criteria and policy issues through both internal and external facing guidance, whilst reviewing and monitoring its suitability
Support the development and implementation of projects to promote and grow Living Wage accreditations and develop the quality of service offered
Build and manage projects and achieve work targets effectively
Successfully progress projects and tasks incl. tracking performance and expenditure
Deliver agreed areas of the LWF’s work plan and leading on agenda items to report into team meetings.
Support the growth and development of new and existing Living Wage schemes incl. Recognised Service Providers, LW Funders, LW Places, Living Hours, Global Living Wage and Living Work Consultancy
Deliver personal work targets on time and to standard:
Respond to telephone and web-based enquiries by providing advice and support to employers and supporters
Provide administrative support for all aspects of the accreditation journey, incl. processing accreditations, recognitions, and renewals
Maintain LWF data on systems, incl. Salesforce employer database
Support the maintenance of our systems to ensure efficient processes and develop reporting mechanisms for effective monitoring and evaluation of our impact and progress against plans
Coordinate and administrate Steering, Advisory or Leadership Groups as required, incl. coordinating agendas, sending out timely papers, taking minutes and following up on actions
Learning & expertise
Keep abreast of new developments in the accreditation space
Apply new learning to work and respond effectively to feedback
Work collaboratively with the LWF and franchise teams to share learnings and experience and ensure that we are meeting the expectations of our network and stakeholders
Develop and manage external relationships
Effectively develop and support a range of external relationships
Respond effectively to queries or requests from stakeholders
Engage with a diverse range of external stakeholders to support and develop projects as required
Communications
Communicate effectively within the LWF; ensuring that messages are reliably passed to those who need to know
Represent the LWF coherently in writing and verbally
Events and Communications
Plan and organise events to celebrate and grow our network of LW Employers, incl. playing an active role in the delivery of LW Week and assisting colleagues with event logistics
Represent and speak on behalf of the LWF at internal and external meetings and events
Develop or feed into employer resources incl. marketing materials, blogs, reports, templates, and guides
Develop and manage internal relationships
Work effectively with colleagues across Citizens UK
Work collaboratively within the LWF team and actively participate in the team to ensure we meet the expectations of our network and stakeholders
Generate income and resources
Contribute to plans and proposals to grow sources of income/resource.
Take personal responsibility for the careful stewardship of LWF’s resources
Personal Specification
(D) Desirable, (E) Essential
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in any subject (D)
Subject of relevance to community work or community organising (D)
Experience
Comprehensive experience in an administrative role (E)
Experience of building positive relationships (E)
Experience of managing and updating Salesforce or similar databases (D)
Experience of delivering a range of high quality communications materials, including websites, reports, newsletters (D)
Key skills and knowledge
Excellent time management skills with the ability to juggle a wide range of competing demands (E)
Understanding of database and systems management (E)
Ability to take in and interpret information and present in a succinct manner (E)
Excellent communication skills, both verbally and written, combined with the ability to liaise with senior stakeholders, both online and in-person (E)
Ability to act on own initiative to introduce and develop new systems as appropriate (E)
Strong attention to detail (E)
Strong IT skills to include MS Office and database software (E)
Understanding of the policy and campaign landscape in the UK (D)
Personal qualities & values
A proactive approach to all areas of work with a ‘can do’ attitude and a flexible approach to work demands (E)
A strong commitment to the Living Wage campaign and principles of Citizens UK (E)
About the application process
We work within diverse communities bringing people together. In line with our Inclusion value, we would love to see applications from LGBTQIA+ people, people from racialised communities, people living with disabilities and people of faith, all to better represent the communities we work in. We want our employees to have the working conditions that allows them to fully participate, be able to be their best authentic selves and thrive doing so, and we have employee networks to support staff. Even if you don’t quite meet all the required criteria still consider applying, as we invest in our employees and support them to develop the skills and knowledge required to deliver their role.
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