Policy and Impact Officer
Employer: Volunteering Matters
Location: Home working with some travel
Working hours: 35 hours per week
Salary: £24,000pa
Closing date: 30th September 2025 We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications
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Who we are
At Volunteering Matters, we believe people have the power to create change. Whether through volunteering by helping others and giving time, or through social action such as speaking up, campaigning, or leading change, everyone can make a difference. We bring people together to build stronger communities across England, Scotland and Wales, making sure everyone has the chance to get involved and create real change.
What we do
We help people of all ages and backgrounds get involved in volunteering and social action. We focus on making sure that everyone, no matter their situation, has the chance to take part.
How we do this
We support people to share their time and skills to help others and tackle big challenges in their communities.
• We remove barriers to volunteering and social action, making it easier for people who don’t always get the chance to take part.
• We listen to and amplify voices that aren’t always heard, helping volunteers and communities influence change.
• We help volunteers beyond their first experience, offering training, support, and pathways to new opportunities.
• We connect businesses with communities, creating meaningful employee volunteering projects.
• We show the impact of volunteering and social action, proving how it changes lives for the better.
Our promise to volunteers
We are always looking for new ways for volunteers to make a difference. We bring people together across generations and backgrounds to learn from each other and create change. At the same time, we make sure that all our volunteers are trained, supported, and valued, so they feel confident in what they do.
Role Purpose
The Policy and Impact Team sits at the heart of Volunteering Matters. We play a vital role in demonstrating the impact of our work connecting data, qualitative insight, and lived experience to the policy agendas shaping communities across the UK. Through storytelling, analysis, and evidence, we make sure volunteering is recognised as a driving force for social change.
We are a small, hands-on team. You will be involved in every aspect of our work from desk-based research and writing briefings to organising external meetings and working directly in communities alongside our volunteers. This variety allows you to connect national policy with local realities and help volunteers share their voices where it matters most.
You will help bring our five-year strategy to life by linking project outcomes to broader societal developments and showcasing the impact of volunteers and communities.
Key Duties Responsibilities
Support the Head of Policy and Impact to coordinate Volunteering Matters’ policy and public affairs work.
Support people involved with our volunteering projects to engage with local politicians, e.g. by organising visits to projects or meetings with volunteers.
Monitor and respond to opportunities (e.g. relevant government consultations, All-Party Parliamentary Group inquiries or Select Committee inquiries) that are relevant to Volunteering Matters’ priorities.
Support mapping and research exercises to inform our policy positioning. Writing summary reports as needed.
Collaborate with the National Volunteer Engagement Manager to support the inclusion of volunteer and community voices in our policy and public affairs work.
Assist with collecting impact and activity data from across the charity and work with the Data Analyst to undertake analysis.
Support with routine collection of quarterly data from projects – ensuring responses are timely and accurate, providing guidance to project managers as needed.
Work with project staff to help create impactful and engaging reports.
Represent Volunteering Matters at charity and volunteering policy-related groups.
Essential Skills
Understanding of UK political systems and policy-making processes across national, devolved, and local levels.
Understanding of policy, public affairs, or influencing, ideally within the voluntary or community sector.
Confident communicator, able to engage with policymakers, sector partners, and community representatives.
Familiarity with both qualitative and quantitative data analysis to inform narrative reporting and strategic insight.
Excellent writing skills, with the ability to craft clear, persuasive documents based on data and lived experience.
Alignment with Volunteering Matters’ values and a commitment to amplifying community voice.
Must adhere to the organisation’s Code of Conduct and uphold its values at all times.
Proficient in Microsoft 365, particularly Outlook, Teams, Word, and Excel, with the ability to manage email communications and collaborate digitally.
Able to work effectively both independently and as part of a team, managing time and priorities in a busy environment.
For remote roles, candidates must be self-starters who can work with minimal supervision, stay organised, and remain motivated to meet deadlines and deliver quality outcomes.
Attention to detail and a proactive approach to problem-solving and information sharing.
Experience Required
No specific experience is required.
Qualifications
Relevant skills and values alignment is more important for this role than specific qualifications.
Our Values & Way of Working
In all that we do we are guided by our values: Empowering, Inclusive, Compassionate, Positive & Straightforward.
Disability Confident & Reasonable Adjustments
We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role. Please provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required in the Job Description under skill and experience. To be considered for a guaranteed interview or to discuss any reasonable adjustments during the process, please state this in your cover letter.
GDPR Statement
If you apply for a role with us, we will retain your contact details including your name, address, email address and phone number to help us manage your application for up to six months. We will not use your personal data for any other purpose or share it with any third party. You can contact us at any point to update your personal information or ask us to delete it from our records.
Policy on AI-Generated Applications
Applications are accepted on trust, and we expect all submissions to reflect the applicant’s own words, experiences, and motivations. While tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) may support the application process, applications should not be generated wholly by AI.
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