Salary: £ 61,400

Closing date: Wednesday, 7 May 2025

Contract type: Permanent

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships.

We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.

These challenges need the bold science we support, but they won't be solved by science alone.

We are looking for 2 (two) Policy Advisers to join our team.

Where in Wellcome will I be working?

The Policy & Partnerships department oversees Wellcome's policy and political engagement and forges partnerships that help us achieve our goals. We currently have two teams delivering impactful policy analysis and outputs, partnerships, and government dialogues: Policy, and Government Relations, and Strategic Partnerships (GRSP).

We are in the process of creating a new Policy Labs team that will work alongside the Policy and GRSP teams. The Policy Labs team will enhance and broaden our work on UK and international science policy, spearheading timebound initiatives to devise policy solutions for pressing issues relevant to our mission. Meanwhile, our existing Policy team will continue to champion work on our three Solutions programmes: climate and health, mental health, infectious diseases, and global health financing. Both Policy teams will collaborate closely with GRSP to amplify our impact.

These two Policy Adviser positions are new roles that initiate the expansion of our Policy Labs capacity. We anticipate further growth of the team later this year, alongside the development of a new team structure under the new Associate Director, Policy Labs.

Wellcome has recently expanded its interests in AI and data for science, and we are keen to hear from candidates with some experience of working on policy topics in these areas, alongside those with broad domestic and global science policy issues.

What will I be doing?

You will be responsible for important parts of policy projects to help achieve Wellcome's goals in the context of our Policy Labs work. This involves analysing information, developing strong arguments, making recommendations, and creating helpful policy materials.

As a Policy Adviser, you will :

• Develop project ideas, plans, and identify resource needs for key project elements.

• Independently manage significant aspects of policy projects, ensuring delivery on time and within budget.

• Engage with colleagues to create and implement communication and advocacy strategies for projects.

• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to enhance support for the work.

• Represent Wellcome in senior forums, establishing credibility and expertise in project areas.

• Contribute to a diverse and inclusive culture across the organisation, collaborating across departments.

Is this job for me?

If you're passionate about influencing policy on a national and global scale, this role could be perfect for you. You will thrive if you excel in building trusted relationships and delivering impactful policy recommendations. Your analytical, communication, and organisational skills, along with a willingness to learn and support others, will help you translate complex information into clear policy solutions that make a difference.

You'll deliver policy work in different ways - direct in-house policy development, providing grant funding to support others to drive change, and commissioning expert analysis to support our policy goals. You'll deploy your existing policy skills and expertise but also enthusiastically develop new policy specialisms reflecting the breadth of Wellcome's Policy Labs interests, pivoting to new, ambitious projects to exploit opportunities for Wellcome to pursue its mission.

We are looking for someone who:

• Proven ability to influence national governments or multilateral organisations on policy issues.

• Skilled at building trusted relationships and providing policy advice to senior leaders for change.

• Experienced in delivering high-quality policy recommendations and written outputs.

• Comfortable translating complex scientific and technical information into clear policy solutions.

• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and well-developed communication skills.

• Self-motivated and able to work independently and collaboratively, with excellent organisational abilities.

To apply for this role please submit an update CV and answer 2 application questions to demonstrate that you meet the minimum requirements for the role.

Minimum Criteria:

• Substantial experience of working on significant policy projects, particularly seeking to influence national government or multilateral organisations.

• Substantial experience of building trusted relationships with policy stakeholders including influencing stakeholders and preparing policy advice for senior leaders to contribute to policy change.

• Demonstrable experience delivering high quality policy recommendations, arguments and written outputs.

Interview dates: 28, 29 and 30 May

You can view the full job description on our website

You can read more about the benefits we offer our employees on our website

Our Hybrid Way of Working

We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best.

At Wellcome we have a hybrid way of working which is 3 days in our Euston Road offices (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) with the remaining 2 days working either remotely or in the office.

Diversity and Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do