Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Reports to: Director of Policy and Evidence
Start date: As soon as possible
Location: Hybrid with 50% office presence in London
Contract:  Permanent
Salary: £55,000 - £65,000 depending on experience (+6% employer pension contribution)
Closing date for applications: 9am Monday 9th February 2026
First round interviews will be held: w/c 16th February 2026

Our Organisation

The Difference is a young education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning.
The Difference was born out of a year of research into school exclusions with think-tank
IPPR. Founders Kiran Gill and Shaun Brown identified a lack of inclusion expertise amongst
school leaders, which was seeing the most vulnerable children most likely to lose out at
school.

Six years later, we have founded our charity, trained 900 headteachers, deputy and assistant
heads and begun researching and publishing on the practice and policy which helps and
hinders their work. Last year we published a follow-up series with IPPR: Who is Losing
Learning?  This is already influencing the sector, with 60 organisations signing up to this
sector-backed definition of inclusion, and founder and CEO Kiran Gill attending Minister
Gouldʼs SEND Development Group.

The Differenceʼs Vision is to see lost learning falling nationally by 2030.

The Difference is now a 20-strong team delivering multiple school leadership programmes,
alongside a growing research and policy arm. This work is needed more than ever. When
The Difference began in 2017, 30 children a day were being told to leave their schools and
never come back. Today that number has doubled. And for every one of those children
leaving schools in accountable and visible ways, there are ten moving invisibly, 80 sent
home for days, 170 skipping school and unknown numbers sitting in isolation. The
Difference has had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to capture this, share
learning with schools and policy-makers, and grow our ability to lower exclusions across
England.

The Challenge Ahead

As Head of Policy and Public Affairs you will develop and execute The Differenceʼs
influencing plan, working closely with the senior leadership team of the charity and the
programmes team to develop and execute a plan that makes inclusion more possible and
more desirable for schools.

As a leader in the Policy and Evidence Directorate, you will lead a small team and work
closely with partner organisations to develop and execute The Differenceʼs influencing plan.
This will build on our conceptualisation of ʻWhole School Inclusionʼ, learning from our
programmes, and utilising our communications and events to disseminate our messages.

You will hold primary responsibility for developing and executing a programme of work
aimed at shifting local and national incentives on inclusion, for example, influencing Ofsted
frameworks, accountability measures, data collection, funding mechanisms in school
groups and nationally. This will require high levels of political acumen, project
management, relationship building and utilisation of levers such as press, influential
relationships, Bill work and other levers for change as required. You will be responsible for
identifying the most fruitful and achievable path to shifting incentives and then delivering
on this programme of work.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced policy and public affairs professional to
apply their knowledge and skills in a leadership position in the organisation. You will have
the chance to build your own personal profile, alongside building the brand of The
Difference.

The Difference is still a small and growing charity. The Policy & Evidence Directorate is a
team of 5 professionals with experience spanning, research, evaluation, policy and
influencing. This means that our work is fast-paced, our roles are broad, and there is a
culture of being highly autonomous, reactive and flexible, as the needs of the organisation
evolve. If this sounds exciting rather than daunting, then this could be the role and team for
you!

Areas of Responsibility

Design and execute an impactful influencing plan

●  Design an influencing plan - Identify via horizon scanning opportunities to

influence national policy using open policy windows, or by nudging/creating new
ones. Work collaboratively with the senior leadership to design a programme of
activities that is ambitious, but achievable within limited resources, and is in line
with the wider organisational strategy. The plan should be shared and understood
across the organisation and iterated as necessary.

●  Execute an influencing plan - Utilise own assets and assets across the organisation,
including the Director team, to deliver against the influencing plan. Activities are to
be designed based on policy and political windows, but likely to include a mixture of
private and public influencing activities such as briefings, meetings, roundtables,
press, publications (e.g. research reports, blogs, policy briefs), school visits and
building deep personal relationships with change-makers. Raise awareness of The
Differences brand and programmes alongside influencing work.

●  Relationship building - Build highly credible and impactful relationships with a

variety of stakeholders who hold power. This will include policy makers in national
governments, local government officials, politicians, other third sector organisations
and think tanks. Leveraging these relationships for impactful influencing, including
public facing work e.g. on blogs and policy briefs.

●  Leadership - Play a significant role internally and externally in communicating the
organisationʼs policy position, raising organisational and own brand. Line manage
the policy and research officer to deliver key influencing activities. Upskill wider
team on policy making process and what works to create change.

Build policy capacity and credibility across the organisation

●  Policy positions and solutions- Use the concepts, work and experience of The
Differenceʼs programmes to develop new, and refine existing, national policy
positions to shift incentives.

●  Thought leadership - Be the organisationʼs education policy and political expert.
Share knowledge and information with the wider organisation on the open and
upcoming policy windows and changing political nuances around inclusion. Create
two way feedback loops between policy and programmes to maximise impact.

●  Generating income - Use own and teamʼs expertise and credibility to generate

income via speaking engagements and consultancy to support the organisationʼs
financial sustainability.

Person Specification

Essential – We are looking for someone with the following knowledge, experience
and skills, though you may be stronger in some areas than others:

●  Deep expertise in education policy, particularly on the topic of lost learning and the
various policy and political debates, including areas of controversy, surrounding this
policy topic.

●  Strategic thinker with a proven track record in identifying policy windows and

designing activities that lead to meaningful national policy change.

●  Excellent relationship builder, who brings with them their own network of

influential stakeholders and has a plan for building new relationships. Adept at
navigating tricky situations and explaining complex, sometimes difficult, messages.
●  Expert convener with a strong knowledge of the education sector, including which
schools, trusts and local authorities are influential and experience in bringing a
variety of perspectives together to generate consensus.

●  Persuasive and clear writing style for publication, including reports, press, blogs
and ghost writing for members of the senior leadership team, often based on
consensus positions, and designed to communicate key messages for impact.
●  Confidence and credibility in communicating nuanced messages in a contentious
landscape, in writing, verbally and in public (e.g. on panels), to raise the profile of
The Difference.

●  Strong project manager who can design systems and processes to keep self, team

and other stakeholders on task and on time. Experience of designing programmes of
work and monitoring their effectiveness. Flexible project management style that can
adapt to a changing environment. Confidence in managing a variety of stakeholders
and supporting them to deliver on time.

Desired – You are more likely to be successful in your application if you have one or
more of the following:

●  Familiarity with The Differenceʼs programmatic work, theory and practice.
●  Lived experience or insight into the school experiences of marginalised young
people (e.g. those with experience of the care system, mental ill health, special
educational needs, exclusion, and racism).

We know that some people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, may hesitate
to apply unless they meet every listed requirement. If this role excites you and you believe
you could make a strong contribution, we warmly encourage you to apply.

We actively welcome applications from people whose backgrounds are under-represented
in the charity sector, including but not limited to: people from black, Asian and minority
ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the
case system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.

Why Work for The Difference?

Schooling isnʼt working for the children who need it most. Every week in England 109
children – equivalent to three full classrooms – are permanently excluded. This is just the
tip of the iceberg. Since the pandemic, school suspensions have risen significantly, as has
persistent absenteeism. 1 in 5 children are missing more than 10% of their time in school.
Children who are excluded or persistently absent are much more likely to already be
experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. They are more likely to live in poverty, have
additional learning needs, suffer mental health challenges, or experience a lack of safety
outside school. Certain ethnicities are also disproportionately affected, notably Gypsy Roma
Traveller and black Caribbean children.

Exclusion and high rates of absence can have a dramatic effect on life chances. These young
people are more likely to drop out of education or employment, become vulnerable to
long-term mental ill health, or be at risk of criminal exploitation. The Difference believes
that children and young people deserve better and that the education system has to change.

Our Values

●  Relationships underpin success - Strong relationships and the safety they bring are the
foundation of achievement - for children, for school staff, in our workplace and in our
collaborations. They enable higher trust, challenging feedback, bolder work and
stronger impact.

●  We build stronger from assets  - Every child, family, school and community has

strengths and successes. We avoid deficit-labels about teachers, children and families,
and instead focus on building from whatʼs strong.

●  Systems shape opportunities - Actions always take place within systems. These can help
or hinder individuals. We recognise the role of policy and structural inequalities and
address them directly in our work.

●  Agency makes the difference - Bold leadership by individuals can create significant and
lasting change. We are proactive in addressing problems and seeking out opportunities.

Recommended Reading

If youʼd like to understand more about The Difference and what we are trying to achieve, we
would recommend the following:

●  Our founding theory of change & research - Making The Difference (2017) - the

IPPR report which started The Difference.

●  Our newest research on the scale of the problem Who is Losing Learning? (Sept

2024) and our recommendations, Finding Solutions to the School Engagement Crisis
(March 2025)

●  🎧The Spark - Kiran Gill and Excluded Pupils (2020) - our founder explores the
genesis and mission of The Difference in conversation with Helen Lewis, BBC
Radio 4

●  Our latest Impact Report, sharing our work in 2023

●  Details of our most recent work and issues in the sector, from our content hub

How To Apply

Please click this link to access the application form.

Applications close at 9.00am on Monday 9th February.

For an informal and confidential discussion about the role prior to application, please
contact Rebecca Onumah (rebecca.o@the-difference.com), with a brief summary of your
experience and questions that you have.

We are committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourage applications from
under-represented groups in the charity sector such as people from black, Asian and
minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities and people with
experience in the care system.

As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed with
names and any protected characteristics redacted.