Policy Manager

Location London, EC4Y 8AP

Compensation Details £60,697 per annum with excellent benefits

Contract Type Fixed-Term - 12 months

Closing Date 15/07/2026

Date posted: Thursday 2 June 2026Salary: £60,697 per annum plus excellent benefits

Contract type: 12 months, full time

Hours per week: 37.5 hours per week. All staff are required to work in person for a minimum of two days per week, in line with our hybrid working policy. The post-holder may be required to undertake some work outside normal working hours.

Health is our most precious asset. Good health enables us to live happy, fulfilling lives, fuels our prosperity and helps build a stronger society. Yet good health remains out of reach for too many people in the UK, and health and care services are struggling to provide access to timely, high-quality care.

The Health Foundation is an independent charitable organisation with a mission to build a healthier UK. We work to achieve this by generating high quality research and analysis; developing practical solutions to the biggest problems in health and health services; engaging, convening and building coalitions to build understanding, inform debate and drive action; and developing the long-term capability needed to transform health and care.

We expect everyone who works with us to be committed to our values and to share our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. Our values are impact, evidence, integrity, and collaboration. You can read more about them in our five-year strategy. We also expect everyone to share our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation and to help deliver our EDI strategy.

The Health and Inequalities Directorate aims to put health and inequalities at the heart of decision making. By 2030 we are aiming to have achieved three outcomes:

• Mobilised cross-sector action and achieve policy change to secure a whole-government approach to health
• Driven improved public health prevention strategies at national, regional and local level
• Strengthened preventative action so that we can see improved working age health and economic prosperity in the long-term

The Supporting the Delivery System Unit underpins work on these objectives and focuses on building the capability of local and regional systems to take effective action to improve health, while generating learning from implementation to inform the Foundation’s wider work.

The Policy Manager in the Supporting the Delivery System Unit will play a key role in shaping and delivering The Health Foundation’s work to support local authorities and Strategic Authorities to improve health and reduce inequalities, at a critical moment for regional leadership in England.

Strategic Authorities are taking on new responsibilities and influence, including a new health duty, creating an important opportunity for regional leaders to improve health and reduce inequalities through action on the building blocks of health. The Health Foundation is working closely with Mayors and regional systems to support Strategic Authorities to exercise their health duty and take action on the building blocks of health. We also have an ongoing programme of work with local authorities to support them to adopt health in all policies approaches, including funding work in local government, producing resources and toolkits and sharing best practice.

The postholder will play a key role in shaping and delivering the Health Foundation's programme of work to support local authorities and Strategic Authorities to improve health and reduce inequalities. Working across policy, evidence and implementation, they will help translate the Foundation's insights into practical support for local systems, while generating learning that informs wider influencing and policy development.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the production of high-quality blogs, reports, briefings and practical resources translating evidence into actionable insights for local and regional audiences.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with local government, Strategic Authorities, national partners and other stakeholders to support collaboration and maximise impact.
• Design, commission and manage funding programmes that build capability and generate practical learning for local systems.
• Lead the dissemination of learning from funded programmes, ensuring insights inform future Foundation work and wider policy debates.
• Lead external engagement activity including webinars, newsletters, workshops and advisory groups.
• Identify emerging policy opportunities and contribute to the development of new programmes of work relating to prevention, neighbourhood health and place-based approaches.
• Support the ongoing development of the Foundation's work on devolution and Strategic Authorities.
• Contribute to policy development, consultation responses, publications and wider influencing activity.
• Monitor policy developments relating to local government, devolution, prevention and health inequalities, identifying opportunities and risks for the Foundation.

How to apply

Our priority is to find the right individual for each opportunity. We are dedicated to building an inclusive workplace that values diversity and invite you to find out more.

You can find the job description for this role here. If you would like to apply, please submit your CV, and answer the application questions below. Please try to limit your response to each question to no more than 300 words.

• What interests you most about this role and how do you think your experience would help The Health Foundation to support local and regional leaders to improve health and reduce inequalities?
• Describe a time when you translated complex evidence, research or policy into practical advice, resources/ toolkits or recommendations for a specific audience. How did you decide what was most important, how did you communicate it and what impact did your work have?
• Tell us about a time when you built relationships with a range of stakeholders to achieve a shared objective. How did you establish credibility, manage different priorities or perspectives and what was the outcome?
• Describe a project or programme you led or managed which involved balancing multiple priorities, workstreams or partners. How did you organize the work, respond to challenge and ensure successful delivery?

We are committed to an inclusive hiring process, where every candidate has the chance to showcase their unique skills and experience in an accessible and supported environment, to ensure that we can make the best appointment for each opportunity on merit. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and encourage those from underrepresented groups in this field to apply to us. We have identified three key areas to improving diversity. Our aim is to achieve a more balanced representation across our organisation, with a particular focus on increasing the number of women in leadership, enhancing the representation of people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds and welcoming more people with disabilities. As part of this commitment, we strongly encourage applications from these groups.

Apply to join our team and let's work towards building a more diverse and inclusive workplace together. If you require any support through this process, please contact recruitment@health.org.uk. Help us work together to make the recruitment process and potential future employment more accessible and enjoyable for you.

Closing date: Wednesday 15 July 2026 23:59

Interview date: Wesneday 22 July 2026