Public Affairs Officer (Westminster)

Public Affairs Officer (Westminster)

• locations
• Stratford (2 Redman Place)

• time type
• Full time

• posted on
• Posted Today

• time left to apply
• End Date: April 30, 2026 (12 days left to apply)

• job requisition id
• R033115

Purposeful vision. Agile planning. Steadfast persistence.  

PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER (WESTMINSTER) 
 

Salary: £36,225 per annum plus benefits

Grade: P2

Reports to: Public Affairs Manager (Westminster)

Directorate: Policy, Information and Communications

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week. We are open to compressed hours in this role.

Location: Stratford, London w/ high-flex (1 – 2 days per week in the office)

External closing date: 26 April 2026, 23:55

Internal closing date: 29 April 2026, 23:55

Interviews: From 7 May 2026

How do I apply?

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the application questions and the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

Recruitment process: 2 stage interview process comprising of presentation task and role based competency questions.

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
 

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

We have an exciting opportunity for you to join us as a Public Affairs Officer. The Westminster & Local Public Affairs team communicate Cancer Research UK’s policy messaging to parliamentarians in Westminster and local government across England to achieve policy change. As a team, we work across the cancer pathway on prevention, diagnosis and treatment as well as on ensuring that the wider environment supports cancer research.

This role will have responsibility for our prevention work, leading a programme of influencing activity to ensure cancer prevention remains on the political agenda. We want the UK Government to deliver on the 10-Year Health Plan’s shift from sickness to prevention, and the National Cancer Plan’s aim to take decisive action on preventable cancers so fewer people get an avoidable cancer diagnosis.

This will include regularly briefing and meeting elected members; monitoring parliamentary activity and sharing intelligence; organising external events and visits at CRUK sites across the UK; working closely with the campaigns and policy teams, and other departments across the organisation; developing stakeholder engagement plans for senior staff; and representing the charity at external meetings and in external coalitions.What will I be doing?

• Delivering and reporting on a programme of activities aimed at ensuring that Cancer Research UK has a high profile in Westminster, and our policy priorities remain on the parliamentary agenda, including managing a rolling contact programme for MPs
• Leading a programme of influencing activity to help us achieve change for the prevention agenda, and supporting public affairs activities across research and the cancer pathway
• Organising events in parliament, at party conferences, at research sites and at a constituency level as required
• Reacting swiftly and expertly to parliamentary business, briefing as appropriate and understanding how procedures such as parliamentary debates and questions can be instigated and supported for maximum impact
• Proactively seeking opportunities to meet, brief and work with wider networks including Peers, coalitions and sector experts
• Promoting the charity’s wider work, including events such as Race for Life, our research successes and engaging MPs on how cancer impacts their constituency and community.

What skills will I need? 

• Demonstrable political interest and judgement, with commitment to neutrality and ability to work across the political spectrum
• Ability to quickly understand, summarise and analyse complex policy and political issues and distil for a range of internal and external audiences
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability to adapt style to different audiences
• Strong organisational skills and experience of managing a complex workload, with tight deadlines and often changing priorities
• Good influencing skills and confident managing challenging stakeholder relationships, including in coalition
• Adaptable self-starter with the ability to work remotely and in a self-directed way as part of a larger team.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination  

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism   

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people  

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

• We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.
• If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

Internal applicants' eligibility criteria

Internal candidates should ideally have completed their 6-month ‘getting started’ period before applying for other roles. You should also advise your current line manager at the point you make an internal application, or at the latest, at the point of being invited for an interview.
All internal candidates applying for a secondment, must have:

• completed their getting started period
• discussed their intention to apply and gained approval to apply with their line manager
• been in their substantive (home) role for at least 6 months (this is only applicable if you have previously been on secondment)

If you do not confirm that you meet these requirements, we will not be able to progress your application.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.  

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.