Head of Public Affairs and International Policy
| Posting date: | 05 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £84,489 to £94,857 per year |
| Additional salary information: | plus London weighting |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 24 February 2026 |
| Location: | London |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 3 days per week |
| Company: | Royal College of Nursing |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | Job reference REQ000049 |
Summary
Head of Public Affairs and International Policy
London (with hybrid working), 35 hours, Permanent
Salary range per annum: £84,489 to £94,857* plus London weighting
There is more to the RCN than you might think. We’re a professional body and trade union with a membership of over half a million nurses, midwives, nursing support workers and students. We support their practice, represent them, lobby on their behalf, and develop them. We exist to make a positive difference – to the working lives of our members and ultimately to standards in patient care. Our employees are drawn from many walks of life – we are nurses, marketers and communicators, administrators, IT professionals, policy and finance experts, lawyers… together we are so much more. We couldn’t do what we do without our people.
The role
As Head of Public Affairs and International Policy you’ll use your positive attitude, your knowledge of the UK’s political and health and care policy landscape and your ability to utilise a variety of policy development and influencing techniques and lead teams to influence change on behalf of the nursing profession.
It's a job full of possibilities as you could get involved in anything from leading our international policy team (London based) to influence changes to UK immigration policies to overseeing the development of our stakeholder engagement function and updating RCN committees on recent political developments. We'll look to you for strategic advice on political and policy influencing, as well as building our global profile and influence through our international alliances.
The person
To join us you’ll need excellent analytical, communication and influencing skills and a strong background in leading policy or public affairs teams.
Whatever your background, you'll be efficient, accurate and show a real member focus in all you do.
To succeed at the Royal College of Nursing all you need to do is think bigger, better and brighter. And with an attitude like that, anything’s possible.
What we offer you
We expect you to look after our members. And we expect you to be rewarded for it. We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of learning development opportunities and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme. We offer annual leave up to 32 days plus bank holidays and three additional days for the Christmas break plus generous maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave packages.
*We offer a competitive pay structure with annual pay progression until you reach the top of the salary scale. We normally offer new employees the first point of the salary range, although you may be able to negotiate a higher starting salary depending on your skills, experience and current salary.
We are a diverse organisation and understand everyone has different needs and many of our employees enjoy flexible working enabling them to deliver results whilst having a good work life balance. Our hybrid working model allows for up to 60% of your working time to be carried out from home. At least 40% of your working time will be spent working in person.
Our selection process
Please click the ‘apply now’ button to apply and answer the supporting questions online demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes.
We want your experience applying for a job with us to be the best it can be. We may hold our interviews and assessments in person or by video call. If you foresee any problems, please let us know.
Equal opportunities for everyone
Equity, diversity and inclusion are a priority for us and we aim to foster an inclusive environment so our people can bring their authentic selves to work. This is integral to our mission to enable you to support our members and ensure their voice is heard by all UK governments to get the best outcomes for them and their patients.
As proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities.
Contact details
For more information or for an informal discussion about the role please contact Amber Jabbal, Director of Policy at amber.jabbal@rcn.org.uk
For more information about the recruitment and selection process please contact recruit@rcn.org.uk
Opening date: 3 February 2026
Closing date: 11.59pm on 24 February 2026
Selection dates: 9-10 March 2026
Head of Public Affairs and International Policy
Apply online
London (with hybrid working), 35 hours, Permanent
Salary range per annum: £84,489 to £94,857* plus London weighting
There is more to the RCN than you might think. We’re a professional body and trade union with a membership of over half a million nurses, midwives, nursing support workers and students. We support their practice, represent them, lobby on their behalf, and develop them. We exist to make a positive difference – to the working lives of our members and ultimately to standards in patient care. Our employees are drawn from many walks of life – we are nurses, marketers and communicators, administrators, IT professionals, policy and finance experts, lawyers… together we are so much more. We couldn’t do what we do without our people.
The role
As Head of Public Affairs and International Policy you’ll use your positive attitude, your knowledge of the UK’s political and health and care policy landscape and your ability to utilise a variety of policy development and influencing techniques and lead teams to influence change on behalf of the nursing profession.
It's a job full of possibilities as you could get involved in anything from leading our international policy team (London based) to influence changes to UK immigration policies to overseeing the development of our stakeholder engagement function and updating RCN committees on recent political developments. We'll look to you for strategic advice on political and policy influencing, as well as building our global profile and influence through our international alliances.
The person
To join us you’ll need excellent analytical, communication and influencing skills and a strong background in leading policy or public affairs teams.
Whatever your background, you'll be efficient, accurate and show a real member focus in all you do.
To succeed at the Royal College of Nursing all you need to do is think bigger, better and brighter. And with an attitude like that, anything’s possible.
What we offer you
We expect you to look after our members. And we expect you to be rewarded for it. We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of learning development opportunities and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme. We offer annual leave up to 32 days plus bank holidays and three additional days for the Christmas break plus generous maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave packages.
*We offer a competitive pay structure with annual pay progression until you reach the top of the salary scale. We normally offer new employees the first point of the salary range, although you may be able to negotiate a higher starting salary depending on your skills, experience and current salary.
We are a diverse organisation and understand everyone has different needs and many of our employees enjoy flexible working enabling them to deliver results whilst having a good work life balance. Our hybrid working model allows for up to 60% of your working time to be carried out from home. At least 40% of your working time will be spent working in person.
Our selection process
Please click the ‘apply now’ button to apply and answer the supporting questions online demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes.
We want your experience applying for a job with us to be the best it can be. We may hold our interviews and assessments in person or by video call. If you foresee any problems, please let us know.
Equal opportunities for everyone
Equity, diversity and inclusion are a priority for us and we aim to foster an inclusive environment so our people can bring their authentic selves to work. This is integral to our mission to enable you to support our members and ensure their voice is heard by all UK governments to get the best outcomes for them and their patients.
As proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities.
Contact details
For more information or for an informal discussion about the role please contact Amber Jabbal, Director of Policy at amber.jabbal@rcn.org.uk
For more information about the recruitment and selection process please contact recruit@rcn.org.uk
Opening date: 3 February 2026
Closing date: 11.59pm on 24 February 2026
Selection dates: 9-10 March 2026
Head of Public Affairs and International Policy
Apply online
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.