Sands exists to save babies’ lives and ensure that anyone affected by pregnancy loss or baby death receives the support and care they need. Sands promotes improvements in policy and practice and supports research to better understand the causes of deaths and save babies’ lives.
Tommy’s was founded in 1992 ago by two obstetricians at St Thomas’ Hospital, frustrated that they couldn’t answer that simple question asked by too many parents: ‘Why did my baby die?’ We are the largest charity funding research into the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth. We also provide information for parents-to-be to help them have a healthy pregnancy and baby.
The charities Sands and Tommy’s have come together to form a Joint Policy Unit. Our shared vision is for a future where fewer babies die, and inequalities in baby loss are eliminated so that everyone can benefit from the best possible outcomes.
Working together we want to secure policy changes that will reduce rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term birth and neonatal death, and to work to eliminate inequalities in these outcomes. We will do this by
• Holding governments across the UK to account on progress, and ensuring that saving babies lives and reducing inequalities is a national policy priority
• Working to ensure everyone can benefit from best-practice care throughout pregnancy and the neonatal period
• Promoting policy change so that new research and evidence leads to improvements in care
The Policy Officer will be key to helping the policy unit achieve these objectives. Working on a range of projects and outputs, the role-holder will support the unit in delivering on its programme of policy work.
We are looking for someone with an understanding of the policy environment, ability to analyse policy and develop high-quality written outputs. You will be a great communicator with the ability to translate insights into clear messages for different audiences (e.g. policymakers, stakeholders, supporters and the public).
Experience of leading and managing projects is essential for this role, as is a clear understanding of the relationship between research, policy and practice. Additionally, you will need to have a good understanding of the current policy environment as it relates to reducing baby loss and tackling inequalities, as well as enthusiasm for continued learning and a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances.
To apply:
Please submit your CV, together with a supporting statement that demonstrates how you meet the criteria in the person specification to recruitment@sands.org.uk.
Please also complete the Diversity and Equality Monitoring Form and send this with your application.
CVs and supporting statements should be sent as attachments to an email in either Word or PDF format. The title of the attachments should be your first name, surname and either CV or supporting statement e.g. “Robert Harvey CV”
Closing date for applications : 3rd September 2023
Interview Date: 14th and 15th September 2023
We reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.
As we have limited staff resources we are unable to provide candidates with feedback about their applications. Interviews will be held online.
