The Health Foundation
Policy Manager
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Policy Manager
Policy Manager (Maternity Cover)
Date posted: Thursday 2 June 2026
Salary: £60,697 per annum plus excellent benefits Contract type: 12 months, full time (maternity cover) Hours per week: 37.5 hours per week. Minimum two days per week in-person attendance required, with hybrid working flexibility. Some work may extend beyond normal hours when necessary.
About the Health Foundation
Health is our most precious asset. With a mission to build a healthier UK, The Health Foundation is an independent charitable organisation focused on:
- Generating high-quality research and analysis
- Developing practical solutions to health and care challenges
- Engaging, convening, and building coalitions to inform debate and drive action
- Strengthening the long-term capability to transform health and care
Our values—impact, evidence, integrity, and collaboration—guide all we do. We are committed to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation, aligned with our five-year strategy.
For more details, visit our website.
About the Role
The Health and Inequalities Directorate aims to centralise health and inequalities in decision-making, with ambitious three outcomes by 2030:
- Mobilise cross-sector action and drive policy change for a whole-of-government approach.
- Improve public health prevention at national, regional, and local levels.
- Strengthen preventative action to enhance working-age health and economic prosperity.
The Supporting the Delivery System Unit supports these objectives by:
- Building local and regional system capability.
- Sharing implementation learning for long-term Foundation strategy.
As Policy Manager in this unit, you will shape and deliver The Health Foundation’s work alongside local authorities and Strategic Authorities to improve health and reduce inequalities. This role is critical as Strategic Authorities assume new responsibilities under the health duty, creating an opportunity to advance actionable place-based health approaches.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Key focus areas include:
- Supporting Mayors and regional systems to exercise health duties effectively.
- Working alongside local authorities to integrate health in all policies (HiAP), including:
- Funding initiatives in local government.
- Developing resources, toolkits, and sharing best practices.
- Translating insights into practical support for local leaders via policy, evidence, and implementation work.
You will collaborate across the organisation to shape tomorrow’s work, ensuring lessons from local partnerships inform larger-scale strategy.
Key Responsibilities
-
Content Production:
- Lead high-quality blogs, reports, briefings, and actionable practical resources tailored to local and regional audiences.
-
Stakeholder Engagement:
- Build and maintain relationships with local government, Strategic Authorities, and national partners to foster collaboration.
- Develop programmes or initiatives with stakeholders to maximise impact.
-
Programme Design & Delivery:
- Design, commission, and manage funding programmes aimed at:
- Strengthening local system capability and practical learning.
- Supporting implementation strategy development.
- Design, commission, and manage funding programmes aimed at:
-
Knowledge Exchange:
- Lead dissemination of learning from programmes, ensuring findings inform future Health Foundation work and wider policy debates.
-
External Engagement:
- Drive webinars, newsletters, workshops, and advisory group facilitation.
-
Strategy & Opportunities Management:
- Identify emerging policy opportunities.
- Advise on new programmes for prevention, neighbourhood health, place-based approaches, and devolution strategies.
-
Policy & In-Depth Support:
- Support ongoing devolution and Strategic Authority focus areas.
- Contribute to policy development, consultation responses, publications, and influencing activities.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
- Policy Monitoring:
- Track developments in local government, devolution, prevention, and health inequalities to assess opportunities and risks.
How to Apply
We prioritise diversity and inclusion, welcoming applicants from all backgrounds with a strong commitment to equality.
Application Questions
Answer the following questions (word limit: 300 words per response):
-
Motivation: "What interests you most about this role, and how would your experience support The Health Foundation’s efforts to empower local/regional leaders and address health inequalities?"
-
Evidence Translation (Examplify): "Describe a time you translated complex evidence, research, or policy into practical resources/toolkits. Explain your decision-making process, communication approach, and impact."
-
Stakeholder Relationships: "Share an instance where stakeholder relationships helped achieve a shared objective. Clarify how you established authority, balanced opposing priorities, and delivered outcomes."
-
Multi-Priority Programme Leadership: "Describe a project/programme you led or managed, balancing competing priorities. Explain your approach to organisation, problem-solving, and successful delivery."
Diversity and Inclusion Commitment
We strive for a balanced representation across our organisation, with particular emphasis on increasing:
- Women in leadership.
- Representation of people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
- Disability inclusion.
We strongly encourage applications from underrepresented groups. For support during this process, contact: recruitment@health.org.uk.
Closing date: Wednesday, 15 July 2026, 23:59 Interview date: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Associated links: Health Foundation website Detailed job description
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location