Contract: Full-time, permanent
Salary: £28,980 to £34,542
Closing Date: 3rd June
Interviews will be held w/c 16th June
Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, is looking for a Policy and Research Officer to join our Policy, Research & Public Affairs Team based in London.
About us
We help vulnerable young people by giving them the practical and emotional support they need to find a job and live independently. Centrepoint provides homeless young people with accommodation, health support and life skills in order to get them back into education, training and employment. We want to end youth homelessness by 2037.
Together with our partners, we support over 16,000 young people each year.
As a key member of the Policy and Research team, you will have the chance to develop your skills in a wide range of areas. An essential part of your role will be to support both the Senior Policy and Research Officers with their qualitative and quantitative research projects. Additionally, when you have capacity and with support from the Senior Policy and Research Officer, you will lead on your own projects, designing and conducting research, interviewing young people and staff, conducting quantitative surveys and managing data. You will use the evidence you collect to draft research reports and shape submissions to government about the impact of government policy on homeless young people.
Through representing Centrepoint at events and external meetings, this role will give you the opportunity to work with a wide range of stakeholders, including MPs, civil servants, university academics, and homelessness organisations across the country.
By working with our services, you will ensure that young people’s views and experiences are at the heart of our policy work. You will also work closely with senior management to ensure that our policy work reflects the needs of the entire organisation and its strategic direction.
Centrepoint operates a hybrid working model. The current requirement is a minimum of two days in the office per week, with the remaining days worked remotely. From 1 July 2025, this will increase to a minimum of 50% of your working week. For most full-time colleagues, this means attending the office for five days over a two-week period (e.g., two days one week and three days the next). For colleagues on different contracts (including part-time or compressed contracts) this will be adjusted accordingly.
About you
- Effective communicator with natural ability to facilitate open and honest conversations.
- Able decision maker with a can do attitude.
- Respectful and empathetic, always considering the impact on our young people.
- Flexible, always adapting to changing needs.
- Engaging, committed to self-development by engaging with training and continuous learning.
- Proactive, always looking for creative ways of working.
What you’ll be doing
- Designing, conducting and supporting other members of the team on research projects into the issues affecting homeless young people.
- Support development of and taking responsibility for producing briefings and reports on relevant policy and practice issues.
- Drafting Centrepoint consultation responses and submission of evidence to select committees and Government bodies.
- Representing Centrepoint at external meetings, conferences and other events to promote Centrepoint's policy and research work.
- Line managing and supervising volunteers working in the Policy and Research team.
What we’d be looking for from you…
- Knowledge and understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
- Ability to build links with a wide range of organisations, and represent Centrepoint in a positive and professional manner
- Strong verbal communication skills to be able to liaise with senior staff, external stakeholders and young people, and to make presentations.
- Ability to put out key points from a range of information sources and write clear and accessible reports.
- Ability to organise a demanding and varied workload and to work on own initiative.
- Innovative approach to work, including the ability to initiate and progress new ideas.
- Experience of analysing, interpreting and developing social policy.
- Experience of conducting qualitative and quantitative research.
- Experience of writing reports and policy documents for internal and external use.
Why join Centrepoint?
In return for your efforts you’ll receive a competitive salary, excellent training and development, and a host of staff benefits including:
- 25 days of annual leave per year, rising by one day per year to a maximum of 27 days
- Healthcare cash plan (Cover the costs of a wide range of medical treatment including Dental, Optical, Complementary and Alternative therapies).
- Private Medical insurance
- Income protection
- Employer pension contributions of 5%
- Access to Cycle 2 Work loan scheme
- An interest-free travel loan
At Centrepoint we challenge the discrimination within society that contributes to youth homelessness, and we are just as committed to fairness and equality within Centrepoint itself. We are passionate about ensuring all of our colleagues are made to feel included in the work we do and that we value the rich diversity within the organization.
We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications regardless of sex, gender, race, age, belief in any religion and none, gender identity, ethnic origin, class, sexuality, nationality, appearance, unrelated criminal activities, disability, responsibility for dependents, part time or shift workers, being HIV positive or living with AIDS, lived experience of homelessness or using young people’s services and any other matter which causes a person to be treated with injustice.
Centrepoint’s policy is to recruit, employ and promote people on the basis of their suitability for the work to be performed, and to this end, our aim is to ensure that all applicants, employees and volunteers receive equal treatment.
Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to join our team as Policy and Research Officer click ‘Apply’ now!
