About us
The UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH) is at the heart of UCL’s Grand Challenge of Global Health. The Institute’s vision is for a world where international policy on global health is informed by world-class research. IGH aims to support the development of robust solutions to aspects of the world’s major global health challenges through scholarly outputs, education, public engagement, translational research, and ultimately by influencing public policy and professional practice.
We are looking for an experienced Head of Policy expert with experience in translating academic research into public policy to join the next phase of the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change.
The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an independent, international research collaboration, that works to track the evolving links between health and climate change globally, regionally and nationally, in partnership with The Lancet and the World Health Organization. Its aim is to inform a robust response to climate change that protects and promotes human health.
About the role
The successful candidate will join the Lancet Countdown’s central team secretariat, in central London, working with the collaboration’s Academic Steering Group and Directors Group. Reporting into the Lancet Countdown’s Executive Director, the Head of Policy will work closely with the Policy Manager based in the global secretariat team at UCL, as well as Policy Managers based at the Lancet Countdown’s six different centres. They will also work closely with the Lancet Countdown’s Head of Operations and Senior Communications Manager to ensure that the Lancet Countdown’s policy work is reaching its intended audience and driving an accelerated response to climate change.
The postholder will be responsible for developing and leading an impactful and integrated programme of policy engagement and evidence translation for the Lancet Countdown collaboration. This will encompass a holistic approach spanning across the organisation’s six regional centres to ensure a complementary top-down and bottom-up approach to policy impact.
Overall, the Head of Policy will be at the forefront of advancing the Lancet Countdown’s mission to address the health impacts of climate change through evidence-based policy action. As a leader in the organisation, the Head of Policy will play a major role in shaping the strategy and overseeing the smooth running of the organisation’s policy work, as well as establishing its approach to monitoring, evaluating, learning and refinement.
This is a full-time role (i.e. 36.5 hours per week) and it is available immediately until April 2029 in the first instance.
A job description and person specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
Salary range: £67,341 to £75,192 per annum (including London Allowance), depending on experience.
If you need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online or have any queries about the application process, please contact the IGH HR Team on IGH.HR@ucl.ac.uk.
About you
It is essential that the successful candidate has a Masters level degree or equivalent skills and experience in public policy, public health, international relations, or other relevant field.
Proven experience in the shaping, advising and influencing national and international climate policy either internally as a political aide, or externally from an academic institution, think tank, or NGO is essential criteria for this role. Experience engaging with the development of global climate policy, particularly the UNFCCC and ideally related to climate impact on health, is also required.
The successful candidate must have excellent interpersonal and diplomacy skills, with familiarity of engaging with national policymakers at any level of seniority and using a variety of policy influencing tools. The successful candidate must also have the ability to grasp and summarise complex scientific outputs for policymakers in the form of policy briefs and other collateral.
The role requires that the post holder is willing travel approx. 1-4 weeks per annum and participate in conference calls outside of normal working hours (1-3 hours per week) to connect with other time zones.
What we offer
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits, some of which are below:
- 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
- Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
- Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
- Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
- Immigration loan
- Relocation scheme for certain posts
- On-Site nursery
- On-site gym
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
- Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
- Discounted medical insurance
Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.
We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.
These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.
Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.
We welcome candidates with a variety of backgrounds and experiences who have engaged with and influenced the development of policy— whether from academia, civil society, or international institutions and NGOs focused on driving policy change. If you meet the requirements and are passionate about climate justice and health equity, we encourage you to apply.
Available documents
Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.