External Affairs Consultant

Are you an experienced external affairs professional ready to shape policy, influence decision-makers, and help drive systemic change for nature and heritage in Northern Ireland? Join the National Trust’s team at a pivotal moment and play a key role in building a movement for people and nature to thrive.

What it's like to work here:You’ll be part of our Northern Ireland communication and advocacy team. A dynamic and energetic bunch, we engage people in our cause to deliver our People & Nature Thriving strategy goals. You’ll collaborate and share expertise with other external affairs professionals in the organisation, and our national campaigns team. You’ll thrive on the challenge of managing competing demands and get to work across a range of interesting and often complex issues.

Your contractual place of work will be the National Trust office in Belfast or Rowallane, with hybrid working. We’ll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust place for 40–60% of your working week. This role is for 30 hours per week with a degree of flexibility with working pattern, to be discussed further at interview.

What you'll be doing:You will play a key role in shaping the Trust’s policy and advocacy approach in Northern Ireland, building awareness of our cause and influencing government, civic leaders and cross-sector partners to drive progress on nature recovery and access to natural and cultural heritage. This is an opportunity to influence change at scale by combining your strategic insight with hands-on relationship building. With an eye on delivery of the charity’s strategic goals, you’ll play a key role in long term horizon scanning across the policy and advocacy environment and support our leadership team’s stakeholder engagement.

An excellent communicator, you’ll champion our goals whilst ensuring relevance within our local cultural, political and policy context. You’ll also support local teams to navigate their local stakeholder environments, sharing your professional knowledge and guidance. There will be many opportunities for you to be creative and innovative, as we have big ambitions to increase our advocacy impact. Some of our best work happens through collaboration, so forming positive relationships with other organisations is an essential part of delivery in this role.

Who we're looking forWe’d love to hear from you if you have:

• Significant experience in external affairs, public policy or advocacy, with a strong understanding of Northern Ireland’s political and policy landscape, including experience of environment and/or cultural heritage policy
• A proven track record of influencing and engaging senior stakeholders, both internally and externally, and working collaboratively with senior leaders to support strategic priorities
• Highly developed communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to translate complex issues into clear, compelling narratives and build trusted relationships across diverse audiences
• Strong strategic thinking capability, including experience of horizon scanning and shaping long-term approaches to policy, advocacy or complex external environments
• Experience of delivering impact through partnerships and networks, working collaboratively across organisational and sector boundaries to achieve shared goals
• Excellent organisational and project management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, maintain attention to detail and deliver high-quality outcomes
• A flexible, solutions-focused approach, with confidence to navigate complexity and influence decisions in a changing environment
• A clear commitment to inclusion, with the ability to foster inclusive ways of working across teams and with stakeholders

The packageThe National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary

• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)

• Rental deposit loan scheme

• Season ticket loan

• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)

• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts

• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.

• Flexible working whenever possible

• Employee assistance programme

• Free parking at most Trust places

#NIJobs

Requirements :Compliance.Eligibility to Work in the UK

Permanent p/t (30 hrs pw)