Policy and Public Affairs Officer (Cardiff, ENG, GB, CF10 1AP)

Salary: £

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About the Role

The Policy and Public Affairs Officer will be part of the Marketing, Communications and Partnerships team at The Open University in Wales.

They will support The Open University in Wales’ engagement with politicians, policymakers and regulators at a pivotal moment for Welsh higher education, following the 2026 Senedd election and as Medr’s new regulatory system gets embedded.

Reporting into the Senior Manager, Policy and Public Affairs, the role will focus on supporting and delivering political engagement, monitoring and analysing policy developments, and helping ensure the OU is well-briefed, visible and credible. The role supports the University’s reputation as a credible and trusted partner in the Welsh policy environment.

Key Responsibilities

- Monitor and analyse policy and political developments relevant to higher education, lifelong learning and skills, from the Welsh Government and other sources, sharing timely intelligence internally. - Produce clear briefing notes, summaries and background materials for colleagues and senior leaders. - Support the coordination and drafting of responses to consultations, calls for evidence and policy reviews. - Assist with engagement with Members of the Senedd, Ministers, advisers, officials and sector stakeholders, including maintaining accurate contact and engagement records. - Support the planning and delivery of political engagement activity, including meetings, roundtables, visits and events. - Contribute to the delivery of the University’s public affairs plan, ensuring follow-up actions arising from engagement activity are tracked and progressed. - Work with colleagues across the OU to coordinate messages, gather intelligence and support internal reporting. - Provide practical support and guidance to colleagues on Welsh political and policy processes.

About You

Essential criteria:

- Experience working in public affairs, policy, government, politics, or a comparable stakeholder-facing environment. - Understanding of Welsh political and policymaking processes, including the Senedd and Welsh Government. - Proven ability to monitor, analyse and interpret policy developments and political activity and explain implications. - Strong written communication skills, including experience producing briefings, summaries and background materials for internal or senior audiences. - Experience supporting political or stakeholder engagement, such as meetings, events, visits or roundtables. - Ability to manage stakeholder information, contacts and engagement activity accurately and systematically. - Confidence working with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including politicians, officials and sector partners. - Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks, track actions and meet deadlines.

Desirable criteria:

- Experience working on higher education, lifelong learning or skills policy. - Ability to work in Welsh.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on or email quoting the advert reference number.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Working Location: It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Cardiff Office, it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be up to 3 days working from home and 2 set days in the office (usually Wednesday and Thursday). Full-time working based from our Cardiff site is also supported if this is preferred by the candidate. Expenses associated with travel to our Cardiff site are not reimbursable.

The role will also require occasional attendance at events outside of normal working hours, and occasional travel around Wales, e.g. to party conferences.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

Week commencing 11th May 2026.

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications has been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented.

If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please submit the following documents:

- CV - Supporting statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the essential criteria for this role as detailed above.

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.