Policy and Participation Officer

Job title: Policy and Participation Officer

Location: The role is a remote working role with a hybrid combination of home-working and travel for team, worker, policy and partnership meetings. The majority of these meetings will take place in our office at WASPS Creative, Stormont Street, Perth.

Hours
:
Full time. This may be flexible with 4 days per week considered.

Benefits: 28 days holiday per year plus bank holidays with incremental leave (increasing to 30 days after 2 years);
Flexible working options;
Training and development opportunities;
Union recognition;
Enhanced pension contribution; and Employee centred counselling support.

Reports to
:
This role will involve close working with the WSC Peer Engagement Manager and Peer Engagement Caseworker (care) and the WSC Operations Manager and will line report to the WSC Executive Director.

Contract: Permanent (subject to funding)

The Worker Support Centre (WSC) is a Scotland based charity. We partner with people who have come to the UK to work on visas or temporary contracts. We provide advice to secure their rights, end exploitation, build collective power and drive lasting change together. Alongside other organisations and decision-makers we’re building a movement of people who welcome all workers, working towards a world where we are all safe, valued and respected at work – no matter our job or nationality.

WSC support includes advice, mediation, advocacy and assisted reporting to enforcement agencies. Our worker engagement informs policy change activity to address harms faced by those in high-risk work. In 2023 and 2024 WSC activities were targeted at workers in seasonal agriculture on the UK Seasonal Worker visa (SWV). During this time, we provided advice, support, and information to 1031 people in relation to the SWV.

More recently we have expanded our work to engage workers in health and social care and to advance care workers’ rights through worker education and power sessions. To learn more about work, visit

This role is focussed on advancing seasonal agricultural and social care workers’ rights by supporting WSC’s policy and advocacy work. In this role you will support WSC meet two of its four core objectives to work together with workers to claim spaces for power and representation in decision making; and to build the field of knowledge about workers and their experiences to influence policy.

As well as work delivered directly by WSC, our policy work includes coordinating with coalitions such as the Ethical Trading Initiative, the Seasonal Worker Interest Group and the Scottish Food Coalition.

WSC strives to achieve representation of individuals with lived experience of the issues on which we work at all levels of our organisation and actively promote applications from individuals with experience of the issues on which we work.

• Support the development of policy outputs, ensuring engagement of workers and cross-organisational engagement.
• Maintain a watching brief on emerging legislation, and policy developments and keep WSC colleagues updated.
• Support and lead key influencing moments and processes, working in collaboration with policy coalitions of which WSC is part.
• Draft worker-informed and evidenced briefings, submissions to consultations in support of worker policy priorities and engage closely with civil servants, Government officials and other decision makers on policy objectives.
• Support the development of WSC’s influencing strategy and lead on targeted influencing strategies for specific areas of WSC work.
• Support participatory engagement with workers to understand policy asks and identify democratic engagement platforms to best suit them and help create opportunities to influence processes.
• Track, assess, understand and respond to future legislative developments and the strategic direction being taken by UK Government, UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with senior stakeholders in Government, UK and Scottish Parliament, enforcement authorities and industry.
• Build relationships with members of the…