Join our team as Policy and Influence Manager | Manchester Community Central

Purpose of the Role

Manchester’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector is made of thousands of organisations and individuals who use their skills to improve the quality of life in the city. They have insight that can help shape policy and decision making locally, regionally and nationally.

Macc’s Policy and Influence Manager leads the Policy and Influence Team. This team supports the local VCSE sector to be a strong voice on significant issues. They facilitate a wide range of conversations and relationships at a strategic level, working collaboratively across a range of public policy priorities. The Policy and Influence Manager leads within Macc on identifying these annual priorities in collaboration with the Board of Trustees, the Chief Executive and the wider staff team. Current public policy priorities include poverty, homelessness, health and wellbeing, mental health, children and families, equalities, climate action, social value and building a more inclusive economy.

Salary: £37,939 per annum
Hours: 35 hours per week. Flexi-time system with core hours 10am-3pm
Location: St Thomas Centre but job offers some working from home flexibility
Contract: Permanent
Reporting to: Chief Executive

Macc’s policy and influence work is delivered in three ways:

Knowledge gathering and sharing – collating and circulating information about policy developments affecting Manchester.
Convening the sector – bringing together VCSE voices and enable organisations to network, connect & problem solve.
Representing & Influencing – supporting local VCSE leaders to be representatives of the wider sector on boards, committees and partnerships and to remain accountable and connected via Macc.

The Policy and Influence Manager fosters a strengths-based approach within the team, supporting collaboration, inclusion and effectiveness, while also proactively identifying areas for growth, leveraging shared knowledge and peer support to improve team development and learning.

Main Duties of the Role

These are subject to change throughout employment in response to changes in priorities and ways of working. Your line manager will work with you to turn these into annual objectives.

Being Supportive

Line manage the Policy and Influence Team staff (and any volunteers, interns, apprentices or work experience placements hosted in the Policy and Influence Team) and support them with their individual workplans, encouraging their creativity, developing their skills and knowledge.
Ensure records of key contacts, developments and activities are maintained and that updates are presented to the Chief Executive for inclusion in quarterly and annual reports and monitoring for funders.
Maintain a broad overview of the local, regional and national context for the VCSE sector, ensuring that Macc provides insightful, timely briefings and updates. This supports the sector in staying informed, understanding ongoing developments and effectively contributing or responding to changes within the evolving landscape.
Ensure support for local VCSE sector leaders representing the sector in a range of boards, partnerships and other structures, ensuring consistency of messages, positive relationships and accountability back to the wider VCSE sector.
Lead on broadening the diversity of voices and constructive perspectives leading and advocating for the VCSE sector in Manchester, as well as supporting existing and aspiring leaders to develop the skills, relationships, knowledge and confidence they need to bring about systemic change both now and, in the future.
Support the team to deliver insightful and engaging content for the Macc’s communications and information channels (including the Manchester Community Central website, videos, blogs, contributions to ebulletins, newsletters and social media), ensuring reach and engagement are evaluated regularly.

Being Collaborative

Ensure that Macc’s policy and influence activities are consistent with and promote Macc’s values, building on existing strengths and resources and working collaboratively to address gaps and bring about positive change.
Ensure that Macc hosts a range of spaces, regular events and meetings throughout the year, providing opportunities for the VCSE sector – including established, new and emerging leaders – to network, connect and collaborate around shared public policy priorities. These initiatives should reflect themes and areas of interest relevant to the sector’s needs, enabling the sector to engage with and learn from each other, as well as with statutory colleagues and decision-makers.
Ensure Macc supports and connects with a range of local, regional and national networks.
Support the team to work collaboratively and develop and deliver its programme of activities, ensuring that targets and associated deadlines are met, and a high standard of service is maintained.

Being Influential

Act as a trusted point of contact for public sector bodies seeking support in identifying suitable VCSE representatives for partnership structures.
Serve as the go-to person for advice on effective pathways to engage, consult and collaborate with the sector as an equal strategic partner, cultivating trust and strong relationships.
Lead the development of key policy messages shaped by the local VCSE sector.
Lead the development of an influencing strategy for Macc and the local VCSE sector, identifying and addressing gaps and opportunities for engagement.

Management Team

Ensure that activities are delivered on time, on budget and in accordance with plans.
Ensure that systems, practices and working cultures operate across all Macc teams and are informed by learning from all parts of the organisation.

Who we’re looking for

We're looking for someone who understands the VCSE sector from the inside – its strengths, its frustrations, and its potential to shape the decisions that affect communities in Manchester. You'll need experience of working in or alongside voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, with a genuine understanding of the challenges they face and the difference they make.

The fundamental aim of this role is building the conditions in which the sector's voices become stronger, more diverse and more influential. What matters most is your ability to read a complex environment, identify where influence is possible and support others to act on it.

Strong strategic thinking is essential. You'll be leading Macc's work across a wide range of policy priorities — from poverty and family support to climate action and the inclusive economy — and you'll need to translate big-picture priorities into practical, well-timed activity without losing focus across the breadth of it.

This is a role built on relationships. You'll be a trusted point of contact for public bodies seeking VCSE perspectives, a connector for sector leaders navigating partnerships and decision-making structures, and a credible voice at strategic tables. Building and maintaining those relationships — with honesty, diplomacy and consistency — will be central to how you work. You'll need to feel as comfortable in a room with senior public sector officers as you do supporting a grassroots community leader finding their feet in a formal setting.

Broadening who gets heard matters as much as amplifying existing voices. We're looking for someone with a real commitment to inclusion that shapes how you work every day — actively seeking out perspectives that don't fit neatly into existing structures and creating the conditions for diverse leaders to develop confidence, skills and influence.

The organisations you'll work with are, when they engage with Macc's policy and influence agenda, stepping away from their day-to-day work to look longer and broader. That's a real investment of time and energy, and often a stretch. Part of your job is making sure that investment feels worthwhile — that conversations are purposeful, connections are genuine, and people leave with something they couldn't have got on their own.

You'll also be a manager and team leader, and experience of developing people, maintaining standards and fostering a collaborative culture is important.

This role will suit someone who takes the long view — energised by connecting ideas and people across agendas in ways that shift how systems work. You'll probably have come to this kind of strategic work through practical experience of what VCSE organisations actually do on the ground, and that grounding will matter.

You'll need to be willing and able to travel around Manchester and attend some meetings and events outside standard office hours — though driving ability is not essential as we encourage use of public transport and active travel.

What Manchester Community Central offers

At Manchester Community Central, we are committed to being an inclusive and supportive employer. We believe in creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, and we offer:

Flexible working: We value flexible working and offer options such as adjusted working hours, hybrid or home working. We have office space at our St Thomas Centre base in Ardwick but our approach balances personal choice, building teamwork and the needs of the people we work with.
Wellbeing support: Our dedicated Health and Wellbeing team works to create a culture that supports everyone’s health and wellbeing at Manchester Community Central. This includes access to confidential, in-house mental health first aiders and regular team social activities. We also offer ‘Re-energise Afternoons’ – monthly sessions where staff can take time away from work to rest and recharge.
Carers support: We are committed to supporting carers in the workplace, and we offer five days paid carers' leave per year for those with ongoing caring responsibilities, along with other support.
Menstrual Health and Menopause friendly workplace: We are proud to be Menstruation and Menopause Friendly employers, providing a range of support to help staff to manage symptoms, as well as educating employees on these topics.
Professional development: Personal Development Plans (PDPs) and dedicated budgets for external training and growth.
Volunteering leave: Staff are entitled to up to 2 days per year (pro rata) with pay to engage in voluntary activities.
Active travel incentives: Support for public transport season tickets, a Cycle to Work scheme, and travel expenses for cyclists.

These benefits reflect our commitment to supporting staff while working together to strengthen Manchester's communities.

If you have specific needs or requests (e.g. related to accessibility, caregiving, flexible working, or something else), we encourage you to let us know during the application process.

Equity and Inclusion

Manchester Community Central is passionate about ensuring that everyone has a fair chance and that they are treated equally.

We are aware of the underrepresentation of certain groups and communities in our sector. These include but are not limited to, people from racialised or minoritised backgrounds, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, people who are neurodivergent, and those from working-class backgrounds. We want to change this and commit to playing our part in eradicating inequalities in both what we do and the way we do it.

Manchester Community Central is an inclusive employer committed to building a diverse, effective workforce which reflects our local communities. We work hard to create a supportive, accessible working environment. We celebrate difference, and welcome applications from a wide range of backgrounds, skills and abilities, recognising value in different perspectives.

How to apply

If you’re excited by this role and believe you can bring to it the skills and passion we’re looking for, we’d love to hear from you! Here’s how our recruitment process works: Attached is a short application form in which we ask you for some basic details and a few questions about your skills, knowledge and relevant experience. There is also an equalities monitoring form with simple questions and a privacy statement which we ask you to confirm you have read.

Once you’ve completed the form, please email it to: pauline@macc.org.uk

Deadline: 26th May 2026, 12pm
Dates for interviews are Friday 5 June 2026.