Policy Advisor

We are recruiting for a Policy Advisor (Early Years focus) in Nesta’s Policy Team.

Please note that this is a 12-month parental leave cover. This role is open to secondment arrangements.

We are Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society’s biggest challenges. Our three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future where the economy works for both people and the planet.

For over 20 years, we have supported, encouraged and inspired innovation. We work in three roles: as an innovation partner working with frontline organisations to design and test new solutions; as a venture builder supporting new and early-stage businesses; and as a system shaper creating the conditions for innovation.

Harnessing the rigour of science and the creativity of design, we work relentlessly to change millions of lives for the better. Find out more at

Everyone works at Nesta because we are driven by a deep commitment to our missions. A guiding principle of our culture is that we do whatever it takes to achieve them, bringing our best to all our work. You can read more about our culture on our website.

A policy advisor will help us make progress on our missions by:

• Working at the intersection of our A Fairer Start mission and wider governmental policy priorities
• Working on cross-cutting issues to unblock or galvanise action on our missions

olicy change is a major route to impact at scale for Nesta. We combine our expertise in applied innovation (i.e. the practical work we do to design, test, scale) with policy expertise and political insights to develop and land policy changes in service of our missions.

In this role, you will be part of the central Policy Team (approximately 14 people) at Nesta — strengthening Nesta’s relationships with policy-makers and bringing fresh, innovative and pragmatic solutions to some of the biggest challenges the country faces. Your primary focus will be on early years and related policy in relation to the UK Government; the team also has colleagues focusing specifically on the Scottish and Welsh Governments.

This is a fixed-term role covering parental leave for 12 months. We are open to secondment arrangements from public, third-sector or other organisations.

You’ll work closely with our multidisciplinary A Fairer Start mission team. You can expect to collaborate closely with colleagues who have a diverse range of expertise across research, data science, design, behavioural science and communications.

You can expect to be writing policy notes, synthesising evidence and insights from our mission work, identifying and engaging with key stakeholders, developing and helping to formulate policy recommendations and landing influencing strategies effectively. You can also expect to get involved in building products for policymakers and in convening across sectors — both publicly and privately.

You will need to be a resilient self-starter, curious about a wide range of policy domains, adaptable to change, and excited by the potential impact of mission-driven approaches in government.

• Write incisive policy notes to policymakers, synthesising insights from primary research, reviews and data analysis. You may also support other Nesta teams in developing and writing their own policy outputs.
• Conduct research and draw on expertise from across the Nesta Group and from external partners to test, improve and promote our policy proposals.
• Cultivate strong and sustained relationships with external experts, policymakers and those who influence them so we can be responsive to policy priorities and maximise the chances of landing our work.
• Promote a more experimental ‘test and learn’ approach to policy development, enabling us to draw on methods such as rapid prototyping and testing, modelling, trials and design approaches (note: you do not need to have expertise in these methods before joining).
• Support the commissioning and development of new analysis, tools or products which help policymakers engage with…