Policy Manager; Online Safety

Closing Date: 09/03/2026

Group: Online Safety Group

Management Level: Senior Associate

Job Type: Fixed Term (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Monday 9 March, and therefore we advise getting your application in by no later than midnight on Sunday 8 March.

We have both fixed term and permanent positions available for this role, please specify in your cover letter if you have a preference between the two.

The Online Safety Group’s purpose is to ensure UK citizens have a safer life online by implementing and overseeing the requirements under the Online Safety Act 2023. The Group is responsible for delivering online safety policy, supervising online services, and building technical expertise to meet the regime’s aims.

This role is within the Online Safety Policy Development team, which works at the centre of the Online Safety Group. The Policy Development team lead the development of Ofcom’s online safety policies which establish steps services should take to make users safer online. The team comes from a range of backgrounds. There are policy experts, project management and delivery specialists and those that come from a harms or trust and safety background

This team works closely with cross functional colleagues from other teams in the organisation to use their skills and experience to develop robust policy. These include legal experts, technologists, economists, and research specialists amongst others.

This Policy Manager will work closely with the relevant Principal responsible for a specific policy space. The successful candidate will be responsible for two main areas of work: first, the day-to-day management of the project, including planning, structuring, delivery and co-ordination of the project; second, resolving complex policy problems by gathering information, conducting analysis, and distilling findings to identify options for improving policy.

As a policy manager, you will need to intelligently harness individual strengths and support the co-ordination of a diverse set of colleagues from within the project team and other cross functional areas, facilitating cross team working, encouraging practical delivery schedules, unblocking issues, and reporting an honest assessment of progress. You’ll play a pivotal role, in ensuring our work is delivered to a high standard, in an efficient and timely manner.

In doing this role effectively, you will need to consider how to manage risks and issues, plan resources effectively, as well as managing internal and external stakeholders as needed.

For your work developing policy options and drafting relevant documents, you will need to consider available evidence and perspectives on an issue, develop workable options for improving relevant policy and communicate your views effectively to influence change.

Policy Manager roles are varied and will evolve over time in line with team priorities. This role will involve the following key responsibilities:

• Lead the day-to-day management, delivery, and development of specific online safety project work
• Provide proactive support to the project team in coordination and delivery of milestones, ensuring deadlines are met and making honest assessments of progress to identify where intervention is needed.
• Lead regular check-ins with work streams to surface and resolve key issues/ blockers and creating a sense of clarity and common cause that ensures teams understand the plan and the impact if their activity slips.
• Challenge work streams to find opportunities to accelerate progress, deliver early benefits, and mitigate risks.
• Resolving complex policy problems by gathering information, conducting analysis, and distilling findings to identify options for improving policy.
• Drafting clear policy papers, distilling technical information into a coherent and compelling narrative that makes the case for change and provides options or recommendations for decision-makers to consider.
• Engaging with senior colleagues, including directors and the CEO of Ofcom to explain our policy work and support their external engagement with relevant…