Job Overview

The British Medical Association (BMA) is the professional association and trade union for doctors and medical students in the UK. It has a prominent and influential position at the very heart of the policy debate on public and population health and how healthcare is delivered in the UK. The BMA speaks for doctors at all stages of their careers and is a leading voice on a wide range of professional and political issues affecting medicine and health.

We are looking to recruit a Senior Policy Advisor on a fixed-term contract (maternity cover) to join the Population Health team within our Public Health and Healthcare Policy Function (part of the Communications and Policy Directorate).

This is an exciting opportunity to get involved in shaping the BMA’s high-profile policy work on a broad range of issues relating to population health in the UK. Your role will be to drive forward a programme of policy work and research, developing proposals that will help us influence the debate around key issues that affect public and population health in the UK.

You will be responsible for leading policy development and delivery across a number of population and public health policy topic areas, and overseeing and supporting the work of others in the team in these areas. The population health team’s current remit includes: ongoing monitoring and responsive work related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on health and healthcare services; understanding and responding to current and future public and population health challenges, including climate change; mental health; social care; digital innovation and transformation; key drivers of ill health, including tobacco, alcohol and obesity and health inequalities. 

You will provide expert policy advice and guidance to a variety of audiences including senior staff, committees, chief officers, and members, as well as producing briefings, guidance and other practical support materials and representing the BMA at external events as required.

To succeed in this role, you will have: experience of evidence-based policy development (ideally in a health or health-related context); excellent writing skills and ability to undertake robust policy research and analysis; the ability to confidently analyse and help solve complex policy problems; confidence (and ideally experience) in building influential relationships with internal and external stakeholders, in order to achieve policy influencing goals.

If you would like a conversation about this opportunity, please contact Suzanne Wood, Head of Population Health.

Secondment applications welcome. 

Why work for us?

As a BMA employee, you`ll receive:

• Generous annual leave provision, plus 1 company day and public holidays
• Double matching pension contributions up to 12% of salary
• Season ticket loan (up to £10,000) after completion of probationary period
• Additional flexible benefits.

You may be working remotely initially, but we`ll provide all the support you need. If this sounds like the right opportunity for you, please apply through our website. For any queries please email recruitment@bma.org.uk

Diversity & Inclusion Monitoring:
We need your support to make sure our staff come from a variety of backgrounds so we especially welcome applications from disadvantaged communities. Even if you`re not selected, it would be really helpful if you could complete the diversity & inclusion data when you apply for this role, because we can make sure we are encouraging a diverse mixture of candidates to apply. Thank you very much.