Senior Policy Analyst – Air Quality

Job description 

• Gross Annual Salary: £38,000 full-time pro rata (post offered at 0.6 FTE i.e. £22,800, with
  the potential to rise to 1 FTE). In addition, IEEP UK matches pension contributions up to 6% of
  gross salary. 
• Hours: 0.6 FTE (21 hours / 3 days per week) 
• Location: Mostly remote working. IEEP UK has occasional hot desking space at Sustainable
  Ventures, Waterloo, London. Therefore, in line with the whole IEEP UK team, the post will be
  home-based, with regular travel to London, other parts of the UK, Brussels and other parts of
  Europe as required.
• Position type: One year contract, with hope to extend with successful fundraising 
• Annual Leave: 18.5 days Annual Leave based on 0.6FTE (comprises of 14 days Basic Annual
  Leave + FTE proportion of public holidays) rising annually to a top limit of 23 days 
• Closing date: 10am, Monday 17 March 2025 
• Contact email: [email protected]
• Equal opportunities: IEEP UK is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive employer,
  including recruiting for diversity.
• Right to Work: Entitlement to work in the UK. IEEP UK is not able to assist with
  applications for work permits and cannot employ people living or working outside of the UK. 
• Other benefits: You are also entitled to an additional £1,000 benefit (subject to tax) that
  can be used for private health and/or gym subscription. 

About IEEP UK 

The Institute for European Environmental Policy UK1 (IEEP UK) is a UK registered charity and a
not-for-profit sustainability think tank, with over 40 years of experience, based in the UK. As
part of the broader IEEP family across Europe, we are dedicated to working with government,
civil society, academia and a range of other stakeholders, including European, United Nations
and other international bodies, civil society, academia, scientific institutes and
business and industry to produce evidence-based research for impact-driven environmental policy
solutions. Our work covers both short-term and long-term strategic environmental issues in the
UK and its constituent nations as well as their interaction with policy in Europe and globally.
Over the years IEEP has developed new concepts that have made their way into mainstream
environmental thinking, underpinning many aspects of this policy area today, including work on
the precautionary principle, environmental impact assessments, emissions trading schemes and
public money for public goods.

This is an exciting time for IEEP UK. Under the leadership of the chair of trustees, Malini
Mehra, IEEP UK has developed a new
strategy up to 2027, and is striving to grow from a currently small staff, becoming more
visible and claiming a leading role in providing innovative research and policy relevant
intelligence. As part of this, Ben Reynolds joined in the role of Executive Director in October
2023.

Air Quality is an important policy area for the IEEP family, building on a track record of
work, including recent studies such as:
Low and Zero Emission Zones: Navigating the Social Challenges of Clean Air Policies in EU
Cities, and [Briefing]
Air Quality Policy in the UK Post-Brexit. We are looking to grow this thematic area of work
and though this is an initial 1-yr contract, we aim to extend this through successful
fundraising. We need your help in order to make this a reality so that we can influence
government policy and tackle one of the most significant environmental and health challenges we
face. 

Overall role and responsibilities 

We are seeking to employ an experienced policy analyst to play a central role in our UK team.
We are looking for a candidate with excellent analytical skills, initiative and who will thrive
working in a small and dynamic team.

The successful candidate will join a cohesive, impact-oriented and supportive team that is
committed to the professional development of all of its staff, and where the opportunities for
learning and for making a difference are high. Candidates should be able to work in an
intellectually challenging and fast-paced environment and meet firm deadlines. The successful
candidate will contribute to IEEP UK’s role as a thought leader in UK and EU environmental
policy.

In line with the focus of the role, we are specifically looking for someone with a background
in air quality policy and engagement, towards our aim of a more coherent, strategic approach to
air pollution policy and governance across the UK. As IEEP UK relies on a mix of contracts and
grant funding, the role will evolve to suit the needs of the funding secured. This will
include: 

• Informing and educating key UK decision makers, and those working to influence them, on
  developments outside of the UK since EU Exit and to influence current government thinking on
  building towards higher air quality standards, at first matching, but ideally exceeding
  standards set by the EU. 
• Undertaking research, drafting policy briefings and reports, and providing detailed
  critical analysis on UK and devolved nation air quality policy including how it compares to EU
  and European national policies, along with other outputs such as blogs and public consultation
  responses. 
• Contributing to the development of policy options to feed into and influence UK air quality
  policy. 
• Organising, facilitating, participating and where necessary leading workshops, seminars and
  other events involving experts in the policy arena. 
• Maintaining good relations and building new relations with a variety of external
  institutions and clients in relevant policy making/influencing arenas, including government,
  regulatory bodies/agencies, civil society, academia and the private sector.  

The role will also include: 

• External representation of IEEP UK at meetings and events. 
• Support communication and disseminating activities in this policy area. 
• Management of projects including project budgets. 
• Developing new project ideas and working with others to secure funding and deliver them
  ensuring they deliver the change required. 
• Potential line management of junior staff and interns as appropriate. 
• Contribute actively to the implementation of Institute-wide decisions and strategy. 

Personal Specification 

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate many of the following skills and attributes: 

Essential: 

• Background, interest and experience in air quality policy. 
• At least 5 years’ relevant professional experience in this or related fields. 
• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline: for example, political science, environmental
  science, economics; climate policy; a relevant postgraduate degree will be seen as an
  advantage. 
• Knowledge of air quality policy at the EU and/or UK level. Specific knowledge of air
  quality policy at a EU member state level and/or UK devolved nation level is a distinct
  advantage. 
• Good communication skills, in particular excellent written and spoken English and the
  ability to present information in a clear, concise and accessible style. 
• Strong quantitative, qualitative and / or economic research skills and a corresponding list
  of project achievements and/or relevant publications. 
• Strong analytical capacity, with the ability to both analyse existing policies, propose
  changes to these, and think of novel policy solutions. 
• Experience of working with parliamentarians or other decision-makers to support policy
  development. 
• As part of a small team, you will also need the ability to turn your hand to a variety of
  tasks such as communications, project bids, media & events organisation. 
• Entitlement to work in the UK (IEEP UK is not able to assist with applications for work
  permits). 

Desirable: 

• An interest, enthusiasm and knowledge of other environmental and / or climate policy in the
  UK and / or the EU, and how it intersects with other policy areas e.g. health and energy.
• Experience of project management, including budget management and a proven track-record in
  task delivery and impact. 
• Experience and aptitude in using MS Teams, Zoom, Miro or other online meeting, webinar and
  facilitation tools, as a participant and as an organiser. 
• Confidence to put forward a case in meetings with people from diverse roles and
  backgrounds. 
• Experience in arranging, chairing and/or facilitating meetings and events. 
• Experience of working on a funded project and reporting to funders. 
• Skills in digital communications and social networking. 
• Availability to commence work promptly following the recruitment process. 

We would expect our ideal candidate to have great organisational skills, be able to work both
independently and as part of a team, and to meet tight deadlines and deliver high-quality
output with attention to detail. 

Application deadline: 10AM, Monday 17 March 2025 
Interviews: Tuesday 25 March 2025 

Our ideal candidate would be able to start in May 2025. 

IEEP UK is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes offers from candidates of diverse
backgrounds and relevant experience, respecting best practices in the recruitment process.

IEEP UK is recruiting for this role as part of our Ethnicity Confident and Disability Confident
schemes. Applicants who meet all the essential criteria, and who let us know voluntarily (via
our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form) that you would like to be considered in this way, will
have an enhanced chance of gaining a first-stage interview.

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