TDS Charitable Foundation is a charity with a mission to improve the private rented sector in England and Wales. Almost 20% of British households are now renting privately and many vulnerable people are now living in the sector. These developments have sparked growing concern within policy and practice about the many challenges the sector faces including tenancy insecurity, unaffordability, poor standards and a lack of understanding of regulation.
The TDS Charitable Foundation aims to raise standards in the sector by producing research, providing grant funding to a wide range of organisations, and ensuring landlords and tenants are aware of their rights and responsibilities.
We have an exciting new role for a Research and Policy Officer to support the delivery of a varied programme of work related to the Charitable Foundation. You will undertake research, help to develop, and promote our work with key stakeholders and project partners, and raise the profile of the charity both internally and externally. This is an exciting time to join the Charitable Foundation as you will have a key role to play in implementing our new strategy and developing new national projects that will have a greater reach and impact. Much of this work directly relates to the UK Government’s current plans for reforming the private rented sector in England and there is significant scope within this role to work alongside our Head of Policy and Research to influence the Government’s agenda.
The Charitable Foundation is an independent charity but which is funded solely by The Dispute Service (TDS) - the leading not-for-profit tenancy deposit protection and resolution service provider in the UK. TDS seeks to makes life easier for tens of thousands of agents, landlords, and tenants across the UK. You will be reporting directly to the Head of Research, Policy and Strategy.
We are looking for someone who has experience in carrying out research, understands how to engage with relevant stakeholders, and is comfortable with writing communications for us to disseminate across multiple channels. This is a key operational role within the charity to support the implementation of and expansion of new projects ensuring that:
- New projects are developed and commissioned based on research and evidence;
- The profile of the charity is raised and funded projects are promoted both externally and internally;
- Strong links are created with other charities and key stakeholders;
- Regular content is produced for dissemination by the marketing team;
- The day-to-day running of the charity is effectively co-ordinated;
- Outcomes and evaluation data are produced to demonstrate how projects help to improve the sector.
Given that you will a key member of a small policy and research team, you will be expected to take initiative and be pro-active within your approach to promoting the charity and developing new partnerships.
This is a full time role based in our offices in Hemel Hempstead, where we operate a hybrid working policy. This requires you to attend the office at least 2 days a week.