External Affairs Manager Northern Ireland

Job summary

About the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is the UK’s independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance. Everything we do is about ensuring trust, participation, and integrity in the democratic process.

As we enter a bold new chapter under our five-year Corporate Plan, we are increasing our workforce and transforming how we plan and deliver core services. This post plays a central role in that journey.

Job description

About the role

We are looking for an experienced and motivated External Affairs Manager to lead our communications and engagement work in Northern Ireland. This is a high impact role that blends strategic leadership, strong relationships and meaningful work with communities, partners and decision makers. You will help ensure that voters and stakeholders across Northern Ireland have clear, accurate and accessible information about the Commission’s role in supporting democracy.

As External Affairs Manager for Northern Ireland, you will:

• Lead our external affairs and communications strategy, covering campaigns, media, digital activity, public affairs and voter engagement
• Provide effective leadership within the Northern Ireland team, including line management and supporting strategic planning
• Build strong relationships with elected representatives, political parties, government officials, electoral administrators and civil society partners across Northern Ireland
• Lead voter engagement projects, including work with young people, and ensure all activity meets our impartiality and evaluation standards
• Provide local insight to UK wide programmes so that Northern Ireland’s needs and perspectives are reflected in our campaigns and strategies
• Support the Commission’s strategic objectives to deliver free and fair elections and promote transparency in political finance

You will represent the Commission professionally, helping stakeholders understand and engage with our work, and ensuring communications are accessible to all communities in Northern Ireland.

Person specification

Who we’re looking for

We are looking for someone who can bring:

• Strong experience in communications, public affairs or a related field, ideally within the public sector
• Excellent relationship building skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders including parliamentarians and media representatives
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with confidence presenting and briefing diverse audiences
• Good judgement and problem-solving skills, with the ability to balance multiple priorities and stakeholder needs at the same time
• An understanding of electoral processes and democratic participation in the UK, or a strong interest in developing this knowledge further
• Experience managing staff or leading teams (desirable)
• A degree level qualification or equivalent experience
• An awareness of the political landscape across Northern Ireland, Ireland and the wider UK, and an ability to navigate this with neutrality, sensitivity and good judgement

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,420, The Electoral Commission contributes £15,186 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Why work for us?

Working with the Electoral Commission means joining an independent organisation with a vital public mission. You will help support free, fair and accessible elections, and your work will make a real difference to democratic participation in Northern Ireland.

We offer a supportive, inclusive and flexible working environment where people are encouraged to learn, grow and collaborate. You will have opportunities to develop your skills, work across different teams and contribute to meaningful projects that strengthen trust in the democratic process.

If you are motivated by purpose driven work and want to help, make democracy accessible to all, this is a great place to build your career.

We offer a strong total reward package, including:

• • Flexible working and hybrid model (40% office minimum)
  • 28 rising to 30 days annual leave + bank holidays
  • Civil Service pension scheme (28.97% employer contribution)
  • Study support for professional qualifications
  • Ongoing learning and development opportunities
  • Ride2Work, eye care vouchers and more

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. To help reduce unconscious bias and ensure all applicants are assessed solely on their skills, knowledge and experience, we use an anonymous recruitment process.

When applying, please provide an anonymised CV which omits your protected characteristics and any personally identifiable information:

Do not include:

• Your name, address, phone number, email or other contact details
• Your date of birth or age
• Gender, ethnicity, nationality or other personal identifiers
• A photo of yourself
• Educational dates (as these indicate age)
• Primary education details

Do include:

• Your employment history including employers and dates of employment
• Explanation for gaps in your history
• Your duties, responsibilities and achievements

If your CV contains personal details (such as your name or contact information), we will be unable to consider your application. Please double-check your documents before submitting, including the file name you use to save and upload your CV.

Supporting disabled applicants

The Electoral Commission is proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. As part of this commitment, we aim to prioritise interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.

There may, however, be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. For example, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or seasonal recruitment activity, the Commission may need to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants.

If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this commitment, please indicate this when you apply. We also welcome requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process or within the workplace.

Key dates

• Application deadline: 13th April 2026 (23:59)
• Interviews (1st stage): Week commencing 27th April 2026
• Anticipated start date: July 2026

Interviews will be conducted in person.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Talent Acquisition Team
• Email : recruitment@electoralcommission.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@electoralcommission.org.uk

Further information

Raising a Concern About the Recruitment Process

At the Electoral Commission, we are committed to delivering fair, inclusive, and transparent recruitment. Our recruitment practices are guided by Civil Service values and comply with the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.

If you have concerns about the way a recruitment process has been conducted, we encourage you to raise them with us.

How to Make a Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our recruitment process, you can contact us directly by email:

recruitment@electoralcommission.org.uk

Please include the following information:

The job title or reference number

A clear explanation of your concern

Any relevant supporting information

Your preferred contact details

We aim to respond to all complaints within two working days.

Our Commitment

All complaints are treated seriously and in confidence. They are handled in line with our Recruitment Policy and the relevant provisions of the Equality Act 2010, Employment Rights Act 1996, and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you require this information in an alternative format, or need additional support, please contact us at recruitment@electoralcommission.org.uk

https://ce1002li.webitrent.com/ce1002li_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC179GF.open?WVID=933737003x