JOB VACANCY: Policy Officer
Location: Antrim Road, Belfast
Contract Type: full-time, permanent
Starting salary: £38,180 p.a.
Closing Date: Friday 19thJune 2026
About the Role:
The Ulster Farmers Union is seeking to recruit a Policy Officer primarily based out of our Head Office in Belfast. This will be a challenging and wide ranging job working as part of the UFU Policy Team. Full access to a car is essential, as you will need to attend meetings that will occasionally take place during evenings or weekends.
The job involves assisting with:
- Policy Development & Analysis
- Stakeholder Engagement & Representation
- The servicing of Union Policy Committees
- Representing the views of the Union across a range of media
- The lobbying process
- Collaborating with other teams in the organisation to support the wider UFU priorities
The ideal candidate should have the following skills and experience:
- Have a degree (or equivalent experience) in a relevant discipline such as policy, economics, agriculture, politics, communications or related field
- Have a good knowledge of or interest in Northern Ireland Agriculture, rural affairs or food systems
- Have good communication skills including briefing and report writing
- Have experience with either; policy development/research and/or stakeholder engagement and/or communications/advocacy work and/or public affairs/political processes
- Be computer literate
- Hold a driving licence and have full access to a car
What youll gain:
- Exposure to high-profile policy issues affecting the agri-food sector.
- Direct engagement with decision-makers, industry leaders and key stakeholders.
- Opportunities to develop expertise across a broad and evolving policy portfolio.
- A dynamic working environment with significant scope for professional growth and development.
Benefits & Salary:
Benefits include: 25 days annual leave exclusive of public and bank holidays; employer contribution to private pension scheme; car mileage for travel; flexible benefit scheme; cycle to work scheme; employee assistance programme.
The starting salary will be £38,180 p.a. The Ulster Farmers Union operates a salary scale which is reviewed annually.
How to apply:
The closing date for the role is Friday 19th June 2026.
To apply, please email your completed application and monitoring form quoting Policy Officer application in the subject line.
Please ensure you have clearly demonstrated on your application how you meet the essential and desirable criteria. You can download the full job description as well as the monitoring and application forms by clicking Apply and you will be redirected to our website. Please note the monitoring form is 2 pages long.
All applications will be reviewed after the closing date, all shortlisted candidates will be notified as soon as possible. We aim to hold the interviews within 10 days of the closing date.
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