This is a senior policy and parliamentary engagement role requiring autonomous strategic thinking and confident stakeholder engagement. You'll be Close the Gap's lead on parliamentary relationships and policy development, working with considerable independence to shape our advocacy strategy and manage complex stakeholder relationships.

With Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026, this is a pivotal time to join Close the Gap as our Policy and Parliamentary Lead. You'll build relationships with a new cohort of MSPs, strengthen our parliamentary engagement strategy, and directly influence Scotland's approach to women's labour market equality. This newly permanent role reflects our long-term investment in this critical function.

As a small organisation, we looking for someone who can be the authoritative voice for Close the Gap on parliamentary engagement and policy development - thinking strategically, identifying opportunities, setting priorities, and delivering high-quality outputs with minimal supervision. You'll work collaboratively with colleagues but will be expected to own your delivery areas, exercise judgement independently, and represent the organisation confidently with senior stakeholders.

Organisation profile

Close the Gap is Scotland’s policy advocacy organisation working on women’s labour market participation. Our vision is for a Scotland where all women have a good working life. We work strategically with policymakers, employers and unions to address the causes of the gender pay gap. We deliver advocacy to influence policy and legislative change; produce research, analysis and insight into women’s diverse experiences of the labour market; and influence and enable employers to develop intersectional, gender-sensitive employment practice.

Equality statement

Close the Gap recognises that we have a responsibility to operate in line with our values. We know that structural inequalities constrain and harm the lives of marginalised communities of people such as racially minoritised people, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, migrant people, people who are single parents, and people of faith. This is particularly important for those who experience intersecting and compounding inequalities. As part of this, we are working to become an anti-racism organisation through a proactive review of our policies and practices, and are currently developing an anti-racism action plan.

We acknowledge that our team does not yet reflect the diversity of women's experiences in Scotland's labour market. We therefore particularly encourage applications from racially minoritised people and disabled people who are currently underrepresented in our team.