Engagement and Campaigns Officer at Difference North East

Contract Type: Permanent

Role Type: Employment

Hours: Part time

Application deadline: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 - 12:00

Based: Hybrid

Salary: £33,000 to 35,000 Per Annum

Salary Type: Salary Scale

Location: Teesside

Role description: Officer

Hours: 4 days per week (28 hours)
Salary Scale: NJC SO1 SCP 23-25 (£33,000-£35,000) FTE equivalent
Actual Salary: £26,000-£28,000
Location: Teesside, with travel across the region
Responsible to: Director & Operations Manager

Essence of the role
Difference North East is a disabled people’s organisation working from the social model of disability. Run by disabled people campaigning to remove barriers and create a more equal North East. This new role has been created to strengthen the connection between our strategic work and the lived experiences of disabled people across the region. The Engagement and Campaigns Officer will help ensure members are not just informed about our work but actively involved in shaping it — from sharing experiences and influencing policy to taking part in campaigns, events and creative engagement opportunities.

We are looking for someone who can build relationships, organise meaningful opportunities for involvement and help turn ideas into action. Working closely with the wider team, the postholder will play a central role in making sure disabled people’s voices remain at the heart of everything Difference does.

Purpose of the role

To strengthen Difference North East's ability to engage disabled people and members in its work, and to support the practical delivery of campaigns, participation activity and member involvement.
The postholder will ensure that members have regular, meaningful and accessible ways to share their experiences, influence the organisation's priorities, take part in campaigns, and understand how their involvement contributes to change.

Core responsibilities:

Membership engagement

Maintain regular contact with members and help create a stronger, more consistent membership offer.
Support members to understand how they can get involved in and participate in Difference's work, keep informed about what the organisation is doing and how their contributions are making a difference.
Organise and deliver regular member engagement opportunities, including online sessions, in-person meetings, workshops and themed discussions.
Help grow and strengthen Difference’s membership base across the North East.
Support different ways for members to share their views, for example group discussions, surveys, creative approaches, lived experience submissions and one-to-one conversations where appropriate.
Work with the Development and Campaigns Manager to organise member input into campaigns and policy work, consultation responses and evidence gathering.

Events and workshops

Coordinate practical arrangements for member events, campaign workshops, consultation sessions and engagement meetings.
Ensure access needs are considered from the beginning of any planning process, and that events are as inclusive as possible.
Prepare joining information, reminders, agendas, notes and follow-up communications.

Campaign delivery support

Support the practical delivery of campaign priorities, including preparing briefings and campaign materials for members and stakeholders.
Organise campaign meetings, workshops, events and local engagement sessions.
Support follow-up with campaign contacts, stakeholders, members, councillors, MPs, public bodies and partner organisations.
Support work with external organisations with face to face meetings and on site visits.
Help maintain campaign records, action lists, contact lists and timelines.

What we are looking for

Passionate about communicating accessibly and inclusively with disabled people, members and other stakeholders.
Committed to the social model of disability and disabled people's rights.
Practical, reliable and focused on delivery — well organised and able to follow through on tasks, with minimal supervision.
Comfortable organising and delivering meetings, workshops and events, and able to work with some autonomy when out in the community.
Empathetic and curious — able to work in a person-centred way and be sensitive to the lived experience of members whilst being mindful about professional boundaries.
Able to manage relationships sensitively, including with members, campaign contacts and partner organisations.
Lived experience of disability – we strongly encourage applications from deaf and disabled people who are under-represented in the sector.

Working arrangements

This is a four-day-a-week, working from home position.
The role will involve travel across the North East to deliver sessions, attend meetings and support local engagement activity.
Travel expenses will be covered. The expectation is that travel and recovery time will be treated as working time where needed.
Line management will sit with the Operations Manager. T
he postholder will work closely with the Director, Policy Manager, Development Manager and Communications Coordinator on a day-to-day basis.

What we offer

A four-day working week with flexible hours to suit your life and work style.
A small, committed team who care deeply about what they do and how they do it.
A mobile phone and laptop computer provided for work use.
A structured induction period to help you understand the organisation, its members and its ways of working before you hit the ground running.
Regular one-to-one line management and team meetings to keep you supported, connected and clear on priorities.
Opportunities for training and continuing professional development, with support to grow in the role.
The opportunity to work in an organisation that is genuinely led by and accountable to disabled people.
Enrolment in NEST pension.

Questions about the role
If you have any questions about the role, contact Christopher Hartworth, Director at christopher@difference.org.uk. Do not send applications to this address.

How to Apply
To apply please send a two-page statement outlining why you are interested in this role and how you meet the criteria together with a brief (2 page max) CV. We also welcome applications in alternative formats, such as video and audio recording.

Please send your application to recruitment@vonne.org.uk by midday on Tuesday, 14 July 2026.

Interviews: Interview will take place approximately week commencing 27 July 2026 – please let us know if you have any holiday planned around this time as we may be able to offer an alternative date.

*This recruitment is being managed by VONNE and is featured as part of our Recruitment Support Service. If you would like more information on the recruitment support we offer, please email recruitment@vonne.org.uk.

A day in the life of an Engagement and Campaigns Officer

No two days are quite the same in this role, but here is a flavour of what a typical day might look like.

9.30am — You log on, make a coffee, and work through your emails. There is a reply from a community centre you contacted last week about hiring their accessible meeting room for next month's workshop. You check their availability against the team calendar and drop them a confirmation.

10.00am — You spend an hour preparing a member communication about an upcoming online discussion on transport barriers. You draft the invitation, check it reads clearly and accessibly, and send it to the Communications Coordinator to turn into a newsletter item and social media post.

11.00am — A quick call with the Development Manager to talk through how the transport barriers session should be structured and what you need to get out of it in terms of member experience and campaign evidence.

11.30am — You head out for a site visit to a community venue being considered for a future face-to-face workshop. You walk through the entrance, check the accessible toilet, look at the hearing loop signage, and make notes on your phone. There are a couple of things to raise with the venue coordinator before you confirm the booking.

1.00pm — Lunch.

2.00pm — You host an online meeting with eight members to talk about their experiences of accessible transport in the North East. You facilitate the conversation, take notes, and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. One member raises something you had not heard before about taxi licensing in their area — you flag it mentally as something to pass on to the campaigns team.

3.15pm — You write up the key themes from the session while they are fresh and begin pulling together a short feedback summary to share back with the members who attended, so they can see how their contributions will be used.

4.00pm — Weekly team meeting. You give a brief update on the transport session and the site visit. The Policy Manager shares some new data that connects directly to what members were saying earlier — you agree to work it into the feedback summary.

4.30pm — You have a catch-up with the Development Manager to talk through what campaign support is needed over the next fortnight and what you are picking up from members on the ground.

4.50pm — You fill in your expenses form for this week's travel, then spend a bit of time planning tomorrow, checking that all of your details are included in the shared calendar. You are heading to a community venue in the morning, so you check the address, have a look online using street view to see what the line of the land looks like, look up the accessible parking, work out your route, and set a reminder to leave by 8.45am.

5.30pm — You log off