Engagement Officer

Location: Bristol 

Salary:  £37,614 - £38,577

Generous Civil Service defined benefit pension 

About us 

We are the independent regulator of higher education in England. We aim to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. 

We’re proud of our people, our culture and the benefits we offer. We care about supporting and developing our staff. At the OfS we want to create a welcoming and engaging working environment which is free from discrimination. 

We’re looking for skilled, committed people who care about students and their experience of higher education. Join us and you’ll be part of an energetic, forward-looking organisation with high ambitions and big opportunities for our people. 

About the role 

We are seeking an Engagement Officer to support the Stakeholder Engagement Team and play an integral role in the smooth delivery of a range of the OfS’s stakeholder engagement activities, including provider engagement, visits programme, political and sector engagement and events.  

You will have an opportunity to be involved in a range of areas, including delivering the OfS’s programme of provider visits, including managing the briefings process from start to finish, lead on the OfS’s public affairs activity, preparing senior leadership for meetings by producing useful briefings and lines to take. You will also own and maintain the OfS stakeholder mapping process, tracking engagement across the OfS. 

Sitting within the Strategy, Delivery and Communications (SDC) Directorate, the communications team drives the OfS’s external and internal communications, including public affairs, media relations, digital publishing, stakeholder engagement, events and public information. Communications is essential for the organisation to drive progress towards our strategic goals.  

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with strong engagement and communications skills who wants to work at the heart of higher education regulation. Please note there will be regular travel to London as part of this role and some evening work to attend meetings, receptions and events.

What you’ll do 

As Engagement Officer, you will: 

• Manage delivery and coordination of briefings for the OfS’s programme of visits to universities and colleges (approximately 40 per cent of the role)  

• Prepare external and internal briefings, speeches and talking points for a range of audiences, ranging from senior OfS staff to parliamentarians 

• Manage the OfS’s public affairs activity, including drafting supporting parliamentary correspondence, including letters and briefings to MPs, own relationship with APPGs, undertake networking and attend external meetings to support senior leaders and staff in representing the OfS  

• Undertake proactive political and sector monitoring through management of the OfS’s monitoring service and draft and manage timely internal updates  

• Own and maintain the OfS stakeholder mapping process, ensuring it is up to date; track stakeholder engagement across the OfS to ensure the organisation maintains useful records of interactions with stakeholders  

• Develop strategic stakeholder engagement activity and ideas across several workstreams and advising on strategic communications plans for launches and publications  

• Work with Administrative Resource Unit colleagues to ensure timely and accurate responses from the OfS’s public enquiries function 

What you’ll need 

These are the skills and experience you’ll already have: 

• Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to use own initiative to pick up work proactively and work autonomously without close supervision   

• Political awareness and an interest in public affairs  

• Outstanding written communication skills, in particular the ability to present complex policy and technical information in a clear, accessible way tailored to specific audiences 

• Good networking and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted, effective working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders  

• Experience of working in a team that has delivered high-quality and impactful public affairs and / or stakeholder engagement strategies 

• Excellent writing skills 

Desirable experience 

• Previous experience working in higher education  

Benefits 

Our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life. These include: 

• Comprehensive learning and development – we’re invested in your future. 

• Annual leave starting at 25 days per year, plus public holidays. 

• Access to the highly regarded Civil Service defined benefit pension scheme. 

• A variety of health-related benefits. 

Working for us 

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. 

We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

Flexibility is important to the OfS, as we recognise that it can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two days in a typical week. 

To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working – for example job share and part-time working – apply to this role. 

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you through the application stage, please contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help. 

Closing date for applications: Monday 6 July 12 Noon

Interviews from: 13 July

For information: the OfS does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence