NUS is a confederation of over 440 students’ unions representing just under 4m students and apprentices across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. In Scotland, there are over 40 students’ associations representing 460,000 students.
NUS Charity is an exciting organisation developing and championing strong students’ unions. We connect our members and curate services to deliver advice, guidance and crisis support to students’ unions.
We do professional differently. We are a progressive charity representing students’ unions across the UK. The sector is inclusive, fun, dynamic and representative and we put students and students’ unions at the heart of everything we do. We are challenging but are committed to creating a supportive and flexible environment which pushes your personal development in your everyday activity.
What we do
Students’ unions can be transformational hubs for students, staff, and wider society. NUS Charity support our member’s development to enhance their capacity and harness opportunities to maximise their positive impact. We do this in many ways, from managing a purchasing consortium to drive great value for our members, to our development activity, supporting the best potential in students’ unions - we strive to make a difference to our members.
The student movement is fast-paced and sometimes challenging, but we’re also a big family who support each other.
We’re see anti-oppression as central to our mission. Education isn’t working unless it’s working for everyone in our society. We’re trans inclusive without exception. And we welcome individuals who are up for taking active responsibility for their own ongoing learning on liberation, equity, diversity and inclusion.
What’s the job?
In this exciting and varied role, you will take the lead in delivering commercial marketing initiatives that add real value to both students’ unions and our supplier partners. Working within the Trading Support team, you’ll be responsible for planning and executing the activity against brand development programmes across key sectors including retail, catering, and licensed trade. These initiatives are designed not only to drive commercial returns, but also to deliver on the values and mission of NUS – putting ethical, sustainable, and student-focused outcomes at the heart of everything we do.
Your role will include negotiating marketing activity with NUS-approved suppliers, ensuring that all initiatives are aligned with agreed budgets and the broader annual trading plan. You’ll be the key point of contact between suppliers and students’ unions, maintaining strong working relationships, identifying mutual opportunities, and ensuring each marketing activity is underpinned by a clear business case and measurable outcomes.
A core part of your responsibilities will be leading on the implementation of the NUS Ethical and Environmental Charter, a flagship programme developed in partnership with SOS-UK. This work will involve collaborating with unions to ensure they are delivering against key ethical commitments, and working with suppliers to align their activity with sustainable and socially responsible practices.
You will also play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our commercial partnerships. You’ll develop marketing plans for new and existing suppliers, and work closely with the Trading Manager and buyers to ensure continued investment in marketing activity that benefits students, unions, and brands alike.
Who you are
To succeed in this role, you’ll need significant experience in a business-to-business (B2B) sales or account management environment, as well as a strong track record of project delivery. You should be confident in negotiating and managing budgets, using data and insight to inform decisions, and pitching marketing ideas to external stakeholders.
We’re looking for someone who is commercially astute but also deeply values-led – someone who understands how ethical and sustainable business can thrive in a student-led environment. Strong interpersonal skills are essential, as you’ll be working with a diverse range of stakeholders from student officers to senior brand managers.
This is a unique opportunity to combine commercial acumen with social impact, contributing to a team that is passionate about empowering students, supporting unions, and driving positive change across the UK’s education sector.
Why apply?
As well as a great place to work, we offer a range of benefits including:
- Generous holiday entitlement (starting at 27 days per year rising with service to 30 days, pro rata for part time)
- Enhanced sick, maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay
- Paid volunteer days
- Health Cash Plan
- Pension scheme with employer matched contributions up to 6%
- Employee Assistance Scheme
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Childcare Allowance
- Paid volunteering days- three days per year for full time staff
We’re committed to equality of opportunity for all. We welcome applications from individuals regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, age, gender, or disability. You can be yourself here whoever you are, be proud of the work you do and build a career in a place that knows different is good.
We recognise that candidates from Black, Asian and Minoritised-Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are under-represented in our organisation, and that there are often additional barriers present for people from these groups when applying for roles in the charity sector and beyond. We are committed to taking positive action to expand the diversity of our staff team, and if you meet the essential criteria for a role and are from a BAME background, you'll be guaranteed a first stage interview. It is important to note that this scheme guarantees an interview for candidates who meet the minimum criteria and tell us that they'd like to be considered under the scheme. The selection decision at interview will be based on the most suitable candidate, regardless of any protected characteristic.
Please apply via our online application form, we are unable to accept CVs. If you are unable to complete or application due to accessibility needs please contact us.
Closing date for applications is 21st July 2025.
If you’re successfully shortlisted we’ll see you at an interview on 7th August 2025.
REF-222 317
Assistant Finance Business Partner
(SEO)
£41,055 - £44,415 (National)
+ £5,000 Accountancy Allowance or £2,500 Part Qualification Allowance
The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 50% of the government’s office estate. We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. We are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.
Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading ground-breaking programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern and cost-effective real estate service solutions.
Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged, and we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service. Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.
Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.
The responsibilities of the Assistant Finance Business Partner will include:
- Producing management accounts for relevant budget holders and contributing to GPA’s client budget process
- Partnering with the LCR and Net Zero programme managers and external partners to ensure that all expenditure has been accurately assessed based on project completion and integrity is applied
- That regular reconciliations and sampling of the project accounts are completed including timely project closure assessments
- Provide advice on financial treatment of project costs to ensure that all items are correctly assessed for capitalisation, and that the treatment of abortive costs and feasibility works are appropriately treated as RDEL, while being allocated to the correct projects
- Attendance at monthly stakeholder meetings to support the management of projects, supply chain and client relationships
- Supporting any client discussions as required to ensure recovery of billed amounts, keeping accrued income minimal and controlled
- Building a network internally with other finance teams to ensure smooth transition of data and knowledge between interlinked processes, and contributing as part of the wider finance team
- Promote continuous improvement by developing and improving accounting processes and procedures relating to projects and other expenditure
- Preparing balance sheet reconciliations including accruals and prepayments
- Analysing financial performance to identify variances and ensuring transactions are accounted for correctly
- Preparing and processing journals
- Supporting internal and external audits
- Facilitating forecasting and reporting
- Identifying trends, risks and opportunities in the financial data
- Ensuring Record to Report principles are embedded within the GPA
- Deputise for the Finance Business Partner as required
Key Skills & Experience
- CCAB or equivalent part-qualified or finalist-level candidates required, full qualification desirable.
- Experience in facilities management or estates-related roles (e.g. property management, construction projects) is preferable, however candidates from other backgrounds will be considered.
- Strong month-end management accounting experience required; finance business partnering experience is advantageous.
- Confident communicator with proven stakeholder engagement skills.
- Ambitious and driven, ideally from a fast-paced or client-focused environment.
The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do. To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.