Student Brand Manager Jobs
About TASO
The Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) is an affiliate What Works Centre, and part of the UK Government’s What Works Movement. Our vision is to eliminate equality gaps in higher education (HE). Our mission is to improve lives through evidence-informed practice.
TASO was set up in 2019 and became an independent charity in April 2021. Our work focuses on the generation, synthesis and dissemination of high-quality evidence about effective practice in widening participation and student outcomes. We primarily focus on developing and disseminating causal evidence.
The Role
The Head of Communications and Engagement will lead TASO’s communications and engagement work plan to raise the profile of the organisation. They will also lead on TASO’s evidence mobilisation work plan, working with the Chief Executive, to ensure TASO’s research and evaluation outputs are effectively disseminated.
This will involve ensuring a strategic approach to all communications activities, leading on the delivery of external-facing materials and publications, overseeing a vibrant social media presence and events programme. The role will have overall responsibility for a website redevelopment project over the next year.
-
Ensure a strategic and effective approach to communications, dissemination and stakeholder engagement.
-
Lead on the design, branding and dissemination of innovative and engaging communications – both print and online, including oversight of the editorial and publication process for all TASO research reports and resources.
-
Lead on TASO’s evidence mobilisation plan, working with the Chief Executive and Research and Evaluation Team to ensure research outputs are effectively disseminated and achieve impact.
-
Support the Chief Executive on delivering TASO’s policy aims. Lead on engagement with and monitoring of Westminster activities (e.g. select committees, reports, consultations) and liaise with key communications and policy stakeholders in the Department for Education, Office for Students and other relevant bodies.
-
Take overall responsibility for TASO’s online and social media presence. This will involve overseeing a critical website redevelopment project over the next year and also includes oversight of the creation, upkeep and management of digital channels and content.
-
Lead on TASO’s media relations, producing high quality press releases and news stories for the website, liaising with journalists, as appropriate.
-
Lead on the delivery of a programme of stakeholder engagement events for a wide range of audiences. The events will range from small training sessions to larger events including publication launches and an annual conference.
-
Provide line management for communications staff who will support all activities – including two direct reports and overseeing a team of three.
-
Undertake projects and duties as required or requested by the Chief Executive or broader team.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Responsibilities:
Strategy & Development
- Ensure that the organisation has a People and Culture Strategy that is aligned with and supportive ofthe organisation’s strategy, addresses staff feedback and reflects good practice in the sector.
- Ensure that the organisation has a suite of HR policies that facilitates the smooth running of theorganisation’s services, reflects the organisation’s values and includes anti discriminatory practices.
- Manage and monitor the implementation of these policies.
- Create an annual training and development plan which promotes business improvement, a positive culture and the professional development of our employees.
- Work closely with departmental managers’ in the role of business partner to address the strategic issues in their departments related to people and culture.
- Alongside the Chair, support and service the Union’s People and Culture Committee.
- Be responsible for the Union’s employer brand, using this to ensure that the Union can source and retain the staff necessary to deliver its services.
- Manage complex employee relations issues such as disciplinaries and grievances.
- Oversee complaints and student disciplinary processes.
Financial Management
- Prepare regular reports of KPIs for People and Culture as requested by the trustees and your line manager.
- Regularly review, update and rigorously enforce the organisation’s pay and grading policy with the input of the Head of Finance as appropriate.
- Contribute significantly to payroll processing and pension procedures.
- Oversee the processes for the student staff payroll.
- Ensure the smooth running of the HR department.
Governance
- Ensure compliance with right to work and other legislation relevant to the Union’s operations.
- Ensure that major processes within the Union are auditable and follow the Union’s formal procedures.
Staff Leadership and Development
- Drive a high performing, inclusive culture across Reading SU.
- Lead and inspire staff, providing clear direction, guidance, and support including giving and receiving feedback.
- Act as lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within the Union. Ensure that our activities in this area reflect the values of the Union and the University.
- Foster a positive working environment, encouraging teamwork, collaboration, excellent customer service and a positive values led culture.
- Identify and manager staff training and development needs, organising appropriate training programs to enhance skills and knowledge.
- Be responsible for ensuring mechanisms are in place to collect candid staff feedback to inform future People and Culture activity.
Stakeholders
- Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including student representatives, staff, the Students' Union executive and University representatives.
- Collaborate with external partners, sponsors, and suppliers to enhance services and explore partnership opportunities.
- Represent the Students' Union at relevant events, meetings, and industry forums.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
First Give was founded in 2014 to inspire, equip and motivate young people to make a difference to the causes they care about. As we approach our second decade, it is an exciting time to join the charity. Our vision is of a more generous society where all people are willing and able to give their time, money and skills to causes that they care about.
We are currently developing a new strategy which by which we aim to have reached a million young people by 2034. We intend to do this by developing new programmes and activities that will support us to achieve our mission: to create opportunities for young people to be inspired and empowered to give their time, money or skills to charities and causes that matter to them. Our existing programmes are delivered in partnership with schools across England and Wales, ensuring that as many young people as possible, regardless of their background have the opportunity to take part.
As second most senior leader in the charity, the Deputy Director will provide leadership to the First Give team and support the Board of Trustees and Director with strategy and governance.
The Deputy Director will play an integral role in the development of the charity as we move into our second decade. They will spearhead our fundraising, communications and marketing to ensure the charity has the capacity to deliver against our strategic goals.
Our values at First Give inform who we are and what we do. We are:
-
Altruistic
-
Inspiring
-
Empowering
-
Collaborative
-
Professional
Location
Remote/hybrid. We welcome applications from across England and Wales, however desk space is available at our London office in West Hampstead should the successful candidate be based in London.
Regular travel to London (approximately once a month) and occasional travel across England and Wales will be required.
Reporting to:
Director
Direct Reports:
Administrator
Key responsibilities
Organisational Leadership and line management
-
Deputise for the Director when necessary
-
Provide leadership and positive role modelling to the First Give team
-
Support organisation-wide improvements and innovation, including strategic planning and organisational structure
-
Develop connections and networks that increase the profile and opportunities for the charity
-
Work with the Director and Head of Programmes to create opportunities for young people to influence and engage with our work and impact
-
Line management of our Administrator
Fundraising
-
Work with the Director and consultants to own and implement a robust fundraising strategy to support the organisation as it executes its new strategic plan
-
Develop processes for managing fundraising applications and stewardship of existing funders and supporters
-
Write and submit high quality, inspiring and tailored funding applications and reports for trusts and foundations (expected to be in the region of £10,000-150,000)
-
Identify and develop potential new funding opportunities for First Give, including major donors and corporate funders
-
Manage relationships with a set number of key funders, ensuring that we proactively seek feedback, engagement and involvement in our work
New School Partner Recruitment
-
Oversee and co-ordinate all new school partner recruitment sales and marketing activity
-
Work with our marketing agency to develop and implement marketing campaigns
-
Support the Programmes Team to recruit new partner schools in priority regions
-
Proactively seek opportunities for growth of the First Give partners network
-
Develop and design and production of marketing and sales resources to support all sales activity
-
You may also be required to deliver sales meetings with networks including Headteacher meetings and attend conferences to promote the work of the charity
Communications
-
Lead the development and manage the delivery of our communications strategy, including all messaging to key stakeholders via a range of appropriate channels, including newsletters, social media and our website
-
Be responsible for the First Give website, ensuring it is up to date, relevant and meets the needs of the organisation
-
Brand champion, ensuring that all external communications and resources are aligned with our brand identity and tone of voice
-
Management of retainer with external design agency
The job description gives an outline of key duties and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. The post holder may be asked to take on other relevant responsibilities as reasonably requested by their line manager.
Safer recruitment
Safer recruitment and safeguarding is of paramount importance to us, as an organisation that works with and for young people. The successful candidate will be made a conditional offer subject to two references (one of which must be your most recent employer) and any offer of employment will be subject to a DBS check.
Person Specification
Essential
-
Passionate about young people and their potential to drive social change
-
Leadership experience, ideally in a charity of similar complexity and scale
-
Ability to triage between the strategic and operational with ease and confidence
-
Demonstrable success as a fundraiser, particularly bid-writing, reporting and funder stewardship
-
Experience of developing and implementing a communications strategy
-
Experience of creating a range of content for different audiences and channels including marketing materials, newsletters, blogs, social media content etc…
-
Experience developing and implementing successful sales and marketing strategies, preferably in the education sector
-
Experience of writing and managing budgets, delivering plans using resources available
-
Track record of stakeholder management at senior levels
-
Experience of working in or with teachers and schools
-
Excellent presentation skills, with an ability to deliver concise, engaging and persuasive presentations
Desirable
-
Experience leading the development, implementation and evaluation of marketing activity and campaigns
-
Experience of remote line management
-
Experience of working in a remote, decentralised team
-
Experience of using Salesforce
Why work for First Give?
First Give provides many benefits and prides itself on how it treats its staff. Our benefits include:
-
Three additional days between Christmas and New Year given to staff gratis. An additional day off for your birthday in addition to your annual leave allowance. Annual leave allowance increases year on year after 3 years with First Give.
-
Access to Health Assured (health and wellbeing) Employee Assistance Programme.
-
As you will use your personal mobile for work, First Give provides a phone allowance to contribute towards your mobile costs.
-
Training and professional development budget, with regular training offered through the Pears Foundation.
-
Laptops are provided on a ‘paid for through service’ arrangement and become the employees after three years of service.
-
Multiple team socials and volunteering days throughout the year.
The students we work with come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and so do we. We want to ensure that we are recruiting, retaining and promoting a diverse mix of colleagues. We want to foster a diverse and inclusive culture, to empower our teams to achieve our vision drawing on the broadest possible range of experiences. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates from minoritised groups currently underrepresented on our executive team, particularly black and minority ethnic and disabled candidates.
Application process
Please fill out the Microsoft form by clicking the Apply Now button which includes a statement of how you fulfil the specification above, and why you want this role at First Give. Please also fill out our equality & diversity monitoring form (this will not be linked to your application).
-
Application closes: Thursday 2nd May, 12pm
-
Interviews: Tuesday 7th May
-
Start date: ASAP
To create opportunities where young people are inspired and empowered to give their time, money or skills to charities and causes that they care abou
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the Foundation:
The Avicenna Foundation was set up in 2023 to to support outstanding young British Muslims by providing them with scholarships for their undergraduate degree. The scholarships are mainly focused on awarding scholarships in the Social Sciences and Humanities for those interested in politics, policy-making and becoming agents of positive change.
Alongside the scholarship, the Avicenna Foundation runs a development programme for the scholars to expand their skills and abilities in various areas like leadership, communication and collaboration.
The Foundation has developed immensely in the first year with the launch of the charity; onboarding of it’s first cohort of 30 scholars and the development of a leadership programme. It now needs propelling into the next stage as the charity develops to ensure a robust charity structure and programme in place.
Key Responsibilities:
Operations:
- Manage the day-to-day operations of the charity, and manage changes required within programmes and activities as a result of changing external landscapes or contexts.
- Implement strategies for advertising the scholarships, receiving and reviewing applications, shortlisting candidates, conducting interviews, and making final selection decisions. Some of these things are already in place and may need reviewing and enhancing.
- Work with the Scholar Development Coordinator to oversee the leadership development programme, provide guidance and help the programme to grow.
- Maintain regular communication with the scholars, their progress, and address any issues or concerns that may arise.
- Ensure programme objectives and outcomes align with the overall strategy and aims of the Foundation, and are realistic and achievable within timeframes and budgets.
- Organise any events, programmes necessary to the scholars.
- Use data to track progress and drive improvement; proactively manage risks; and ensure effective use of the Foundation’s resources and budgets allocated to you.
Governance:
- Provide leadership and guidance to achieve consistency of governance across all of the Foundation’s activities, from development, delivery, measurement and evaluation and reporting perspectives.
- Regular communication and updates to the board, prepare board papers and contribute to Trustee meetings as required.
- Create, maintain and ensure continued adoption of governance frameworks, policies and templates.
- Ensure implementation and maintenance of risk registers for the charity and across all programmes.
- Manage finances, budgeting, reporting, and record-keeping
- Prepare the Foundation’s annual report.
External Engagement
- Lead on strategic communications by developing and implementing an integrated public affairs and communication plan that are consistent with the goals and values of the Foundation.
- Building and cultivating exceptional diverse reciprocal partnerships across a wide range of stakeholder groups, grounded in delivering impact through collaboration.
- Work with educational partners to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the scholarship programme
- Leverage messaging and networks to positively impact the growth and reputation of the Foundation.
- Strengthen our brand reputation to maximise our impact and reach.
- Help identify, create and develop meaningful opportunities for the young people the Foundation works with.
- Establish an alumni network and support continuous professional development for alumni.
- Produce briefings and critical information for internal and external stakeholders, and review reports, submissions, and letters where appropriate.
Experience and Skills
This is not a prescriptive list, and we do not expect applicants to meet every item outlined below. We recognise that it can be hard to find the ideal balance of knowledge and skills for this role. We are open to what this balance is, so if you are stronger in one or the other area but think you could do the job please still apply, and tell us why the role is right for you.
Required
- An appreciation and understanding of the Foundation’s values and vision.
- Outstanding communication skills, both verbal and written, combined with the ability to liaise with senior stakeholders.
- Experience in successful partnership working.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships, lead, influence and motivate others.
- Good financial acumen and experience of managing and working within set budgets.
- A proactive, flexible approach, and ability to progress work independently in a fast-paced environment.
- Diplomatic approach and highly self-motivated with a positive and energetic attitude.
- Focuses on what matters most, setting priorities and adapting them where required, with the right level of communication.
- Excellent attention to detail, accuracy and organisational skills.
- Takes satisfaction in delivering work to a consistently high standard, and programmes on time and on budget.
- Communicates clearly and confidently to senior team members, and presents information effectively, at the right time, with the right level of information.
- Plans ahead, anticipates and reacts to change and project needs, and remains flexible and adaptive in the face of change.
- Experience of working to tight deadlines without close supervision.
- The ability to identify personal strengths and weaknesses, and a willingness to develop, adapt and learn
- A passion and interest in developing work streams to support the development of young people.
- A high level of digital literacy to include MS Office, G Suite, social media and other online platforms.
Advantageous
- Knowledge and experience in effective charity governance, with experience working within the charity/non-profit space.
- Understanding of the policy and campaign landscape in the UK as it relates to issues impacting students, young people and Muslim communities.
- Expertise in project/programme management with proven ability to manage complex projects, including the ability to develop and manage budgets, timelines, and resources.
- Structured thinking when working through problems, overcoming hurdles, mitigating risks and dealing with issues.
- Confidence in, and experience in, liaising with a wide range of stakeholders and project participants
- Previous work within areas of young people, local communities, or further education is a plus.
- An understanding of effective safeguarding (training can be provided, but experience an advantage)
- An undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a relevant field.
Please note that this job description is a guide to the work you will initially be required to undertake, but does not cover all of the duties the post holder may have to perform. Responsibilities will evolve over time, in discussion with the post holder.