NUS Scotland is one of the most influential campaigning organisations in Scotland, securing significant wins for students and promoting the importance of strong students’ associations.

Part political, part business and part charity – NUS is a third sector membership organisation with a twist! The student movement in the UK is made up of 500 students’ unions and 7 million students. NUS sits at the heart of this movement, delivering a national student voice and supporting local students’ unions to grow.

In Scotland we represent 500,000 students, with 32 students’ associations in our membership, including all college associations. At NUS Scotland we’ve channelled that power in the last year to win £millions of new funding for student hardship, digital poverty, mental health and student associations.

What’s the job?

We’re on the lookout for an experienced campaigner with a strong background in either communications or public affairs who can help us build a bold and powerful student movement, defending students’ rights and fighting for an education system that works for everyone.

We’re a small team focused on delivering big campaigns, online and on the ground. You might bring skills in media relations, influencing policy-makers, digital campaigning and content creation, mass mobilizing or community organizing. You don’t need to be an expert at all of this, but you’ll be willing to try your hand at all elements of a campaign, and embrace innovation, experimentation and collaboration.

From student housing and finance to mental health, this is an opportunity to work across a multitude of urgent issues impacting students’ lives. You’ll be able to identify structural problems and the transformational solutions. You’ll be committed to the idea that, as a union, we’re stronger together and understand that campaigning alongside our members is central to our success. Whether it’s policy makers, students’ unions or activist groups, you’ll know how to create and leverage relationships with the media, parliamentarians and key stakeholders to set the agenda and deliver collective wins.

Who you are

• You’ll be totally at home fielding media enquiries, developing comms plans and drafting and issuing media releases
• You’ll have an eye for digital content, digital campaigning and an understanding of social media audiences
• With people at the heart of your approach you will be excited to build and maintain relationships – with our members, key-decision makers and external stakeholders
• With collaboration at the heart of your approach you’ll be excited to work with colleagues and members to develop new campaigns, widen our reach and deliver wins for students
• You’ll have no problems developing our public affairs briefings and using your knowledge to monitor relevant political activity
• Your personal values will mean you are committed to being part of an environment that promotes equality of opportunity whilst recognising and valuing diversity

Why apply?

At NUS you can expect both fast-paced delivery alongside opportunities for learning, development and shaping our organisational culture. We aim to practice what we preach so we’re happy to offer a flexible person-centered working environment with a great benefits package:

• 27 days holiday (increasing with service) Flexible working opportunities from day one
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and sick pay
• Employee wellbeing support
• Other Benefits available: Company Pension Scheme, Free Flu vaccinations, Free Eye Test vouchers, Employee Assistance Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme, discounts, Childcare Allowance, Health Cash Plan
• Paid Volunteering Days

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 and social justice.

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 minimum criteria for a role (at least 80% of the criteria in the person specification) 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.

This role can be based out of our Edinburgh or Glasgow offices (with options for hybrid working), or you can be predominantly homebased within an hour of Edinburgh or Glasgow.

You may have experience of the following: Communications Consultant, PR Manager, Communications Manager, Public Relations, Comms, Marcoms, CIM, Marketing Manager, Marcomms, Internal Communications Manager, Press Relations, Marketing Manager, Marketing Communications, Brand Manager, Brand Marketing Manager, etc.

To find out more and to apply, please visit our website