Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Posted by: Office For Students
Employed By: Office For Students
Job Title: Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Location: Bristol or London
Salary: £56,209 - £58,820 (plus London allowance of £3,566 where appropriate)
Contract: Full-time
Application Deadline: 12:00 24 November 2025
Who we are
The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England – we regulate higher education on behalf of all students. Our mission is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling higher education experience that enriches their life and career.
What we do
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.
What you’ll do
We’re looking for someone with existing knowledge of the higher education sector, strong interpersonal skills and a proven ability to drive, deliver and implement stakeholder engagement and / or public affairs strategies to join our busy team.
Working with the Head of Stakeholder Engagement, you’ll work to drive forward and co-ordinate stakeholder engagement around key strategic projects.
As Stakeholder Engagement Manager, you will:
Write briefings, speeches and talking points for a range of audiences, ranging from senior OfS staff to parliamentarians
Work across policy, media, digital, strategic and internal communications colleagues to ensure stakeholder engagement is planned and delivered effectively
Develop and implement stakeholder engagement plans and advise on and implement stakeholder engagement for strategic communications plans and launches
Track stakeholder engagement across OfS
Undertake proactive political and sector monitoring and manage timely internal updates and maintain the OfS stakeholder mapping process, ensuring it is up to date
Draft correspondence and undertake networking and attending external meetings, to support senior leaders and staff in representing the views of the OfS as a regulator. To note you will be required to work some early mornings and evenings to attend external meetings.
Supporting the management of the programme of visits to universities and colleges and the anticipated engagement interventions, drawing up plans and initiating lines of enquiry where required
What you’ll need
These are the skills you’ll already have:
Excellent knowledge of the higher education sector
Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to use own initiative to pick up work proactively and work autonomously without close supervision
Strategic thinking, political awareness and an interest in public affairs Ability to make sound judgements and give strategic advice
Outstanding written communication skills, in particular the ability to present complex policy and technical information in a clear, accessible way tailored to specific audiences
Exceptional networking and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted, effective working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, including senior OfS leaders and parliamentarians
A track record in developing and delivering high-quality and impactful public affairs and / or stakeholder engagement strategies
Benefits
Our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life:
25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
Comprehensive learning and development – we’re invested in your future
Generous Civil Service pension scheme
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
To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working - for example job share and part time working - apply to this role.
Working arrangements
We love working flexibly because we know that it helps us all to do our best work. We’ve created a set of principles to 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 to three days in a typical week.
To note, if your primary location is London there will be occasional travel to the Bristol office. This role will also require some morning and evening work to attend meetings, receptions and network events.
Closing date for applications: 1200 24 November 2025
Interviews from 15 December 2025