Widening Participation and Access Project Specialist (SU297)

The University of Nottingham Students’ Union seeks an; 

Widening Participation and Access Project Specialist

Full Time 35 hours per week

Fixed-term contract to 31st July 2025

Who are we and what do we do?

Here at the University of Nottingham Students’ Union, we are a connected student community. A brilliant, diverse, ambitious community, 38,000 strong. We are proudly independent from the university and right at the heart of student life. We’re a diverse community from first-year undergraduates to research students, elected student Officers and staff, to volunteers, pioneers, and so much more. Together, we are getting involved, making change and supporting each other, making student life at the University of Nottingham the very best it can be.

We are one of the largest Students’ Union in the country, connecting 38,000 student members to share, support and inspire each other while at University. As a registered charity we act as the recognised representative body of all students at the University, and every student is automatically a member free of charge. We provide a range of activities, events, campaigning, commercial and professional services that benefit and support students to get involved, find support and make change. 

We support students to share and voice their views on academic life and the wider University experience and have strong student leadership in fifteen full and part time elected student representatives. We provide an Advice service to help students with academic, housing and financial issues and welfare support. There is a diverse range of social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and many opportunities for personal development.  We work with and support events and activities through the student committees of over 300 societies, 70 sports clubs, media groups, student halls and residents associations and other student communities.  Through our trading company, UNU Services Limited, we run two SPAR shops, a bar, coffee shop, clothing shop, zero-waste shop and a print shop. Our annual financial turnover, for the charity and trading company combined is in excess of £11m annually.  

If you like working in a vibrant and fast changing environment, you will enjoy working with us at the University of Nottingham Students' Union.

The Role

The Policy and Impact team exist to create evidence-based policy solutions to a range of issues that our students face. In this already well-established team we’re seeking a new Widening Participation and Access Project Specialist to lead on an exciting new programme of work to kick start various programmes that address the issues and barriers that students from under-represented and disadvantaged groups may face.  

To be successful in this role you will need to have knowledge of, and a passion for, Higher Education policy around both Access and Participation (including Widening Participation) and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, along with a passion for continued learning in this area. Among other things you should be able to look at data and create a narrative from it, highlighting issues and creating recommendations, persuading stakeholders to use this data to create change as well as being able to kick start new collaborative projects that tackle issues in the EDI and Access spheres and be able to manage a project from day one right until the end. We are looking for a good communicator who can relate easily both to university staff and students, and can work collaboratively with both and someone who is a good influencer, who can negotiate with stakeholders and solve some of the complex problems that individuals may face. You should also be able to manage budgets effectively, including planning for future budget use.

Funding for this role comes directly from the University’s Access and Participation fund and includes delegated responsibility for a new £30,000 fund that is directed both at individual students, and to kickstart new student-facing and student-led projects. 

Our People Offer

When you come to work @UoNSU you bring your skills, experience, talent, commitment and a desire to do a great job.  Our Students’ Union prides itself on being inclusive, working collaboratively and empowering individuals to be the best they can.  In return we want to be an employer where every member of the staff team feels valued, trusted, inspired, and able to grow and to have fun. We welcome those of different cultures, ethnicities and beliefs – this very diversity is vital to our success, it is fundamental to our values and enriches life on campus. We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.  We are on a journey to increase the diversity of our staff team and we would like to encourage applications from disabled, LGBT+ and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to better reflect the diverse community we serve.

Salary: £25,000. p.a. 

We offer a range of employee benefits which support employee wellbeing such as flexi-time, flexible working, generous holiday allowance, generous staff pension, paid Union closure days, learning and development opportunities and much more.

For a full role profile, role dimensions, person specification and to apply please go to the Students’ Union website 

https://su.nottingham.ac.uk/about/work-for-us

Closing date: Midnight Tuesday 7th March 2023

Interviews: Wednesday 22nd March 2023

Please note, applications from agencies will not be accepted at this stage

Closing Date: 07 Mar 2023
Category: Other Recruitment Opportunities