Strategic Communications Manager - Office for Students

Job summary

Strategic Communications Manager

Salary: £51,846 - £56,662

Bristol

Generous Civil Service defined benefit pension

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England. We regulate higher education on behalf of all students, ensuring that every student, regardless of their background, has a fulfilling experience that enriches their lives and careers. We have high ambitions and offer great opportunities to get involved in bringing that vision to life.

Job description

About the job

The Communications team leads the OfS's external and internal communications, including public affairs, media relations, digital communications, stakeholder engagement, student engagement and events.

As a Strategic Communications Manager, you'll play a central role in helping us deliver effective regulation in the interests of students through clear and engaging communications.

Working with colleagues across the OfS, you'll provide expert communications advice on some of the most important issues facing higher education, helping to ensure our work is understood by universities and colleges, students, policymakers and other stakeholders.

The role offers a varied portfolio spanning a range of policy areas. In any given week, you could be shaping communications about the financial sustainability of higher education providers, supporting new regulation to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct, or helping to engage the sector in a major consultation. You'll also contribute to our wider communications and engagement strategy and support our ambition to strengthen engagement with students and students' unions.

Key responsibilities may include

You will be responsible for:

• Working with teams across the OfS and colleagues in the communications team to provide expert advice and guidance on the design and delivery of a range of projects, announcements or regulatory activities
• Developing strategic narratives and messaging about OfS activities and managing a range of communications products, including regular emails to university and college leaders
• Developing and implementing communications plans
• Helping to identify audiences and stakeholders for communications projects and shaping targeted messaging for these groups
• Helping to drive communications and engagement with student unions and student representatives
• Forward planning to ensure OfS communications are strategically planned and sequenced, including management of the communications grid
• Acting as a first port of call for communications advice within OfS policy teams, and helping to embed good communications practice across the organisation, including supporting with tone of voice
• Building trusted, effective working relationships with senior OfS leaders.
• Proactively identifying and managing reputational and delivery risks.
• Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of communications activities to ensure outcomes are met and lessons learned to inform future work

Person specification

About you

We’re looking for an experienced, committed communications professional with a clear focus on outcomes. You’ll be an excellent influencer, able to build positive, trusted relationships with peers and senior leaders. You’ll have outstanding written and verbal communications and be able to understand and assimilate complex policy and technical information and data to inform communications advice and judgements.

You’ll bring strong organisational skills, including the ability to work collaboratively and flexibly across a number of projects and respond effectively to changing demands and priorities.

Knowledge of higher education and regulation is desirable, but not essential.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £51,846, Office for Students contributes £15,019 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Working for us

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, or sexual orientation.

We prefer to work flexibly because we know that it helps us all to make our best contribution. We have 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. In a typical week, we expect colleagues to spend several days working from the office, balancing business needs, team collaboration, and individual responsibilities.

To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part time working, apply to this role.

In addition, our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life. These include comprehensive learning and development, annual leave starting at 25 days’ per year (plus public holidays), access to the highly regarded Civil Service pension scheme and a variety of health benefits.

Closing date for applications: Monday 16 November at 12:00 noon

Early applications are encouraged, as the vacancy may close early if we receive a high volume of applications

Interviews will be from 7 December

For information: the OfS does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Recruitment Team
• Email : RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk
• Telephone : 01179317444

Recruitment team

• Email : RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk

Further information

Careers - Office for Students

Attachments

Why work for the OfS Feb 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 425kB)