What’s the job?
We are looking for a passionate and dynamic individual to join our team and drive forward student projects and campaigns. The main parts of the role are:
- Supporting Student Engagement and Campaigns: You’ll empower students to lead their own campaigns and initiatives, providing training, guidance, and resources. You’ll also work closely with our Full-Time Officers to deliver impactful campaigns on key student issues, like mental health support or community building.
- Creating a Culture of Student-Led Change: You’ll develop structures, resources, and opportunities that encourage students to take the lead on projects and campaigns, building a culture of collaboration, creativity, and impact.
- Building Connections: You’ll strengthen partnerships between students, societies, university departments, and external organisations, helping to create collaborative networks. You’ll also plan and run engaging workshops and events that build leadership skills and campaign know-how.
Ideally, we are looking for someone with experience in student engagement, community development, or project coordination. You should have a ‘can-do’ attitude, be highly organised, proactive, and comfortable motivating others to take action. Creativity and strategic thinking are a must!
This is a full-time role – working 35 hours per week, usually Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm. Flexibility is expected as some evening and weekend work may be required, especially around big events or campaign launches.
Who are we?
We are Heriot-Watt University Student Union - an independent charity that is run by and for students. While we are a charity we also run trading services (food & drink venues and shop) that aim to make a surplus. We use this surplus to invest in other vital student support services such as advice & support and volunteering.
Ultimately our main goal is to make sure that Heriot-Watt students have THE BEST TIME whilst studying here. Our purpose is clear and simple – to put Students First, Always. We live by five values – we are fun, welcoming, brave, empowering and student focussed.
You’ll join a friendly, hardworking and professional team and have a real opportunity to make a difference to our members – while having some fun along the way. We have a display of staff baby photos in our office, and a gallery of our photocopied faces which we will probably ask you to add to!
What do you get?
You will be paid between £25,000 - £28,000 per year (depending on experience). 28 days holiday plus 9 fixed days (Christmas, New Year and Easter). Pension available plus you’ll get that warm fuzzy feeling inside that you’re helping the students of HW make the most of their Student Union.
WHAT WOULD A Typical Day look like?
You start your day by checking your emails and messages, making sure there are no urgent student queries or campaign updates that need your attention. One message catches your eye – a student who’s passionate about mental health wants advice on setting up a peer support group. You reply, offering to meet later in the week to discuss how the Union can support their idea, looping in the Student Engagement Coordinator (Communities).
Next, you check your notes from last night’s campaign planning session with the Full-Time Officers. One of them shared a draft idea for a “Sustainable Student Living” campaign, and you’re already buzzing with ideas. You make a note to suggest collaborating with the Eco Society – you know they’re interested in working on campus waste reduction.
Your first meeting of the day is with the Head of Student Engagement to discuss the upcoming Campaigns Training Week. You’re tasked with creating some interactive workshops to help students develop leadership skills and campaign strategies. You decide to focus on storytelling and how to frame campaign messages effectively – practical, impactful, and a bit of fun.
Afterwards, you catch up with the Student Engagement Intern to delegate a few tasks for the week. They’ll be helping out by drafting a news article to promote the Campaigns Training Week on social media, as well as an update on what the FTOs are currently working on. You talk them through the brief, highlighting the key points to include, and make sure they feel confident to get started.
A little later, you’re off to the Union Cafe to meet a group of students who want to launch a campaign around the rising prices in Halls. You walk them through the project planning toolkit you developed last month, showing how to break down their big idea into achievable steps. You can see their excitement growing as they realise their campaign could really take off.
After lunch, you prepare for the team Marketing Meeting later. You pull together your notes so you can give a concise update to the Marketing Coordinator and make sure you have all your timelines sorted. You’ve been collaborating on promoting the upcoming Community Meal, so you double-check the draft social media posts and make sure the event page is updated with the latest information. You’ve worked with the Officers to theme the meal around Reducing Exam Stress and note that you’ll need some assets created and printed. You delegate the initial draft to the intern, giving them some creative pointers.
Back at your desk, you take a quick look at the data from last month’s projects. One standout success was the “Food on a Budget” initiative – the social media engagement was through the roof! You jot down some quick insights to share with the Marketing Coordinator later and make a note to explore how the same approach could be adapted for other welfare campaigns.
It’s nearly time to wrap up, but you’ve got one more task: adding a couple of case studies from past elections to the guide for engaging more students in Union democracy. You make a note to gather some additional quotes from current FTOs later in the week.
Before you log off, you take a quick look at tomorrow’s to-do list. You’ll be delivering a workshop on campaign strategy to a group of student reps, so you make sure the slides are prepped and your props (yes, there’s a giant inflatable megaphone) are packed.
Just before you leave, the Student President catches you and asks if you can support them in preparing for a meeting at the Scottish Parliament next week. You agree to catch up tomorrow, adding a note to your to-do list to schedule a time and gather some background information.
Phew! Another day of creativity, collaboration, and student-led change. You take a moment to reflect on how empowering it feels to help students shape their own journeys – and to know you’re part of making that happen.
Is this job for you?
Please download the Job Description below for a full list of the essential, desirable, and person criteria to make sure you're a good fit. But before you dive in, if you answer yes to these questions, then this job might be right up your street!
- Are you fired up about helping students take the lead on campaigns and projects that make a real difference?
- Do you have the confidence to stand up in front of a room full of students and deliver workshops that are both engaging and empowering?
- Do you love working with students to turn great ideas into reality – whether it’s tackling sustainability or boosting wellbeing on campus?
- Can you spot opportunities to bring people together and create a buzz around student-led change?
- Are you good at building networks that help students connect, collaborate, and make things happen?
- Can you plan, organise and deliver events with a positive, fun, and engaging approach while keeping an eye on the details?
- Are you adaptable and proactive, able to keep multiple projects moving forward even when plans change?
- Are you naturally curious and creative, always looking for ways to improve how we support student engagement and involvement?
- Are you the kind of person who gets stuck in, brings ideas to life, and always looks for ways to do things better?
- Do you know how to evaluate what’s working (and what’s not) to make sure our campaigns have a real impact?
- Does working with students from all walks of life, making them feel valued and included, sound like your kind of role?
If you’re nodding along and thinking, “Yep, that’s me!” then we’d love to hear from you.
If you’re not yet sure and want to have an informal chat about the job please contact Genna Nesbitt, Student Engagement Manager on g.nesbitt@hw.ac.uk.
Sounds great, what next?
Click here to download the full Job Description and Person Specification
If you think this sounds like the job for you then click Apply Now below and fill in our online application form. If you want to really stand out please take the time to tell us why we should pick you to work for us.