Work with us

The Post

The UPSU Student Opportunities Function is a flexible and responsive function that coordinates resources across the Union and supports the delivery of projects, campaigns or events quickly to meet student needs as well as supporting our Student Groups and Student Leaders. The postholder is responsible for supporting, facilitating and developing all of the Union’s Student Leaders.

The postholder will lead on the creation of a year round Union Wide programme to deliver activities that provide skills, training, networking, and career development opportunities for students across different University communities as well as assisting students to improve their graduate outcomes.

The postholder will work collaboratively with other functions and the University to identify specific volunteer needs and as an expert practitioner they will provide leadership, guidance and direction to UPSU staff to ensure that all of the Unions Student Leaders are supported, developed and are successfully undertaking their role.

The postholder leads on assigned function projects as required and will ensure that they support the wider function team to deliver the function objectives and goals. This includes deputising for colleagues within the function when and where required.

The Person

We are looking to recruit a motivated and professional individual who is passionate about delivering an excellent student centred service. The post-holder will have experience of leading and managing projects and supporting and motivating people. The successful postholder will have strong project management skills and be able to devise, plan and execute appropriate activity to deliver against success measures. They will also have experience of training and empowering both staff and volunteers, with the confidence to deliver sessions to groups of students.

In addition, the post-holder will have excellent communication skills, an understanding of best practice in project management, a good understanding of both operational and reputational risk management and the skills and ability to handle competing priorities.

What we offer

• Strong team mentality, supportive and sociable workplace
• Regular training opportunities and team development days
• 38 days holiday (30 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays) and additional Christmas leave
• Flexible working (flexitime, career break, paid time off for volunteering)
• 35 hour week
• Enhanced sick pay, maternity, paternity or adoption leave
• Access to University staff benefits: discounted gym membership, free library membership, bike safe
• Employee Assistance Programme

The Organisation

The University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (The Union or UPSU for short) is a forward thinking, friendly organisation with a vision of “delivering a positive impact with every Portsmouth student”. As a charity led by its values and guided by its members, we offer a wide range of services and activities to support and enrich the lives of our students. UPSU employs approximately 35 career staff, a further 100 student staff and we work with over 1000 registered student volunteers and over 100 student groups.

Further Information

For an informal conversation about this opportunity, please contact Ashley Martin, on ashley.martin@upsu,net or 02392 843647.

Closing date for applications: midday, 24th May 2024
Interviews will be held on date: 4th June 2024

We kindly ask that candidates do not send CVs or cover letters as these will not be considered. You can find an application form on our website.

Anonymous shortlisting will be carried out for this role to ensure a fair and consistent approach to recruitment. We will not disclose any personal details to the shortlisting panel. Any documents or links with identifying information will not be used during shortlisting, but can be submitted if you are selected for an interview.

We are strongly dedicated to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within our community and we are passionate about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment which supports everyone from recruitment through to appointment, regardless of your background. We welcome applications from all talented people and as part of this commitment, we are working to improve the diversity of our workforce to ensure that it is as relevant and representative of our student community as possible and are actively encouraging applications from underrepresented groups.

The Union is a MINDFUL EMPLOYER® and we are committed to creating a supportive and open culture and actively support the mental wellbeing of all staff.

Due to the high number of applicants, if you have not heard from UPSU by the interview date you should assume you have been unsuccessful in your application.