Head of Public Affairs (KW11589)

Job title Head of Public Affairs

Department Marketing, Communications and External Affairs

Salary Starting from £45,585, rising to £54,395

Grade Grade 8

Contract Type Full Time, Open Ended

Placed on Wednesday 03 April 2024

Closing date Sunday 21 April 2024

Interview date Thursday 09 May 2024

Reference KW11589

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About the role

We are excited to be building a Marketing, Communications, and External Affairs function within the University of Bath. For more information on the department and to view more opportunities, please click here.

As the Head of Public Affairs, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering our external engagement strategies at local, regional, and national levels. Working closely with the senior leadership of the University, the Director (Advocacy), and the Head of Community Engagement, you will be instrumental in supporting the University of Bath to be a trusted partner, to develop its civic role, and engage effectively with stakeholders nationally and regionally.

Through our strategy, we aim to bring not only economic benefit to the region but also to share our knowledge and skills, working in partnership with other organisations and residents whilst being ready to listen and learn. We have been further developing our civic role and partnerships, building on our contributions to the economic, cultural, environmental, and social richness of the city and region. We are also now looking to enhance our impact and connections at a national level, to help us to achieve what we couldn't do alone, and enable the knowledge and skills gained at Bath to be shared even more broadly.

This is a new role within the Marketing, Communications, and External Affairs department. We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to work with the Director (Advocacy) and the Vice-President (External Relations) to shape the University of Bath's advocacy and public affairs approach.

This is an exciting time to join the University and we are looking for someone who can help us continue to build on our success, working collaboratively with colleagues across our Faculties, School, Advancement Office, Institutes, and more broadly to deliver our aims.

About You

You are an experienced public affairs professional with a strong record of working with decision-makers at national and/or regional levels. You will be a skilled influencer, communicator, and networker, with the ability to bring about change with your inclusive approach to listening and finding solutions.

You may have worked as a civil servant or adviser, or for an elected representative at national, regional, or local levels. You will be actively engaged in building and maintaining partnerships with stakeholders, decision- makers, and officials to support the University of Bath's mission, vision, and strategic priorities, whilst maintaining its neutrality and independence. You will be well used to horizon scanning and keeping abreast of policy developments and a sound understanding of both government and Higher Education policy would be an advantage. You will have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to write concise and compelling briefings and reports.

About Us

The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities, with a reputation for high-impact research, and excellence in education, student experience and graduate prospects. A top ten university in the major UK university rankings, Bath has this year entered the top 10% of universities globally in the QS World University Rankings 2024.

Research from Bath is helping to change the world for the better. Across the University's three Faculties and School of Management, our research is making an impact in society, leading to low-carbon living, positive digital futures, and improved health and wellbeing.

The University strives to offer some of the best student and employee experience within UK higher education. Students, staff, and alumni talk of the tangible sense of community at Bath, and we aim to foster a culture where everyone feels they can belong. We are an employer where difference is celebrated, respected, and encouraged. We have an excellent national and international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award.

Through our Marketing, Communications, and External Affairs teams, our vision is to empower people to choose the University of Bath. We support colleagues to deliver the University's strategic objectives through our professional advice and expertly executed plans.

What we can offer you:

Find out more about our benefits.

We consider ourselves to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on our teams.

We are very proud to be an autism friendly university and are an accredited Disability Confident Leader; committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

Find out from our staff what makes the University of Bath a great place to work. Follow us @UniofBath and @UniofBathJobs on Twitter for more information.

We are constantly seeking to reduce the unconscious bias that enters any assessment process, with the goal of creating an inclusive and equal assessment process. To support this, personal details will be removed from application forms at the initial shortlisting stage.