Head of Representation and Policy at UCISA
Job Description
Founded in 1992, UCISA is the member-led professional body for digital practitioners in education. Open and inclusive, we work together to use our collective technical knowledge and digital expertise to help transform teaching, learning and research by supporting operational efficiency and an excellent student experience.
Our community collaborates, networks, and shares their inspirational thinking, practices and procedures so that we can all learn more, advance faster and be more effective. We also work closely with technology and digital service suppliers to the sector – helping them better understand the sector’s requirements so that they can deliver the solutions needed within member institutions. We are a registered charity working on a not-for-profit basis.
The continued success of UCISA in delivering better services to our members means we are expanding our team and have an exciting new senior role to offer.
HEAD OF REPRESENTATION AND POLICY
- One of UCISA’s strategic goals is to represent the digital community in the Education Sector authentically and authoritatively.
- The Representation Specialist will bring together and mediate between senior corporate suppliers and UCISA members, representing and managing UCISA’s responses to service and management issues, such as technological changes and licencing changes, driving forward the interests of our digital community by harnessing the power of its’ collective voice and expanding the breadth and depth of engagement with UCISA.
- The post holder must have technical nous, demonstrate a strong command of sector priorities and issues and be able to respond pro-actively and rapidly to emerging issues.
The role sits within the Management Team (SMT) and will deputise for the CEO alongside management colleagues.
Summary of key Terms and Conditions
Contract: Permanent Full time, Oxford based, hybrid
Hours per week: 37.5, Monday-Friday with some flexibility to support UCISA events and participate in team days
Salary: £60,000-£70,000 per year (depending on candidate experience and skill set)
Leave: 30 days annual leave & 8 Bank Holidays
Pension: Defined Contribution scheme (6.7% employer contribution, voluntary employee contribution 0-6.7%)
Reporting to: CEO
Reports: Representation Manager
Key role duties
- Develop and implement stakeholder engagement plans with strategic partners
- Represent UCISA members views in discussions with corporate suppliers at senior management level, including CEOs, Heads of Sector Boards, senior Civil Servants
- Work in partnership with vendors and our corporate members to deliver meaningful and tangible outputs to the benefit of the professional community and wider institutions
- Create platforms for and encourage collaboration between institutions, corporate members, government and sector bodies to mutual benefit (representation role) and to resolve issues impacting on the sector
- Monitor the matters raised by UCISA’s digital community and actively listen to our members’ needs
- Provide thought leadership, challenge our members, the wider sector and external organisations where necessary to achieve positive change
- Champion the enhanced profile and visibility of Directors of IT / CIOs within Educational institutions
- To keep abreast of internal and external environmental and political issues impacting our sector
- Provide liaison with sector bodies and peer organisations
- Carry out data, research and feedback to identify common trends and undertake contextual and comparative analyses reporting of these trends to inform working practices and policies
- Create policy and briefings documents for the sector, external partners and senior managers within and outside of UCISA, including policy and guidance documents for senior stakeholders
- Create reports, research and, as appropriate, attend and chair UCISA groups, committees and other meetings to inform and strengthen sector voices
The skills and experience you need (E=Essential D=Desirable)
E: Degree level or equivalent experience
D: Higher Degree
E: Substantial experience of enabling successful representation, advocacy and/or mediation
E: The ability to rapidly develop an excellent understanding of complex technical and policy issues
E: The ability to command respect at all levels within our digital community, with corporate suppliers and with key stakeholders and partners
E: Excellent knowledge of higher and further education sector policy, trends and with the ability to monitor trends and horizon scan
E: Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills at a senior level
E: Chairing multi-stake holder meetings at a senior level experience (essential) F2F & virtual
E: Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work effectively under pressure
E: Highly responsive, excellence service focused and very able to ‘think on your feet’
E: Experience of creating and presenting high level documents, briefings and presentations
E: A very strong eye for detail
E: Excellent IT skills including Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the use of online purchasing tools)
D: Chairing multi-stake holder virtual meetings at a senior level experience
D: Experience in a similar Higher/Further education sector role
D: Experience of building effective relations (C Suite) at senior official level and influencing decision makers
To apply for this role, please email your CV and a covering letter of no more than 2 x A4 pages explaining why you are applying this role to our HR Consultant via the ‘Apply’ button above by 6pm (18:00) Wednesday 20 March 2024.
Interviews will take place on Friday 19 April 2024, in person, at a venue to be confirmed, and will include a relevant skills test/s.
Start date: As soon as possible.
For more information on UCISA and the role description and who we are looking for, please have a look at our website: https://www.UCISA.ac.uk/
Additional Documents
