Sheffield City Centre (office-based and hybrid)
Salary: £30,000 - £35,000
We’re looking for a passionate and driven Student Engagement & Partnerships Lead to help bring our brand to life across real-world student experiences.
You’ll create and deliver student-centred engagement and partnership activity that embeds UniHomes authentically into student culture – on campus, in communities, and throughout key student moments.
Working within the Brand Activation team, this role focuses on experience-driven partnerships that increase brand awareness, relevance, and affinity among UK university students. You’ll collaborate with student societies, cultural groups, and student-led initiatives to help them grow, attract members, and deliver standout events and initiatives, while positioning UniHomes as a genuine part of student life.
The role plays a critical part in taking the brand off the screen and into the real world, ensuring our presence feels embedded in student culture rather than advertised to it.
Reporting to the Senior Marketing Manager, Brand Activation, you’ll be at the heart of activating all outreach and collaboration activities. You won’t be working in isolation. Our Social Media Executive, Brand Ambassador Executive and wider marketing team are equally driven to amplify all campaigns.
This role works closely with colleagues across Marketing and Partnerships to support a joined‑up approach to brand presence, engagement, and partnerships.
Success in this role means UniHomes is a visible, trusted, and relevant part of student life, present at the moments, places and initiatives that matter most to students, both at university and on the path to it.
Key responsibilities
* Contribute to and work closely with the Senior Marketing Manager, Brand Activation, to develop the student engagement and partnerships plan, ensuring activities align with agreed goals, budget, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
* Identify, build, and manage partnerships with:
o university societies and student groups
o student‑led initiatives and community projects
* Design partnership activations that translate brand values into tangible student experiences (events, sponsorships, collaborations, and initiatives). Examples of engagement and partnership activity may include (but are not limited to):
o supporting society‑led welcome or end of term events
o partnering with student groups around key moments such as moving into shared housing or settling into second year
o funding or enabling student‑run initiatives that support community, wellbeing, or student life
o collaborating with course‑based or creative societies on showcases, exhibitions, or projects
* Lead the delivery of student‑facing activations, events, sponsorships, and collaborations, including travel to nationwide locations when required. This includes ownership of logistics, timelines, on‑ground execution and cross‑team coordination.
* Support and attend events and partnership activations that occasionally fall outside typical working hours, ensuring smooth delivery and a strong brand presence.
* Act as an internal expert on student culture, campus life and community‑led engagement.
* Serve as the primary point of contact for student partnership activity, ensuring strong, professional, and effective relationships with affiliated stakeholders and organisations.
* Work with the wider marketing team to support engagement activity across owned channels (social media, email, ambassadors and in‑person), ensuring amplification supports, rather than leads, student‑level engagement.
* Collaborate with partners and internal teams to develop engaging, authentic and student‑led co‑created content and promotions.
* Monitor, analyse and report on engagement and partnership performance, providing clear insights and recommendations to support optimisation.
* Share insight and learning from student engagement activity to help inform wider brand, messaging, and partnership decisions.
* Contribute to and work closely with the Senior Marketing Manager to monitor partnership activity budgets, ensuring spending remains within pre‑approved limits and that all financial processes (including PO raising and tracking) are followed accurately.
Skills and experience
Essential
* 2–3 years’ experience in student engagement, partnerships, brand activation, student marketing, events, or youth‑focused roles.
* Strong understanding of university operations, including student unions, societies, funding structures, and campus approvals.
* Strong knowledge of the student market, including an up‑to‑date understanding of student culture, society structures, campus life, and key annual moments.
* Hands‑on experience delivering or coordinating on‑ground student‑facing activity with confidence.
* Ability to build trusted relationships with student groups, societies, and campus stakeholders, representing the brand authentically.
* Understanding of student‑led content formats and trends, and how they influence engagement and brand perception.
* Strong interpersonal and communication skills to manage relationships and report back to internal stakeholders.
* Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage multiple projects in a fast‑paced environment.
* Proficiency in interpreting engagement and brand metrics to demonstrate impact.
* Collaborative team player with strong people skills.
* Flexible working hours, as some activities may fall outside typical operating hours.
Beneficial
* Existing networks within student unions, societies, or youth communities.
* Experience coordinating ambassadors, reps, or volunteers.
* Experience supporting larger brand or partnership activations through events or on‑ground delivery.
* Full UK driving licence, as you may be required to travel to nationwide events we support.
Benefits
With people and culture at the heart of our organisation, we are continually enhancing our employee offer and culture. We are incredibly proud to have been officially certified as a Great Place to Work® (GPTW®) and an accredited Living Wage employer – all our employees earn a fair living wage above the government minimum wage.
Working in our stunning new office at New Era Square in the centre of Sheffield, you will get complimentary breakfast, hot & cold drinks, snacks, pool table, holidays, length of service days, voluntary day, enhanced pension scheme, pension salary sacrifice scheme, healthcare scheme, Employee Assistant Programme, sick pay, enhanced maternity & paternity pay, career progression, a commitment to personal and professional development, employee awards, refer a friend scheme, staff discounts, mental health and financial support, and company social events.
EEO Statement
At UniHomes we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone can thrive and which values individuals for their unique perspectives. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments to make the recruitment process more accessible to you.
Applicants must already have the permanent and unrestricted right to work in the UK. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship as we do not hold a sponsor licence.
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