Public Affairs Officer

Russell Group of Universities; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

USS pension scheme

25 days annual leave

Discretionary closure days

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

The Russell Group, a coalition of 24 UK universities, seeks a Public Affairs Officer to support the Head of Public Affairs across policy, parliamentary engagement and advocacy. Based in Westminster with flexible home-working, the role demands political acumen and the ability to build relationships with MPs and stakeholders to promote higher education interests.

It offers a hybrid working model with a focus on influencing policy, briefings, and communications for a high-profile sector.

Qualifications

• Ability to grasp complex policy issues quickly and translate them into clear messages.
• Strong understanding of UK politics and Parliament workings.
• Excellent written and oral communication, briefing material and advocacy content.
• Experience supporting public affairs activity or advocacy campaigns.
• Ability to coordinate across colleagues to deliver to deadlines.
• Awareness of nuances of policy positions and how to represent the organisation credibly.

Responsibilities

• Support the Head of Public Affairs in maintaining and building relationships with political and stakeholder networks.
• Develop advocacy positions aligned with stakeholders' priorities and higher education contributions.
• Prepare briefings for meetings with external stakeholders and ensure consistent messaging.
• Support parliamentary activity: track debates, committee inquiries and consultations.
• Attend events and contribute to social media and external relations tasks.

Skills

Policy analysis

UK politics understanding

Communication skills

Public affairs experience

Team collaboration

Political nous

Prioritisation

HE sector knowledge

Job description

This is a rare opportunity to join a high-performing advocacy team, working with 24 leading UK universities. We’re looking for an outstanding Public Affairs Officer to provide direct support to the Head of Public Affairs on all aspects of the Russell Group’s public affairs activity.

Through collaboration and advocacy, the Russell Group works to advance and champion the positive economic, societal and cultural contributions of our universities. The Russell Group represents the interests of our 24 university members at the highest level of government, as well as with key research and innovation funders, with business, third-sector partners, regulators, and internationally with like-minded bodies.

The Public Affairs Officer will:

• Have a firm grasp of government, parliament and working with political parties in a changing political environment, as well as recognising the importance of the Russell Group’s wider community, which encompasses a broad variety of stakeholders, including business.
• Develop a good understanding of the Russell Group’s policy priorities and higher education policy in general so they are able to communicate confidently to a variety of audiences on a range of topics or contribute to projects when required.
• Support the Head of Public Affairs in maintaining and building on the Russell Group’s existing network of political and stakeholder relationships, strengthening our ability to engage and influence and ensuring the Russell Group is seen as a trusted organisation. This includes coordinating meetings and supporting with briefings and de-briefs before and after meetings or events.
• Develop new networks that can help deliver Russell Group objectives.
• Provide support in preparing the Russell Group’s response to new parliamentary legislation or bills that impact our universities, lobbying MPs and Peers across all political parties, civil servants, political advisers and influential third parties as appropriate.
• Prepare draft briefings for meetings with external stakeholders and supporting policy colleagues to ensure consistent use of key messages in their outward facing roles.
• Support the Russell Group’s parliamentary activity, including tracking parliamentary debates, select committee inquiries and government consultations, drafting parliamentary questions and supporting the mapping of key parliamentary stakeholders.
• Support the Head of Public Affairs in developing advocacy positions that show how Russell Group universities can help to deliver on political stakeholders’ priorities while making the case for the positive impact of high-quality higher education and research.
• Develop relationships with public affairs teams in member institutions and other organisations, providing support to our members and engaging in collaborations where appropriate.
• Demonstrate sound project management skills, including planning and prioritisation.
• Undertake core tasks which apply to all members of the External Relations team, including attending relevant events, being part of an out-of-hours on-call rota, and engaging with social media.
• Finally, they will be responsible for delivering any additional tasks, at the request of the Head of Public Affairs and/or Director of External Relations, in accordance with their experience and the broad purpose of this role.

Candidates will be motivated, confident and politically astute with previous experience in a political, parliamentary or public affairs environment. Applicants should be able to demonstrate the following:

• Ability to grasp complex policy issues quickly and translate them into clear, persuasive messages for political and stakeholder audiences.
• A good understanding of UK politics, policymaking and the workings of Parliament, including how to communicate and engage effectively with parliamentarians and stakeholders across the full political spectrum.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to produce clear, concise briefing material, correspondence and advocacy content tailored to different audiences.
• Experience of supporting public affairs activity, stakeholder engagement or advocacy campaigns.
• Confident working with colleagues across an organisation to coordinate activity and deliver to deadlines.
• Excellent political nous, sound judgement and an awareness of the nuances of complex policy positions, including how to develop and implement advocacy positions and represent the organisation credibly and responsibly in a fast-moving political environment.
• Ability to prioritise a challenging and varied portfolio of work, meet tight deadlines as well as managing longer-term work, and work co-operatively as part of a small team.
• Knowledge of the higher education sector would be an advantage but is not essential

Our Candidate Pack, which includes the vacancy description for the role, is available to download from the Russell Group Career site (https://russellgroup-ac-uk.pinpointhq.com/).

Our offices are based in the heart of Westminster, with proximity to key stakeholders and easy access to public transport links. To maximise effective team-based working, we offer flexibility for staff to work from home up to two days a week, subject to work priorities.

Benefits include:

• Membership of the USS pension scheme
• 25 days of Annual Leave at start, increasing by 1 day annually to a maximum of 30 days
• Discretionary closure days at Easter and Christmas holidays (in addition to Public Holidays)
• Employee Assistance Programme

The starting salary will be in the range of £40,000-£45,000. This is dependent on skills and experience. A higher salary may be available for exceptional and highly experienced candidates.

Closing date for all applications: 17:00 on Wednesday, 7 October 2026

We anticipate that in-person interviews will be held in the week commencing 2 November 2026.

Please note that the anticipated start date for this role is 11 January 2027.

Further information on the Russell Group can be found at https://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/