Unison | National Officer – Education And Children'S Services

Trade Union Congress; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

London Weighting

Hybrid working

Job summary

UNISON, the public service union, is seeking a National Officer to lead on policy and bargaining within Education & Children’s Services at a UK level. The role involves national negotiations with employers and government, and providing leadership to the union across regions, branches and lay member structures.

You’ll respond to consultations, lead campaigns, and represent UNISON externally, including to the media.

Qualifications

• Ability to contribute to and influence strategic initiatives in a large organisation.
• Ability to analyse complex information including legal, statistical and financial data.
• Good understanding of political environment and role of trade unions at national/local level.
• Strong leadership skills with experience in motivating and managing teams.
• Knowledge of current sector issues and employment law related to salary and claims.
• Experience in strategic campaigning and influencing at various levels.
• Discretion and initiative in decision-making and project management.

Responsibilities

• Lead national negotiations with employers, employer bodies and government.
• Provide leadership and guidance to the union at national, regional and branch levels.
• Respond to government consultations and legislation and represent UNISON externally.
• Lead campaigns on education issues and support bargaining and negotiation efforts.

Job description

Organisation name UNISON Salary £57,826 per annum, plus £7,170 London Weighting allowance Closing date Sun, 15 Nov 2026 - 23:59 Job location London (Hybrid) Hours 35 / Permanent Website https://unison.org.uk/

UNISON is the public service union. We bring together the voices of over 1.3 million workers in local government, health, education and outsourced services. Our 1,200 staff work across 12 UK regions and our national centre in London. Regional offices support the work of local branches, helping to represent, recruit, organise and retain members – as well as making key contributions in areas such as campaigning, strategies for negotiation and bargaining, and actions against discrimination.

The National Officer is a key member of the central UNISON team leading on policy and bargaining within Education & Children’s Services at a UK level. We have more than 300,000 members across education and children's services, covering early years, schools, 6th form colleges, further education, higher education, careers services and Ofsted.

In this role, you’ll be undertaking national negotiations with employers, employer bodies and government, as well as providing leadership, support and guidance to the union – both at a national planning and policy development level and across the regions, branches and lay member structures. You’ll respond to government consultations and legislation, lead campaigns on education issues, and represent UNISON externally, with outside bodies and in the media.

The person

What we’re looking for..

• Ability to contribute to and influence strategic initiatives and solutions in a large and complex organisation.
• Ability to analyse complex information, including legal, statistical and financial.
• A high level understanding of and ability to operate in the political environment, including the role of trade unions at national and local level.
• Good leadership skills, gained in a trade union environment, with a proven ability to work with a lay member structure and to motivate, delegate, build teams and manage resources.
• Knowledge of current sector issues and key areas of employment law with the ability to research and prepare salary and other employment claims.
• Experience of promoting ideas in difficult situations and managing conflict.
• Experience of strategic campaigning.
• Experience of influencing people at all levels, internally and externally, including the ability to influence and respond to national media using presentation and writing skills.
• Proven use of discretion and individual initiative in making and implementing decisions.
• Ability to manage projects, including planning and evaluation, time and budget management, setting clear objectives and monitoring progress.
• Knowledge of ICT packages including Microsoft Office suite.

Please refer to the job description and person specification for full requirements for this role.