Communications and Engagement Manager

Applications will close at 23:59 Sunday 27 July 2025

Interviews will be held on Thursday 7 August 2025

Help make the University of Reading THE choice, not just one of many …

As a member of the Applicant Engagement Team, you would take a lead role in creating and delivering a wide range of conversion initiatives aimed at engaging with current applicants to degrees at the University across all levels of study. You will have a particular focus on our digital platform, me@reading applicant, as well as helping to plan, create and develop digital content for use across our areas of work. Being a small team, close collaboration is essential, and you will support other team members in the delivery of applicant engagement activities throughout the applicant cycle.

You will have:

• A good undergraduate degree or equivalent working experience
• Strong experience in Higher Education marketing and professional services with an understanding of the applicant journey
• Excellent project management skills
• Strong IT skills and an ability to adapt to use IT systems and software appropriate to the role with a focus on content management systems
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with excellent attention to detail
• Experience of generating content for the web and for social media use
• The ability to engage with colleagues and applicants clearly, persuasively and with confidence

We know that our teams are essential to our success and as such we value our staff highly. There are several benefits to working with us:

• Hybrid working arrangements: with a dedicated zone within our hotdesking space on the Whiteknights Campus, we support hybrid working. Team members can work from home up to three days a week if they wish, and we will provide the technical equipment needed to do so.
• Generous annual leave allowance: The University believes that it is important for all employees to balance their work and personal lives. We offer a generous entitlement of 26 days in addition to 8 bank holidays and 6 additional closure days at Christmas and Easter time each year, where no staff are required to work.
• A vibrant place to work: as a member of staff you have access to a number of amenities across the University of Reading’s including food outlets, restaurants, cafes and bars as well as a generously discounted membership at SportsPark which includes extensive indoor and outdoor sports facilities a short walk away from the office: https://sport.reading.ac.uk/membership/staff/
• A diverse workforce: We know that we can only achieve our vision of being a world-class, forward-looking, confident, and ambitious university by recruiting, supporting, and developing staff from the widest variety of backgrounds. We have a proud history of diversity and inclusion and are working actively on several key initiatives to continue this: https://www.reading.ac.uk/diversity/

More information on the benefits of working at the University of Reading can be found here: https://www.reading.ac.uk/human-resources/working-life

Contact Name: Beth Reed
Contact Job Title: Head of Applicant Engagement
Contact Email address: e.reed@reading.ac.uk

Alternative Contact Name: Charlotte Jex
Alternative Contact Job Title: Communications and Engagement Manager
Alternative Contact Email address: c.v.jex@reading.ac.uk

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. We are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

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