Copywriter
Who are we?
We are Manchester Students’ Union, the biggest SU in the country, supporting over 48,000 students throughout their time at university. We help to make student life the best it can be by supporting students to campaign for change, creating opportunities to meet new people, providing employment opportunities, providing advice and support and being a safe place on campus.
We are a values-centred organisation that employs around 90 permanent, full-time members of staff. We recruit a wide range of roles throughout the year within all our departments from our Commercial team operating Manchester Academy Venues, 13 Media, Bar 532 & Kitchen and Corridor Coffee to our Student Activities, Student Engagement, Marketing and Communications, Finance, HR and Facilities teams. Our team of around 400 part-time, studying staff are instrumental in providing to support to all departments as well as leading major projects like Student Angels. When you join UMSU, you’ll be immersed in an environment that empowers staff to make great things happen and we're always on the lookout for innovative, passionate, and proactive people to join us.
Our values are really important to us and shape the work that we do every day. As part of our recruitment process, we want you to demonstrate how your experiences, behaviours and skills align with our values. You can find more detailed explanations of our values on our website.
About the role
Are you a wordsmith with a flair for crafting messages that inspire and engage? Want to help shape the voice of one of the UK’s biggest Students’ Unions? Join us as a Copywriter at the University of Manchester Students’ Union!
As a Copywriter, you’ll play a key role in bringing UMSU’s initiatives, campaigns, and services to life through compelling, student-focused copy. From web pages and social posts to campaign straplines and press releases, your words will help tell authentic and engaging stories that reflect the diversity and energy of the student community.
You’ll work across the Union’s communications channels to create content that informs, inspires, and encourages students to get involved. This includes messaging for Welcome/Freshers, officer campaigns, commercial promotions, and SU services such as the student bar, coffee shop, and events programme.
Your creativity and attention to detail will help ensure UMSU’s messaging is clear, consistent, and impactful, supporting a strong, authentic, and inclusive presence across all channels.
Key Responsibilities:
- Produce clear, engaging, and on-brand copy for digital platforms, print materials, campaigns, and marketing initiatives.
- Create 1–2 advertising straplines or campaign messages per week, and update 1–2 web pages or articles weekly.
- Draft press releases and collaborate on media communications to raise the profile of UMSU services and events.
- Work closely with the Marketing & Communications team to develop messaging for key campaigns, events, and commercial activity.
- Contribute ideas to monthly content packs, helping ensure messaging is creative, consistent, and aligned with SU values.
- Collaborate with students, societies, and SU staff to ensure copy reflects student voices and experiences.
What We’re Looking For:
We are looking for creative, proactive students with a passion for writing and storytelling. If you’re a student at any University in Greater Manchester with experience producing engaging, persuasive, or campaign-focused copy, we’d love to hear from you!
Desirable Criteria:
- Creating written content for digital, print, or campaign purposes (personal projects, societies, or brand work).
- Strong understanding of tone of voice, brand consistency, and messaging.
- Ability to write engaging, clear, and inclusive copy that resonates with UK students.
- Good research skills and ability to adapt writing for different channels and audiences.
- Strong communication skills and confidence working collaboratively with students, societies, and colleagues.
- Ability to manage time effectively, work independently, and meet deadlines.
Please read the full role profile before applying, as well as our guide to recruitment.
Details
Wage: £13.45 per hour + holiday pay
Contract: Zero Hours, Fixed-Term until August 2027
Hours: approximately 5 hours per week
Eligibility: Open to applicants with relevant skills and experience who are eligible to work in the UK / and a current student at either UoM, MMU or UoS graduating in 2027 or later,
Our Reward Package
You'll get access to our reward package which you can see here.
Recruitment Guide
We have a guide that explains our full recruitment process. We recommend reading through this before beginning an application.
If you are invited to interview with us, we will share our interview questions in advance so you can prepare your responses. We’re more interested in hearing about your experiences and ideas than in testing your memory, and so we want you to feel as prepared as possible.
AI Use
GenAI tools, like ChatGPT, are revolutionising how we approach a whole host of tasks at work. As a future-focused employer, we believe in embracing, not banning, these tools. However, as with all tech, some ways of using it are better than others. You can use GenAI to refine and articulate your ideas. It’s a tool to help structure your thoughts and improve clarity, not to replace your unique voice and experiences. Please don’t just copy and paste what AI tells you to write.
We recommend you read our guide on how to approach the use of AI within our recruitment process:
Inclusivity and Accessibility
We are committed to equality of opportunity, and we work hard to ensure we appoint based on skill and values.
We particularly encourage applications from Disabled or Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African candidates as these groups are currently underrepresented in our staff team.
If you have any accessibility requirements or require adjustments to support you to apply to work with us, please get in touch. We can offer reasonable adjustments at all stages of our recruitment process.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. Under this scheme, we aim to offer an interview to candidates who declare a disability and meet the minimum essential criteria for the role. Minimum criteria are marked with an asterisk on the person specification. However, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or peak recruitment times (i.e. July, August and September), it may not always be possible to guarantee an interview for every eligible candidate. In such cases, we will take steps to ensure that the process remains fair, consistent, and inclusive.
Recruitment Timeline
Applications opened: 02/04/2026
Applications close: 19/04/2026 23:59pm
Interviews: 21/04/2026
Role Commencing: 04/05/2026
We may close applications early if we receive a high volume of applications. We recommend that you apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Once the vacancy has closed, we’re unable to accept late applications to ensure a fair process for all candidates.
This application may require you to include links to your portfolio or content. If applicable, please follow guide provided next to the role profile to ensure the hiring panel can access your work, as we will be unable to assess any content that cannot be viewed.
Contact
People Team:
You can contact the People Team with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: jobs.su@manchester.ac.uk
Phone: 0161 306 3279
Hiring Manager: Beth Evans
You can contact the People Team with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: beth.evans@manchester.ac.uk