Head of Basic Needs and Partnerships
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
We’re a student-focused organisation committed to creating a more inclusive and supportive university experience. With the ongoing cost-of-living crisis affecting students across the UK, access to basic essentials has never been more important. Our growing basic needs service provides support with food, toiletries, clothing, financial wellbeing, and life skills – and we’re looking for an experienced and motivated Head of Basic Needs and Partnerships to lead it.
As Head of Basic Needs and Partnerships, you’ll take strategic and operational ownership of a vital service that supports hundreds of students every week. Reporting to the Associate Director of Student Engagement, this Head of Basic Needs and Partnerships role combines leadership, partnership development, and innovation. You’ll also manage two key roles – the Basic Needs Project Coordinator and Senior Financial Wellbeing Coordinator – ensuring the team is supported, focused, and empowered to deliver high-quality services.
This Head of Basic Needs and Partnerships position is central to growing the service into a sustainable, community-powered hub. You’ll build strong relationships with external partners and donors, expand financial wellbeing and preventative programmes, and help shape initiatives like budgeting workshops, cooking sessions, and life-skills training that support students before they reach crisis point.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the strategic development and delivery of the basic needs service
- Line manage and support the Basic Needs Project Coordinator and Senior Financial Wellbeing Coordinator
- Build and maintain partnerships with community organisations, funders, and stakeholders
- Expand financial wellbeing and preventative support programmes
- Use data and insight to evaluate impact and improve service delivery
- Ensure services are inclusive, accessible, and aligned with student needs
- Support financial planning and long-term sustainability
Essential Criteria:
- Experience in a leadership or management role, ideally within student services, wellbeing, or community support
- Strong partnership-building and stakeholder engagement skills
- Excellent organisational and strategic planning abilities
- Experience managing staff and supporting team development
- Confidence using data to inform decisions and demonstrate impact
- A genuine passion for supporting students and tackling inequality
What we offer:
- Hybrid working options (where possible)
- A supportive and inclusive working environment
- Opportunities for professional development and progression
- The chance to make a meaningful, lasting impact on student lives
If you’re a collaborative and forward-thinking leader who enjoys leading people, building partnerships, and creating practical solutions, we’d love to hear from you.
Please read the full role profile before applying, as well as our guide to recruitment.
Details:
Salary: £36,301 – £40,560 per annum per year
Contract: Permanent, Full-time
Hours: 35 hours per week (with flexible working)
Eligibility: Open to applicants with relevant skills and experience who are eligible to work in the UK
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: 23/03/2026
Applications close: 12/04/2026 23:59 pm
Interviews: 23/04/2026
Role Commencing: 01/06/2026
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.
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: Agne Rimkute
You can contact the hiring manager with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: agne.rimkute@manchester.ac.uk