Union Assembly Chair
Who are we?
We are Manchester Students’ Union, the biggest SU in the country, supporting over 40,000 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
Union Assembly Chair will play an integral role in overseeing the running of Union Assembly, ensuring that our democracy at Union Assembly is inclusive, transparent and fair. You will aim to seek meaningful engagement and Union Assembly meets its purpose of the policy-setting process as outlined in the Union Assembly and Policy byelaw.
You will bring students together in an inclusive way, facilitating deliberative discussions on student policies that have been submitted on issues that are either important to them or their wider community. We are looking for a student to fill the role who will be skilled at chairing meetings, facilitating discussions on contentious issues, and able to organise students to attend Union Assembly.
The role of Union Assembly Chair is to make sure that students understand items on agendas and the impact that they can have on the student body. You will empower a range of voice from our diverse student body ensuring different viewpoints and perspectives are heard. You will also have autonomy to decide the deliberative process that will be used for students to discuss items and deciding whether amendments can be accepted at meetings following the process set out in the byelaw.
A key part of the role will include communicating with policy proposers on any decisions that have been made, providing them with updates on the role and identifying key students groups who should be specifically invited to Union Assembly to participate.
This role aligns with all organisational values though there will be a focus on butting students at the heart of our work, being open and transparent, and being inclusive. The impact that you have in this role could have a legacy for University of Manchester students for years to come.
Applicants for this role will go through three stages consisting of an application, interview and elections. Any applicants that are successful in the application and interview stage will then face an election to become the Union Assembly Chair as per the byelaw. The election will take place from September 22nd – 25th, where training will be provided. All current University of Manchester students will be eligible to vote.
This will be an office-based role, however, there may be opportunity to work from home to do the administrative tasks of the role.
Please read the full role profile before applying, as well as our guide to recruitment.
Details
Wage: £12.60 per hour + holiday pay
Contract: Zero Hours, Term Time Only, Fixed-Term until 31st July 2026
Hours: approximately 30 hours per term.
Eligibility: Must be eligible to work in the UK at the start of employment. Must be a current student at the University of Manchester graduating in 2026 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.
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.
Recruitment Timeline
Applications opened: 21st July
Applications close: 7th August (9 am)
Interviews: 26th – 29th August
Elections: 22nd – 25th September
Role Commencing: ASAP from 29th September
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. In this case, all applicants who have started an application will be contacted 2 hours before we close the role.
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: Gary Richardson
You can contact the Hiring Manager with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: gary.richardson@manchester.ac.uk