Recruitment & Membership Senior Manager

About this Role

The National Education Union is a powerful force for change in education, representing 500,000 teachers, lecturers, support staff, and leaders. As we undertake an extensive staffing review, this is an exciting time to join us on our journey to becoming a more agile, strategic, and powerfully coordinated trade union—ready to meet the challenges of the future and drive lasting change in education.

We are now seeking to recruit a Recruitment & Membership Senior Manager to shape the union’s membership recruitment and retention strategy and to lead and develop the Recruitment and Membership department, which comprises the union’s Membership & Subscriptions and Recruitment & Retention teams. Applicants are advised this role is not a Recruitment role in Human Resources and are encouraged to read the published role description in full.

In this busy role, you will work closely with the Assistant General Secretary (Recruitment Membership & Democratic Services) on priority and objective setting for the directorate and provide authoritative advice and information on the union’s membership recruitment and retention strategy to the strategic leadership team, the Executive, local officers, representatives and staff, including expert advice on complex queries relating to membership eligibility and membership type.

You will also lead and coordinate the department’s involvement in NEU campaigns and projects to ensure a cohesive, solution-focussed approach in relation to membership recruitment and retention and member data issues.

Prospective applicants will need to have proven experience of working at a senior and strategic level, leading the work of a team, ideally in a trade union or membership organisation and effective people management skills. They will also need to have experience of establishing and managing effective relationships with key external stakeholders and have good knowledge and understanding of the role of trade unions in society and the issues relating to the recruitment and retention of members including legislation and regulations around management and storage of data, industrial action and campaigning activity.

Prospective applicants are also advised that your normal place of work will be the NEU office specified in this advert and that the NEU operates ‘Blended Working Arrangements’ for office-based staff, which means you will typically need to be based in the designated NEU office for 3 to 4 days a week (based on a full-time contract), with the remaining days based at home, and subject to business needs.

In addition to salary, we offer good conditions including 35 days’ annual leave plus Christmas closure days and a defined benefit pension scheme. Salary and benefits are pro-rata for part-time applicants.

Further information

Further details can be downloaded from our website at https://neu.org.uk/working-neu where applicants will be able to complete an online application on our recruitment portal. Closing date is mid-day Monday 3 November 2025.

THE UNION IS FUNDAMENTALLY COMMITTED TO EQUAL OPPORTUNIES IN ITS POLICIES AND PRACTICE