Alumni Relations and Programmes Officer
Rhodes House in central Oxford, Hybrid Working (minimum of 2 days per week in Rhodes House)
18-month contract, full-time
£34,000 - £39,000 per annum
We have a great opportunity for an Alumni Relations and Programmes Officer to join the Rhodes Trust, Oxford. This role will be a crucial part of the Global Programmes and Alumni Engagement team, working closely with the Global Programmes and Alumni Engagement Lead to deliver a suite of Alumni engagement activities, communications and events, fora and programming.
We are looking for the successful candidate to start with us as soon as possible.
Role responsibilities
- Support the planning, design and delivery of the Global Programming portfolio, supporting to deliver keystone initiatives such as reunions, convenings, UK and global Alumni events, and supporting constituencies with less activity, ensuring a proactive calendar of Alumni and public activities
- Support on the Rhodes Global Forums, suggesting speaker and programme ideas as well as preparing and sending invitations, marketing the event and running briefing calls
- Support with general administration as requested, particularly regarding the Global Alumni Advisory Board (GAAB) and Lifelong Fellowship and Impact Committee (LFIC) including coordinating meetings, drafting meeting agendas and minutes, printing or sending of presentations, collating of information for reporting, following up on action items and other communication materials as appropriate
- Support the delivery of the Global Welcome Home Weekend, a residential retreat, across 3-4 different countries in order to integrate recently graduated scholars with the alumni community, and travel as required. Lead on at least one of these programmes each year
- Monitor the Alumni and conferences mailboxes and ensure a timely reply to all queries and requests directed to them. Provide appropriate responses to a varied range of enquiries from community, and non-community, members by email, phone, post and in person. Tactfully and diplomatically recognise and quickly resolve any potential issues raised
- Under the guidance of the Global Programmes and Alumni Engagement Lead, lead on key Alumni engagement initiatives as required, for example the annual Meeting Minds Alumni Dinner or the Scholars’ Library series
- Role modelling the Trust’s organisational values of commitment, inclusion, belonging, growth and innovation
- Carrying out any other duties relevant to the role, as requested
- A deep commitment to the values, ethos and mission of the Rhodes Trust
Please see job description for more responsibilities
Essential skills, experience and qualifications
- Experience in event planning and delivery, both in-person and online and/or hybrid
- Tech-savvy with proven experience with Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and online event platforms (Zoom, Eventbrite) as well as being willing to learn new platforms. Experience with customer relationship management platforms (such as Salesforce) is desirable, but the ability to manage data and reports is essential.
- Excellent administrative skills with an ability to prioritise work and meet tight deadlines
- Ability to build strong working relationship with immediate colleagues, as well as with external stakeholders
Please see job description for more essential criteria
Desirable skills and experience:
- Previous Alumni Relations experience, or experience working with communities
- Previous programming experience
- Experience with Salesforce
- Use of email marketing systems (e.g. Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor)
About the Rhodes Trust
The Rhodes Trust is an educational charity which offers Rhodes Scholarships to exceptional students from around the world to come and study at the University of Oxford. Our mission is to build a better world through global fellowship programmes that develop and connect compassionate, innovative, and public-spirited people committed to solving humanity’s challenges. In recent years, we have also partnered with several other remarkable organisations to create the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, the Atlantic Institute, Schmidt Science Fellows, RISE and Oxford Next Horizons.
Benefits of working here
We are a global organisation and we use our deep connections across the world to bring together people of different backgrounds and viewpoints. We encourage our staff to challenge each other’s thinking and generate new ideas.
- 30 days annual leave (pro rata) plus 8 bank holidays
- Competitive pension scheme
- Generous family leave schemes
- Private health insurance
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Personal development opportunities
- Additional benefits, such as free access to the University's gardens, parks, libraries and museums, and University staff discounts in shops across Oxford.
- Cycle to work scheme
- Electric car scheme
For further details such as the job and person specification, please view the job description. To apply, please click 'Apply for this role' in the top right hand corner of this page which will take you to the application form. Please complete the form with your details and attach your CV and covering letter. Please note, this advert will close on 13 July 2026. Interviews are expected to be the week commencing 20 July 2026.
If you have any issues with submitting your application, please email the Recruitment team.
The Rhodes Trust is an equal opportunity employer. We warmly welcome applications from talented people of diverse backgrounds and appoint without regard to age, disability, gender, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, parental status, marital or civil partner status, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, religion or belief.
