Student Engagement & Partnerships Lead

Sheffield City Centre (office-based and hybrid) Salary: £30,000 - £35,000

We’re looking for a passionate and driven Student Engagement & Partnerships Lead to help bring our brand to life across real-world student experiences. You’ll create and deliver student-centred engagement and partnership activity that embeds UniHomes authentically into student culture - on campus, in communities, and throughout key student moments. Working within the Brand Activation team, this role focuses on experience-driven partnerships that increase brand awareness, relevance, and affinity among UK university students.

You’ll collaborate with student societies, cultural groups, and student-led initiatives to help them grow, attract members, and deliver standout events and initiatives, while positioning UniHomes as a genuine part of student life. The role plays a critical part in taking the brand off the screen and into the real world, ensuring our presence feels embedded in student culture rather than advertised to it. Reporting to the Senior Marketing Manager, Brand Activation, you’ll be at the heart of activating all outreach and collaboration activities. You won’t be working in isolation. Our Social Media Executive, Brand Ambassador Executive and wider marketing team are equally driven to amplify all campaigns. This role works closely with colleagues across Marketing and Partnerships to support a joined-up approach to brand presence, engagement, and partnerships. Success in this role means UniHomes is a visible, trusted, and relevant part of student life, present at the moments, places and initiatives that matter most to students, both at university and on the path to it.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to and work closely with the Senior Marketing Manager, Brand Activation, to develop the student engagement and partnerships plan, ensuring activities align with agreed goals, budget, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Identify, build, and manage partnerships with:
• university societies and student groups
• student-led initiatives and community projects
• Design partnership activations that translate brand values into tangible student experiences (events, sponsorships, collaborations, and initiatives).
• Lead the delivery of student facing activations, events, sponsorships, and collaborations, including travel to nationwide locations when required.
• Support and attend events and partnership activations that occasionally fall outside typical working hours, ensuring smooth delivery and a strong brand presence.
• Act as an internal expert on student culture, campus life and community led engagement.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for student partnership activity, ensuring strong, professional, and effective relationships with affiliated stakeholders and organisations.
• Work with the wider marketing team to support engagement activity across owned channels (social media, email, ambassadors and in person), ensuring amplification supports, rather than leads, student level engagement.
• Collaborate with partners and internal teams to develop engaging, authentic and student led co-created content and promotions.
• Monitor, analyse and report on engagement and partnership performance, providing clear insights and recommendations to support optimisation.
• Share insight and learning from student engagement activity to help inform wider brand, messaging, and partnership decisions.
• Contribute to and work closely with the Senior Marketing Manager to monitor partnership activity budgets, ensuring spending remains within pre approved limits and that all financial processes (including PO raising and tracking) are followed accurately.

Essential Skills and Experience

• 2–3 years’ experience in student engagement, partnerships, brand activation, student marketing, events, or youth focused roles.
• Strong understanding of university operations, including student unions, societies, funding structures, and campus approvals.
• Strong knowledge of the student market, including an up-to-date understanding of student culture, society structures, campus life, and key annual moments.
• Hands-on experience delivering or coordinating on the ground student-facing activity with confidence.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with student groups, societies, and campus stakeholders, representing the brand authentically.
• Understanding of student-led content formats and trends, and how they influence engagement and brand perception.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to manage relationships and report back to internal stakeholders.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency in interpreting engagement and brand metrics to demonstrate impact.
• Collaborative team player with strong people skills.
• Flexible working hours, as some activities may fall outside typical operating hours.

Beneficial

• Existing networks within student unions, societies, or youth communities.
• Experience coordinating ambassadors, reps, or volunteers.
• Experience supporting larger brand or partnership activations through events or on the ground delivery.
• Full UK driving licence, as you may be required to travel to nationwide events we support.

About Us

At UniHomes, we’re on a mission to transform the entire student rental experience across the UK. As the market-leading student accommodation advertising platform and utility management service provider, we make finding and securing all-inclusive student accommodation simple, seamless, and stress-free. We’re not just another platform. UniHomes is developing innovative technology to deliver one go-to destination that supports the entire student rental journey.

With an unwavering focus on our students, partner letting agents, operators and suppliers, we continually evolve and enhance our products and services to exceed expectations, while tackling market complexity with ease and transparency. Since launching in 2015, we’ve experienced rapid growth. Today, we operate in 60+ cities, partner with 1,000+ agents and operators, and are backed by Macquarie Capital and LDC. Our success has been recognised with accolades from EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50, The Negotiator Awards, and Great Place to Work® certification.

Our 140+ strong team is based in the heart of Sheffield City Centre, where we’re driving innovation, expanding into new markets, and fostering a culture built on collaboration, creativity, and growth. If you’re ready to make a meaningful impact and help redefine how students find their perfect home, now is the time to join UniHomes. Be part of a team that’s opening new doors to better experiences, brighter ideas, and stress-free living.

Core Values

• Lead the Way
• In it Together
• Customers Matter
• Keep it Simple
• Rise Above Challenges
• Make it Happen

What do you get when you work here?

With people and culture at the heart of our organisation, we are continually enhancing our employee offer and culture. We are proudly certified as a Great Place to Work® (GPTW®) and as a Living Wage employer - all our employees earn a fair living wage above the government minimum wage. Working in our stunning new office at New Era Square in the centre of Sheffield, you will get complimentary breakfast, hot & cold drinks, snacks, pool table, holidays, length of service days, voluntary day, enhanced pension scheme, pension salary sacrifice scheme, healthcare scheme, Employee Assistant Programme, sick pay, enhanced maternity & paternity pay, career progression, a commitment to personal and professional development, employee of the month award, refer a friend scheme, staff discounts, mental health and financial support, and company social events.

UniHomes is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone can thrive and which values individuals for their unique perspectives. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments to make the recruitment process more accessible to you.

Applicants must already have the permanent and unrestricted right to work in the UK. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship as we do not hold a sponsor licence. We want to hear your unique voice in your application. We love AI, but relying on it solely to write your cover letter and answer the application questions is a missed opportunity to showcase the originality and personality that will make you stand out. Show us the real you. We do not accept CV submissions from recruitment agencies. Direct applications from individual candidates are encouraged. Thank you for your understanding.