Activities Manager (Maternity Cover)

The University of Sussex Students’ Union is looking for a passionate and empathetic leader to become our Activities Manager, joining the management team to lead and support staff in developing and managing student clubs, societies and student media groups in line with strategic objectives.

In this role, you will oversee our sports, societies, and student media groups through a lens of a duty of care and safety. You will be the first point of contact for receiving disclosures, providing support and signposting, facilitating mediation between our student leads, and leading investigations into sensitive complaints. A key focus for us over the coming year is to ensure that student groups operate democratically and have processes and training that create positive cultures.

You will also have strong budgetary control, highly developed organisational and interpersonal skills, confidence, and a positive approach to change management.

The focus of the role is to deliver the above activities in line with the new Students’ Union strategy, driving student engagement. The role is directly responsible for three members of staff, and oversees the support and development of a team of student staff,as well as thousands of student volunteers who engage with the Students’ Union through sports, societies and student media

ABOUT US

We are looking for skilled, friendly and highly motivated people who share our https://sussexstudent.com/abou... and values. With our vibrant environment and organisational culture, the Students Union is a dynamic workplace only a few places could match. Led by students we are all about working with students to help them get the most out of their time here at the University of Sussex or Brighton & Hove - we are separate from the University, something that is crucial to our campaigning and lobbying work. Although we have different departments we think of ourselves as one big team and are often working all together on projects or helping each other out at big events such as Freshers week or Elections. Working on Sussex Campus and for the SU has lots of perks: Our staff receive one day off each fortnight as part of our nine-day-fortnight working trial and access to enhanced time off, which normally amounts to an extra 6 days leave in addition to 20 days of annual leave per year, and bank holidays. We also allocate funding for staff socials, learning and development opportunities for all our roles, as well as create a supportive workplace through regular 1 to 1s, an employee assistance programme and professional health services. You can read up more about our benefits below or on our benefits package https://docs.google.com/docume...

Key Information

Job Title: Activities Manager (Maternity Cover)

Responsible to:Head of Student Experience

Rate of pay: £35,267 full-time equivalent, per annum, pro rata)

Contract: Fixed term 9 Months (10th September 2026 - 10th May 2027)

Hours of work: Full-time (36.5 hours per week). Hours to be worked on a flexible basis to meet business requirements and will include working evenings and weekends

Applicants: Open to internal and external applicants*

Please note that applications from full time students will NOT be considered for full time positions, as it exceeds the recommended hours of work for individuals in higher education. This applies to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

*We are also open to exploring a secondment option both internally and externally. If you're an external applicant looking for a secondment opportunity, you must discuss it with your current employer first.

For more details please see the full Job Description and Person Specification.

KEY DATES

Applications close: 24th August at 11 am.

Shortlisting: 25th and 26th of August 2026

Interviews: 1st September 2026

Start Date: 10th September 2026 or as soon as possible.