Vacancies

Director of Partnerships

HEPI is the UK’s only think tank devoted to higher education and a registered charity. We are looking for a new Director of Partnerships, following the current postholder securing a new role.

The successful candidate’s primary responsibility will be managing relationships with those that fund HEPI’s work, including 130+ higher education institutions and 20+ corporations.

The main goals of this role are:

to strengthen HEPI’s existing University Partnership and Partnership programmes;
to ensure HEPI has a strong events programme; and
to secure sponsorship for HEPI’s reports and events, within HEPI’s charitable objectives.

Main responsibilities

to ensure positive relationships between HEPI and its (a) University Partners and (b) corporate Partners;
to increase the recognition of the HEPI University Partnership within institutions;
to oversee HEPI’s lively events programme – some UK-wide travel and out-of-hours work will be expected;
to find new opportunities, including building links with potential new University Partners and corporate Partners;
to support HEPI’s schedule of publications, including sourcing sponsorship for individual projects; and
for the right candidate, there will be an opportunity to be involved in HEPI’s policy work.

Person specification

experience of successful fundraising, maintaining positive relationships and managing events;
a proven ability to work as a personable member of a team, to propose new ideas and to take ownership of individual projects;
experience of increasing the reach and impact of an organisation;
strong organisational and communication skills, including a high standard of written English, with attention to detail and initiative;
committed to respecting in full the rules that govern educational charities (eg acting in a non-partisan way);
knowledge of the UK higher education sector would be helpful but this not essential for someone who is willing to learn quickly; and
HEPI uses cloud-based services, such as Microsoft365, Zoom and events booking systems, so familiarity with modern IT is essential.

Salary and benefits

Salary: Up to £65,000, depending on experience

Contract: Permanent

Working hours: 40 hours / five days a week – while we are expecting to recruit a full-time person, we may consider a part-time contract for the right person

Location: Oxford / London, with some flexibility

How to Apply

Please send a letter of application (maximum 750 words) and a CV (no more than two A4 pages) to [email protected]

On the day of the interview, candidates will be asked to make a short presentation on a topic that will be communicated in advance.

A minimum of two references will be taken up before any appointment is made.

Closing Date: Monday, 6 October 2025

Interview Dates: Successful candidates will be invited for interview in Oxford on Wednesday, 15 October 2025.

Internships

We occasionally take on paid interns, generally for two to three months. If this might be of interest to you, please approach us a few months before the you are available and, ideally, with a specific idea for a project that:

fits within HEPI’s charitable objectives;
can be written in a way that keeps to our Style Guide; and
which might be of interest to us.

In the past, the topics that HEPI interns have written about include:

If you are interested in an internship at HEPI, please send your CV and a cover letter, which should focus primarily on your idea for a research project, to [email protected].