Employee Engagement Specialist

Role: Employee Engagement Specialist 

Grade and Salary: Grade 7 (£37,694 - £47,389)

FTE and working pattern: Full-time (35hrs per week), Open-Ended

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

Purpose of Role

We are at the beginning of an exciting new chapter with the launch of Strategy 35. This ambitious ten-year strategy places culture and employee engagement at its heart, and to support its delivery we are recruiting a new Employee Engagement Specialist who will play a key role in helping us realise our vision.

To support the development, implementation and evaluation of the University's employee engagement strategy, creating an inclusive, connected and positive workplace culture that supports staff wellbeing, performance and organisational success.

Working in partnership with the Reward and Wellbeing Specialist, you will collaborate with leaders, managers and employees across the University to foster a positive employee experience, drive engagement, and create an environment in which staff feel informed, valued, connected and supported to contribute to the University's strategic ambitions.

Summary of Key Duties and Responsibilities

 Employee Engagement Strategy

• Work with Global Head of Reward and Wellbeing to develop and deliver a university wide employee engagement strategy aligned to institutional priorities and values.
• Design and implement initiatives that enhance employee engagement, belonging, motivation and organisational commitment.
• Monitor engagement trends and recommend evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes.
• Benchmark engagement practices against the higher education sector and wider external market.

Staff Voice and Listening

• Support the Global Head of Reward and Wellbeing to develop and deliver an employee engagement survey strategy.
• Support the undertaking of focus groups and surveys committed to in the Global EDI Strategy and as part of EDI accreditations (Athena Swan, Carer Positive, Disability Confident, Race at Work Charter).
• Analyse survey results and develop action plans with senior leaders, managers and strategic people partners.
• Establish mechanisms for continuous staff feedback and consultation.
• Collaborate, promote and support established staff networks to ensure employee voice informs decision making.
• Establish, collaborate and support new employee forums and groups to ensure employee voice informs decision making.

Employee Experience

• Work across the employee lifecycle to enhance the experience of staff from recruitment through to exit.
• Identify opportunities to improve organisational culture and employee touchpoints.
• Create, Coordinate and programmes initiatives that strengthen recognition, inclusion and staff appreciation.
• Develop, Support and deliver programmes that promote collaboration across campuses and locations.
• Support the diversity of our staff networks on subject specific initiatives. 

Communication and Change Engagement

• Partner with Internal Communications colleagues to ensure effective communication of organisational priorities and change initiatives.
• Develop engagement plans that support organisational change and transformation programmes.
• Help leaders communicate with authenticity, transparency and consistency.
• Guide and support HR policy authors, with EDI, on their engagement on policy development/review as part of the Equality Impact Assessment process. 

Wellbeing, Inclusion and Culture

• Support the development of a positive and inclusive workplace culture.
• Work closely with EDI, Wellbeing and HR colleagues to develop and deliver initiatives promoting belonging and employee wellbeing.
• Ensure engagement activities support the University's statutory and additional commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion in both a national and global sense.
• Contribute to initiatives such as Athena Swan, wellbeing frameworks and staff recognition programmes.

Data, Insights and Reporting

• Analyse employee engagement, wellbeing and retention data to identify trends and risks.
• Produce reports and presentations for University Executive, governance committees and senior leadership teams.
• Supporting the Global EDI Strategy actions through analytical data presentation and reporting at the Global EDI Committee.     
• Develop and monitor KPIs relating to engagement, culture and employee experience.
• Evaluate the impact and return on investment of engagement initiatives.

Leadership and Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders, HR colleagues, managers and staff representatives.
• Provide expert advice and guidance on employee engagement best practice.
• Influence and support leaders to create highly engaged and inclusive teams.
• Manage external suppliers where required.

Education, Qualifications & Experience

Essential Criteria

•  Degree qualification or equivalent professional experience.
• CIPD Level 5 or Level 7 qualification (or working towards).
• Significant experience of employee engagement, employee experience, organisational development or culture change.
• Experience of designing and delivering engagement strategies and initiatives.
• Experience of analysing employee survey data and translating insights into action.
• Experience of stakeholder management at senior levels.
• Knowledge of contemporary employee engagement and employee experience practices.
• Experience of working within a complex organisation.

Desirable Criteria

•  Experience within Higher Education or the public sector.
• Experience of supporting culture change or large-scale organisational transformation.
• Knowledge of EDI and wellbeing frameworks.
• Experience of engagement platform implementation and management.

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 4th of October 2026. 

Please submit your CV and covering letter via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system. 

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

About Heriot-Watt University

At Heriot-Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.