Job Description

Role:

Widening Access Student Recruitment Officer

Grade and Salary:

Grade 6, 31,236 - 36,636 per annum

FTE and working pattern:

1 FTE, 35hrs per week, Monday - Friday

Holiday Entitlement:

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

Purpose of Role

The primary purpose of this role is to drive the conversion of prospective Widening Access (WA) students into enrolled students, ensuring intake targets are met. While delivering widening access activities remains central, this position requires a proactive, results-driven approach to selling the benefits of Heriot-Watt University and guiding students through their decision-making journey.


You will lead engagement with local schools, community groups, and other non-traditional audiences, raising aspirations and providing tailored support across multiple entry routes. The strategic goal is to increase the number of WA students who choose Heriot-Watt, achieved through personalised, persuasive interactions at key stages of the pre-enrolment process.


Reporting to the UK Student Recruitment Manager, you will contribute to the University's Access and Inclusion Strategy by combining outreach with effective conversion tactics. This includes managing new and existing projects, events, and initiatives designed to build trust, showcase value, and remove barriers to entry.


Success in this role depends on your ability to:


Engage and influence prospective students and their influencers to choose Heriot-Watt. Build strong relationships with internal teams and external stakeholders. Act as a confident, positive ambassador for the University at on-campus and off-campus events. A full Disclosure Scotland (PVG) check will be required of the successful candidate.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

You will work closely with the UK Student Recruitment Manager and the wider Prospect Experience & Conversion division to implement strategies that grow and convert the pipeline of prospective widening access students into enrolled students at Heriot-Watt. Your role will combine outreach with high-impact conversion activities, ensuring that every interaction moves students closer to choosing Heriot-Watt.


You will work collaboratively with external stakeholders and partners to support the work of widening participation across Scotland such as LEAPS.


From early engagement through to post-offer conversion, you will deliver a personalised, persuasive experience that supports the University's Access and Inclusion Strategy and contributes directly to recruitment targets.


Key responsibilities include:

Design and deliver impactful widening access activities with a clear conversion focus

: from initial engagement through to enrolment, ensuring activities influence decision-making and drive applications.

Collaborate with internal teams on marketing and recruitment initiatives

, e.g., Open Days, conversion campaigns, producing materials for on and off-campus events, ensuring they are inclusive and reflective of the needs of targeted widening access groups

Develop strong relationships with key feeder schools and community partners

to expand reach and build a sustainable pipeline of prospective students.

Provide tailored advice and guidance to priority groups

(e.g., SIMD1-20 students, Care Experienced students), positioning Heriot-Watt as their first-choice destination.

Manage and optimise the Widening Access Student Ambassador Scheme

to enhance peer-to-peer influence and conversion impact.

Represent and promote Heriot-Watt confidently

at events, acting as a persuasive ambassador to prospective students, parents, carers, teachers, and advisers.

Deputise for the UK Recruitment Manager

at internal and external meetings where required, ensuring continuity of recruitment and conversion objectives.

Evaluate engagement and conversion activities

, reporting insights and recommendations to improve effectiveness and meet strategic targets.

Contribute to wider UK recruitment efforts

, including FE College engagement, ensuring alignment with overall intake goals.

Education, Qualifications & Experience

Essential

Proven experience in student recruitment, sales,

or

conversion-focused roles

, with demonstrable success in meeting or exceeding targets.

Strong influencing and persuasion skills

, with the ability to confidently communicate the value proposition of Heriot-Watt University to prospective students and their influencers.

Ability to provide tailored advice, guidance and support to prospective students,

particularly those from widening access backgrounds

Excellent relationship-building skills

with diverse stakeholders, including schools, community organisations, and internal teams.

Knowledge and understanding of widening access and participation agendas

within Scottish higher education, including barriers faced by underrepresented groups.

Ability to design and deliver impactful engagement and conversion activities

, both in-person and online.

Exceptional communication skills

(written and verbal), with the ability to tailor messaging for different audiences and contexts.

Strong organisational and project management skills

, with experience managing multiple initiatives simultaneously.

Data-driven approach

, with the ability to monitor, evaluate, and report on engagement and conversion outcomes.

Flexibility to travel and work occasional evenings/weekends

to support events and outreach activities.

Full UK driving licence

Desirable

Experience in widening access or outreach work

within higher education or related sectors.

Knowledge of the Scottish education system

, including SIMD classifications and key widening participation initiatives (e.g., LEAPS, Schools for Higher Education Programme).

Experience in delivering persuasive presentations and workshops

to diverse audiences.

Track record of achieving recruitment or conversion KPIs

in an education or sales environment.

Experience using CRM systems and data analytics tools

to monitor engagement and conversion performance.

Ability to innovate and develop new engagement approaches

that drive measurable recruitment outcomes.

Experience managing student ambassador or peer mentoring schemes

.

Knowledge of digital marketing and social media

as tools for engagement and conversion.

About the Team

The Prospect Experience & Conversion division owns the end-to-end prospective student journey, from first contact through to enrolment. Our mission is to convert leads into students, ensuring that every prospect has the right information, at the right time, to confidently choose Heriot-Watt University.


We provide a comprehensive service covering Enquiries, UK Student Recruitment (including Widening Access), Admissions, and support for prospective students throughout their journey. Our goal is to deliver a high-quality, responsive service that influences decision-making and drives enrolments, while maintaining fairness and putting the student experience at the heart of everything we do.

About UK Student Recruitment

The UK Student Recruitment Team is responsible for delivering the University's recruitment strategy and achieving ambitious growth targets. Operating in a competitive market, we focus on generating high-quality, convertible leads and moving them through the pipeline to enrolment. This means creating compelling engagement opportunities, building strong relationships with key influencers, and using persuasive communication to position Heriot-Watt as the first-choice University.


Working closely with Prospect Experience & Conversion colleagues, Marketing, and Academic Schools, we deliver targeted recruitment and conversion campaigns informed by data and evidence. Every activity is designed to maximise impact, allocate resources effectively, and ensure measurable results.

About Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and leading-edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business, and industry.


Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business, and languages. Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.


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.

How to Apply

Please submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV.aEUR


Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on

Monday 5 January 2026.

Please note: Interviews for this role are anticipated to take place on Tuesday 13 January 2026.



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.aEUR


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.aEURaEUR


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.aEURaEUR


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 websiteaEUR https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm aEURand also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science CareersaEUR https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ aEUR


We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.