Regulation Officer Salary: £44,102 – £45,231 plus generous Civil Service pension (defined benefit scheme) Location: Bristol (Hybrid) Contract: Permanent
Make a Difference to Students – and Your Career
At the Office for Students (OfS), we’re proud to be the independent regulator of higher education in England. Our mission is to ensure every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their life and career. We’re currently recruiting for several exciting permanent roles within our Regulation directorate – the heart of our regulatory work.
Whether you’re an experienced regulator or looking for a fresh challenge in public service, this could be the opportunity for you.
Why Join Us?
This is a particularly exciting time to come on board. Our ambitious new strategy focuses on improving quality and standards and advancing equality of opportunity across the higher education sector. You’ll be part of a dedicated and expert team, helping to deliver meaningful change that truly benefits students.
You’ll also enjoy a supportive, flexible working culture and a wealth of opportunities for professional development. In our most recent staff survey, 91% of colleagues said their manager is considerate of their life outside work. Whether it’s flexible working, job shares or part-time arrangements, we’re happy to explore what works best for you.
Job description
About the Role
As a Regulation Officer, you’ll work across the Regulation directorate on a variety of projects, gaining a broad range of experience. We’re a diverse, welcoming and values-driven organisation. Our team is passionate about what we do, and we work in an open environment where every voice matters.
Your work will directly shape the future of higher education and may include:
- Managing provider applications for registration, degree awarding powers, and university title
- Monitoring and investigating provider compliance with registration conditions
- Conducting quality and standards assessments and contributing to policy reforms
- Leading work on financial sustainability, market exit, and student protection
- Delivering funded programmes and initiatives
- Improving internal systems that support provider services
We’ll aim to match your interests and strengths to the right area of work, with opportunities to move across projects and develop new expertise over time.
Key Responsibilities
You’ll be delivering a variety of activities, including:
- Undertaking assessments and monitoring of providers
- Supporting investigations and enforcement actions
- Contributing to the development and implementation of regulatory frameworks
- Managing complex casework and regulatory intelligence
- Leading or supporting service development and policy implementation
- Engaging with stakeholders and conducting occasional site visits
What We’re Looking For
You don’t need to have worked in regulation before – full training and support will be provided. What matters most is your ability to think critically, communicate clearly, and collaborate effectively.
We’re especially keen to hear from candidates with experience in:
- Regulatory, legal, policy or quality assurance roles
- Higher or further education
- Audit, compliance or investigations
- Consumer protection or counter-fraud
- Data analysis or managing complex casework
You’ll thrive in this role if you can:
- Make sound, evidence-based decisions
- Communicate complex issues with clarity – in writing and in person
- Manage multiple projects and priorities with care and confidence
- Build productive relationships with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders
Champion inclusion and fairness in all that you do
Person specification
The Benefits
- 25 days’ annual leave (plus bank holidays)
- A generous Civil Service pension (employer contribution currently 28.9%)
- Flexible and hybrid working – usually 2–3 days in the office per week
- A range of health and wellbeing initiatives, including mental health support
- Tailored learning and development opportunities
Portfolios
We are recruiting for three key portfolios within our regulatory work:
- Registration and degree awarding power,s including quality assessment
Ideal for those with experience in assessing compliance, managing assessments, quality and engaging with academics.
- Investigations and Enforcement
Suited to candidates with regulatory or investigative experience, strong analytical skills, and stakeholder management expertise.
- Consumer Protection
We welcome applicants with experience in consumer protection policy or enforcement, particularly in a higher education context.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £44,102, Office for Students contributes £12,776 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Working for us
The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.
Flexibility is important to the OfS, as we recognise that it can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shapes our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two days in a typical week.
To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example, job share and part-time working, applies to this role.
When applying for the role, you will be asked for a CV and a covering letter. Your covering letter should be no more than 500 words and describe what aspects of higher education regulation you find most interesting.
Learn more about our work in Regulation here
If you like further information about working with the OfS ahead of submitting a formal application, please contact the recruitment team, recruitmentteam@officeforstudents.org.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals and certain family members of Turkish nationals who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attracting, retaining and investing in talent wherever it is found. To learn more, please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name: Recruitment Team
- Email: RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk
- Telephone: 0117 931 7444
Recruitment team
- Email: RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk
Further information
Careers - Office for Students
Attachments
Why work for the OfS(pdf, 428kB)
