Regional Organiser (Education)

If you are a highly capable, collaborative leader who’s committed to the aims of UNISON with a desire to strengthen workplace organisation and build worker power here’s a chance to help steer the UK’s largest trade union through a period of major change.

Our 1,200 staff work across 12 UK regions and our national centre in London. Regional offices support the work of local branches, helping to represent, recruit, organise and retain members – as well as making key contributions in areas such as campaigning, strategies for negotiation and bargaining, and actions against discrimination.

The role

As a Regional Organiser Education, you’ll be playing a hands-on, day-to-day leadership role, as well as acting as an advocate of the union. Guiding, supporting and developing local branches and activists to ensure the strongest possible workplace organisation, you’ll identify activist training and development needs, provide coaching and mentoring to stewards and branch officers, and manage a small team of area/local organisers. Additionally, you will lead negotiations, represent members individually and collectively, and help branches to develop effective systems and processes for handling casework.

The person

• An understanding of our movement, its pressures and drivers, with a passion for equality.
• A commitment to organising and building worker power.
• Ability to provide advice and guidance on the effective organisation of key branch duties (e.g. maintaining membership density, activist base enhancement, supporting employers with major restructuring, maintaining confidence in union ability to influence outcomes, oversight of case work and reducing response times).
• Good knowledge of key employment law, including developing case law and upcoming changes that may affect members.
• A strong understanding of the political landscape and how this might impact our approach.
• Ability to manage a team of staff, with a willingness to collaborate and to lead by example.
• Excellent communication and advocacy skills, with proven ability to manage high level negotiations and representation of cases in challenging situations.
• Ability to build and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, ability to influence and engage at all levels e.g. activists, democratic bodies/committees.
• Strategic project management experience, including budget management. Ability to develop strategies and solutions to solve complex problems.
• Ability to rationalise and explain the economic forces which impact on public service delivery and to create engaging learning opportunities for members on related themes.
• An understanding of UNISON’s aims and objectives at work and in the community and the ability to enthuse and inspire members, including those from under-represented groups, to contribute to the same.

Please refer to the job description and person specification for full requirements for this role.

This is a field-based role and you will need to be able to travel in and around the North West region, including to our regional office in Manchester and our resource centre in Cumbria as required – and occasionally to other regions of the UK for training, meetings or other purposes. The North West region covers a large area including Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside.

How to apply

To apply for this opportunity please download and complete the General application form, referring to the job description and person specification.

Please note that only the relevant application form will be accepted. CVs will not be accepted.

The completed application form, along with the Recruitment and Disability Monitoring Form, should be sent by email to hrrecruitment@unison.co.uk quoting reference: R6/37

Please save each of your documents to include your full name, followed by job title, region/dept and reference.

Completed application forms must be received by no later than 5pm on Sunday, 20 September 2026.

In-person interviews will be held on Friday 9 October 2026 in Manchester.

Please see a map of our regions below.