Culture and Engagement Specialist

Student Loans Company•Darlington, SC

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This is a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in one of the most strategically important transformation programmes SLC has undertaken, sitting at the heart of the Transform the Organisation pillar. As a Culture & Engagement Specialist, you will help shape how culture and engagement are embedded into the new operating model, influencing programme decisions through insight, expertise and professional judgement. You will work in an agile, fast‑paced environment, navigating complexity and challenge while translating colleague sentiment into meaningful action at pace. The role offers significant development in project‑focused and change‑driven work, while being fully supported by a highly collaborative, open and ideas‑led Culture & Engagement team. This 0.6 FTE, two‑year fixed‑term role is ideal for an experienced specialist motivated by impact, innovation and working at the forefront of organisational change. All candidates must submit a CV and a personal statement of no more than 300 words outlining their suitability for the role.

Requirements

Demonstrable skill in gathering, interpreting and using qualitative and quantitative colleague sentiments and insight to inform culture and engagement interventions, practical opportunities for improvement and support evidence‑based programme decision‑making.
Excellent communication and storytelling skills, able to convey cultural insight, complex data and strategic priorities in an engaging, compelling way to diverse audiences.
Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across People teams and wider organisation.
Ability to plan, prioritise and deliver multiple initiatives simultaneously with minimal supervision, meeting agreed timescales and quality standards.
Sound judgement and professionalism when handling sensitive colleague feedback, ensuring confidentiality, integrity and appropriate escalation where required.
Ability to adapt approach and messaging to suit different audiences, organisational contexts and levels of change readiness.
Strong understanding of modern People practices, including organisational development and people analytics, and how these are applied in transformation contexts.
Ability to influence business decisions, acting as a trusted expert on organisational culture and supporting behavioural change and inclusive workforce practices.
Practical experience delivering culture, engagement or colleague listening activities within a complex organisation.
Experience gathering, analysing and interpreting colleague feedback from multiple sources, such as surveys, focus groups or qualitative insight.
Proven experience working with a wide range of stakeholders, building effective relationships and influencing without formal authority.
Experience translating insight and feedback into practical recommendations and actions that support organisational priorities.
Experience contributing to cross‑functional projects or programmes, balancing business‑as‑usual delivery with improvement activity.
Experienced HR professional with specialism in insights, culture and engagement.
Proven expertise in organisational culture development, with a track record of diagnosing cultural challenges, influencing culture-change strategies and contributing to multi-year culture transformation programmes in complex organisations.
Demonstrated experience in developing organisation-wide colleague engagement frameworks, including design, delivery and action-planning approaches that drive measurable improvement.
Experience of building strategic relationships within HR and the wider organisation.
Substantial experience of providing insights (differentiated for different audiences) through analysing complex statistical data/reports.
Experienced in co-creation and participatory design approaches, ensuring colleagues’ voices genuinely shape cultural priorities, interventions and solutions.
Right to work in the UK.
Ability to pass background checks including employment history, criminal record check, credit reference check and fraud check.

Responsibilities

Help shape how culture and engagement are embedded into the new operating model.
Influence programme decisions through insight, expertise and professional judgement.
Work in an agile, fast‑paced environment, navigating complexity and challenge.
Translate colleague sentiment into meaningful action at pace.
Deliver culture, engagement or colleague listening activities within a complex organisation.
Gather, analyse and interpret colleague feedback from multiple sources, such as surveys, focus groups or qualitative insight.
Translate insight and feedback into practical recommendations and actions that support organisational priorities.
Contribute to cross‑functional projects or programmes, balancing business‑as‑usual delivery with improvement activity.
Diagnose cultural challenges, influence culture-change strategies and contribute to multi-year culture transformation programmes in complex organisations.
Develop organisation-wide colleague engagement frameworks, including design, delivery and action-planning approaches that drive measurable improvement.
Provide insights (differentiated for different audiences) through analysing complex statistical data/reports.
Utilize co-creation and participatory design approaches, ensuring colleagues’ voices genuinely shape cultural priorities, interventions and solutions.

Benefits

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
28 days annual leave plus 8 public holidays
Option to buy/sell annual leave
Flexi-time and enhanced flexible working options available
Life insurance cover for 4 x annual salary
Enhanced company sick pay and family leave including maternity, paternity and adoption
Contributory lifestyle benefit options including discounts at hundreds of retailers
Cycle to work scheme
Access to the Civil Service Sports and Leisure Club for discounted gym memberships
Optional dental insurance scheme