How did you get your job?
I had a place on a Masters degree at the University of Leeds and was applying for PhD funding at York, but when I didn't receive the funding, I shifted my focus to finding a role instead.
I made a list of organisations I thought I'd enjoy working for. Jisc was on that list.
I applied for this role because I had some finance experience, and billing support was one of the key areas involved. It genuinely felt like a strong match for my skills - and thankfully, I was right. My interview actually overran by around 45 minutes.
My advice is to focus on roles you genuinely want, and don't lose hope with rejection. Employers can usually tell when a candidate isn't truly invested in the opportunity. This was feedback I actually received after an unsuccessful interview.
What's a typical working day like?
My role is diverse. I work closely with:
- communications
- data management
- finance
- legal
- liaison
- policy
- systems teams.
My role entails:
- ensuring that subscribers follow expected data privacy when they submit data to us
- making sure information is easy to process and access
- supporting subscribers to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in ensuring they submit the correct data, following the expectation of their regulators.
For example, in a single week I could be working on a briefing pack for a new legal re-issue, building the list of who should be billed this year and writing a process for how we should respond to an incident where we're given too much data.
We also support any provider changes, so if someone new joins the Office for Students (OfS) register (or any other higher education regulator, of course), I'm the person who makes sure the system is ready for their data and that they're ready to submit it. The same applies to mergers or offboarding - and with mergers increasing across the sector, I'm spending more time on them than I might have in the past.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The best part of my job is that it's constantly evolving - there's always something new or changing. Some people might find it intimidating not to know exactly what each week will look like, but I really enjoy that variety.
I also have an amazing team. Feeling genuinely supported at work makes a huge difference; it makes even the hardest days feel manageable.
What are the challenges?
When you're juggling responsibilities, you have to work out which plates are ceramic and which are paper. If you drop a paper plate, it won\t cause too much damage - but if you drop a ceramic one, you're left cleaning up the shards, often creating more work than if you'd prioritised it in the first place.
For example, we can't just 'drop' billing. If we didn't bill everyone, we would not be able to cover our costs, and I'd be out of a job.
It requires discipline, because sometimes the paper plates are the most interesting pieces of work, and you have to push them back for a quarter - or even a year - because something more critical needs your attention.
How is your degree relevant?
History has many transferable skills:
- It teaches you to view situations from multiple perspectives and to question your own assumptions.
- There are always gaps in what we can know, so it's about interpreting evidence rather than simply reporting facts.
- You have to defend your position and understand your sources thoroughly.
In my role, I work with people whose priorities can differ - and sometimes compete - so being able to understand their viewpoints is crucial for effective stakeholder management.
I also regularly work with regulations, legislation and compliance requirements, so being able to navigate complex information and understand it is incredibly valuable - and I use the skills from my degree to do exactly that.
How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?
As the sector evolves, my role naturally adapts to focus on the areas where we're needed most, such as working more closely on mergers, or working with my team on elements of risk management. I enjoy roles where there's plenty of different priorities and areas to work on.
In terms of long term ambitions, I think it would be incredible to become chief data officer at Jisc - or even chief executive officer (CEO) one day. I genuinely love working for Jisc, and particularly within HESA.
I've always enjoyed spotting patterns and finding connections, so any role that allows me to identify trends and make sense of complex information is probably my dream job.
What advice can you give to others wanting to get into this job?
If you're interested in supporting governance in another organisation, you can:
Read up on policies and laws around your area of interest. Look at current consultations, recent rulings, and any ongoing legal challenges to discuss in interviews and job applications, and to help you understand:
- areas of contention
- emerging risks
- sector priorities.
Seek trusteeships or governance exposure. If you're a student, consider joining your students' union trustee board. If not, organisations such as Perrett Laver run schemes to help diversify trustee boards, including initiatives aimed at younger candidates. Boards may be looking for specific expertise, but you can always reach out and ask if they need a 'youth voice'.
Volunteer and meet new people. Get involved with:
- charities supporting marginalised communities (I personally volunteer with the Refugee Council or Just Like Us)
- policy think tanks
- work shadowing professionals in your sectors of interest.
You'll build invaluable soft skills - communication, empathy, stakeholder management - and often gain exposure to legal or compliance considerations along the way.
Be open to starting elsewhere. You don't have to begin in governance. Areas that can be more accessible early in your career and are closely linked to governance, including:
- cyber security
- data management
- finance
- legal.
The skills are highly transferable. I didn't start in governance - I just ended there.
Find out more
- Discover what you can do with a history degree.
- Explore the responsibilities and salary of a compliance officer.
- Check out what employment in the UK public sector has to offer.