jobfacts

Officers of non-governmental organisations

SOC 2020 4113

Officers of non-governmental organisations perform a variety of administrative and clerical tasks in the running of trade associations, employers’ associations, learned societies, trade unions, charitable organisations and similar bodies.

Also calledTrade union officialTrade union officerUnion officerOrganiserDevelopment officerUnion officialand 76 more titles
Typical full-time pay£31,0002025 Provisional
People in the job65,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month395↓ 3%on last year · 280th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time officers of non-governmental organisations earn, 2025
£31,000 typicaln/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less thanNot published
25%Not published
Median£31,000
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £31,000
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
Show as table
UK median, £31,000
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £27,800
  • 2024 £27,900
  • 2025 Provisional£31,000
↑ 11% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 395 jobs for officers of non-governmental organisations are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026383
Jul 2026358
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026432
Apr 2026367
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026408
Jan 2026479
Dec 2025221
Nov 2025414
Oct 2025458
Sept 2025428
Aug 2025375
Jul 2025451
Jun 2025431
May 2025481
Apr 2025382
Mar 2025541
Feb 2025467
Jan 2025383
Dec 2024257
Nov 2024356
Oct 2024457
Sept 2024461
Aug 2024357
Jul 2024412
Jun 2024469
May 2024504
Apr 2024468
Mar 2024453
Feb 2024468
Jan 2024532
Dec 2023427
Nov 2023405
Oct 2023391
Sept 2023405
Aug 2023476
Jul 2023470
Jun 2023623
May 2023763
Apr 2023524
Mar 2023691
Feb 2023708
Jan 2023727
Dec 2022602
Nov 2022663
Oct 2022745
Sept 2022788
Aug 2022660
Jul 2022730
Jun 2022727
May 2022907
Apr 2022654
Mar 2022770
Feb 2022832
Jan 2022901
Dec 2021577
Nov 2021777
Oct 2021757
Sept 2021761
Aug 2021574
Jul 2021653
Jun 2021686
May 2021634
Apr 2021437
Mar 2021528
Feb 2021358
Jan 2021364
Dec 2020347
Nov 2020351
Oct 2020459
Sept 2020383
Aug 2020323
Jul 2020374
Jun 2020269
May 2020281
Apr 2020315
Mar 2020657
Feb 2020890
Jan 2020821
Dec 2019479
Nov 2019581
Oct 2019664
Sept 2019604
Aug 2019639
Jul 2019665
Jun 2019771
May 2019758
Apr 2019491
Mar 2019584
Feb 2019580
Jan 2019699
Dec 2018415
Nov 2018519
Oct 2018656
Sept 2018611
Aug 2018529
Jul 2018574
Jun 2018673
May 2018639
Apr 2018559
Mar 2018657
Feb 2018754
Jan 2018777
Dec 2017450
Nov 2017536
Oct 2017592
Sept 2017737
Aug 2017590
Jul 2017686
Jun 2017952
May 2017754
Apr 2017684
Mar 2017878
Feb 2017678
Jan 2017939
Is there a shortage of officers of non-governmental organisations?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsAbove usual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hours worked, change in hourly wage.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
21%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for administrative occupations, which includes officers of non-governmental organisations. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London304
Birmingham28
Bristol, City of23
Manchester22
City of Edinburgh20
Leeds15
Nottingham15
Sheffield15
Glasgow City15
Liverpool14
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where officers of non-governmental organisations are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 22 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from United States, Nigeria, South Korea, ranking it 175th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of officers of non-governmental organisations
3.7%!
19%!
24%!
21%!
20%!
12%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–243.7% (small sample)
25–3419% (small sample)
35–4424% (small sample)
45–5421% (small sample)
55–6420% (small sample)
65+12% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent60%
Higher education below degree!7.3%
A levels or equivalent19%
GCSEs or equivalent!10%
Other qualifications!1.7%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent60%
Higher education below degree7.3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent19%
GCSEs or equivalent10% (small sample)
Other qualifications1.7% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: other social work activities without accommodation nec (34%), activities of trade unions (8.1%), tertiary education (5.3%), general public administration activities (4.5%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
60%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 4
Apprenticeships take
18 months
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

University

You may be able to join a national head office as a research officer straight from university, if you've got a degree or postgraduate qualification.

You could study most degree subjects for this role, with common ones including:

  • social science
  • politics
  • economics
  • law
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Trade Union Official Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship.

This usually takes around a year and a half to complete.

Entry requirements

Most people following this route have:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship
  • experience in related work

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could start as a trade union representative in the workplace, or a union administrator or organiser in a local union office. This would help you to get experience and understanding of how a union works.

Volunteering

There's a lot of competition for full-time jobs, so relevant paid or voluntary experience could give you a head start when you apply for work.

Relevant experience might include:

  • advice work
  • student or local politics
  • mediation and negotiation jobs
  • campaigning
Apply directly

You may be able to apply directly if you've got a background in adult education or training and development.

It can also help if you have experience in the voluntary or public sector, or experience of tackling issues around equal opportunities, economics, or health and safety.

For many jobs at national head office level, you'll normally be qualified and experienced in a specialist area like:

  • employment or general law
  • economics
  • trade union legislation or organisation
  • media
  • research
  • education and training
Other routes

You could do work-based training courses through Unionlearn or the General Federation of Trade Unions. Training like this could be useful when you apply to become a full-time paid official at a union branch or regional office.

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

You can see an official list of trade unions on GOV.UK.

Further information

You can find out more about working and training as a trade union official through the Trades Union Congress.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for trade union official. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • maintains and updates records of membership details, subscription fees, mailing lists, etc.
  • circulates and reports information of relevance to members and interested parties
  • arranges meetings, conferences and other events and circulates agenda and other relevant material
  • receives and responds to written correspondence and telephone enquiries from members and other organisations
  • assists with fund raising activities within a specified geographical area
  • prepares and provides measures of organisational activity for senior officials

Skills

  • align content with form
  • apply grammar and spelling rules
  • communicate by telephone
  • communicate with customers
  • deliver correspondence
  • disseminate internal communications
  • disseminate messages to people
  • facilitate access to information
  • file documents
  • fill out forms
  • handle delivered packages
  • handle mail
  • maintain correspondence records
  • organise business documents

Knowledge

  • company policies
  • information confidentiality
  • accounting techniques

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Practical, hands-on work

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for administrative occupations, a group of 20 jobs that includes officers of non-governmental organisations.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 12%about 381,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 20351 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.