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Head of Work Experience and Employer Engagement

USP College is seeking an experienced and proactive Head of Work Experience & Employer Engagement to lead the delivery of high-quality work experience, industry placements, employer engagement and employability opportunities across the College.

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Job Details

USP College is seeking an experienced and proactive Head of Work Experience & Employer Engagement to lead the delivery of high-quality work experience, industry placements, employer engagement and employability opportunities across the College.

This is a key manager role responsible for managing the Work Experience, Industry Placement and Employer Engagement teams, ensuring learners benefit from meaningful employer-led experiences that support their achievement, progression and future career ambitions.

We are looking for a motivated leader with experience in employer engagement, work-based learning, education or skills provision. You will have excellent relationship-building skills, strong operational management experience and a passion for creating opportunities that help learners succeed.
Interviews for this role will be held on Tuesday 11th August.

Duties and responsibilities

  • Lead and manage the operational delivery of work experience, industry placements and employer engagement activities across the College.
  • Develop and maintain strong partnerships with employers, businesses and external stakeholders.
  • Oversee the delivery of T Level Industry Placements, ensuring compliance with funding and quality requirements.
  • Drive learner participation, placement quality and positive progression outcomes.
  • Manage performance against KPIs, budgets and service targets.
  • Ensure all activity complies with safeguarding, health and safety, GDPR and funding requirements.
  • Use data and reporting to monitor impact, support continuous improvement and demonstrate learner outcomes.
  • Work collaboratively with curriculum and support teams to embed employer engagement and employability across the student experience.

The right candidate will have:

Essential:

  • Degree or relevant professional qualification
  • Significant experience within FE, employability, work experience, careers or vocational provision
  • Experience of managing or coordinating work experience, industry placements or employer engagement activity
  • Experience of leading or managing teams
  • Experience of building effective relationships with employers and external stakeholders

Desirable:

  • Management or Leadership qualification
  • Experience of T Levels and Industry Placements
  • Experience of Gatsby Benchmarks and careers education frameworks
  • Experience of using placement management systems such as Grofar
  • Experience of contributing to Ofsted preparation and quality improvement activity

Why choose us?

Our strategy is to create a Career Focused, Digital Learning environment, ensuring that the learner experience and our relationship within our community, local and regional employers, are at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to be selected as finalists for the AoC Beacon awards for effective use of digital Technology in FE. Providing a high achieving, focused learning environment allowing our students to achieve the grades they need for higher educations, or the skills and aptitude required to secure a suitable role in their chosen career. Our college is set in the leafy suburbs of Essex, with easy access to surrounding areas and amenities, we are based in a well-connected location both by road and rail.

What we offer:

  • A dedicated and friendly team of professionals who are keen to develop and learn
  • Excellent pension provision
  • Annual Staff Awards
  • CPD days - opportunities to grow and development through mentorship and coaching
  • Free onsite parking
  • Staff appreciation days
  • Eye care vouchers
  • Onsite Starbucks & Restaurant
  • Well-being days & activities
  • Electric Vehicle Scheme*
  • Discounted gym membership
  • Hybrid Working available
  • Fully immersive teaching rooms allow simultaneous online teaching at multiple locations
  • Free Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7, 365 days offering legal & financial advice, as well as general support & guidance

* subject to terms & conditions

This role is considered exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. Which means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide. It is an offence to apply for the role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

Shortlisted candidates will be required to complete a self-declaration of their criminal record or information that would make them unsuitable to work with children. Self-declaration is subject to Ministry of Justice guidance on the disclosure of criminal records, further information can be found on GOV UK

USP College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, we therefore expect all staff to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be required to undertake an enhanced disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service, and any other checks that the role requires to ascertain suitability for working with children and/or vulnerable adults, which may include online searches.

We will hold and process any personal data, including sensitive (special category) personal data, relating to you in accordance with our legal obligations, in the manner set out in the Privacy Notice for staff and in accordance with our Data Protection Policy, which is set out on the College’s website, found here. You should familiarise yourself with our Data Protection Policy (and all other subsidiary policies to it) and comply with them at all times. Neither the Privacy Notice for Staff nor those policies form a part of your contract of employment.

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