Job Description
Job Title: ASK Project Engagement Coordinator (Dorset and Thames Valley Berkshire region)
Reports to: ASK Project Manager (Quality)
Location: Home based with the ability to fully cover Dorset and/or Thames Valley Berkshire, with frequent travel to schools across all areas stipulated in job title.
Purpose: An exciting opportunity to join our Schools Team in delivering the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools programme (“ASK”). The ASK Project Engagement Coordinator will be responsible for working closely with school teachers and careers advisors, organising and delivering in-school sessions for young people aged 15-18 to improve their understanding of apprenticeships.
Remuneration: £24.5k per annum pro rata
Additional Terms: 30 days annual paid holiday (pro rata) exclusive of bank holidays, attractive pension and up to 5 days (pro rata) annual volunteering allowance
Appointment Terms: Fixed term contract until 31st July 2019 (extension subject to funding; bid process underway)
Start Date: Immediate
About Us
The Charity
Education and Employers is a UK based charity launched in 2009 with the aim of “providing young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential, through ensuring that every school and college has an effective partnership with employers”.
The charity delivers this through pioneering research into the effectiveness of employer engagement for young people and children, and through programmes and campaigns to support volunteers from the world of work to give their time with local schools, improving young people’s opportunities. This includes our flagship programme Inspiring the Future, as well as Inspiring Governance.
Inspiring the Future is a free service whereby people from all levels; apprentices to CEOs and a range of job roles; archaeologists to zoologist from around the country pledge one hour a year to volunteer to go into state schools and colleges to talk about their jobs, careers, and the education routes they took.
Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools Programme (“ASK”)
The landscape of apprenticeships is rapidly changing with apprenticeships offering a credible alternative to further education as a pathway into careers including the ability to gain a degree. At Education and Employers, we believe it is important for young people to be provided with a wide range of role models, and information about different jobs and the pathways to access them. The ASK programme, funded by the National Apprenticeship Service, aims to deliver apprenticeship information to young people in years 10 to 13, as well as to their guardians and teachers, ensuring all are aware of the options available. In 2018/19, Education and Employers is continuing to deliver the project in two regions, London and the South, with ambitious targets to reach thousands of young people.
Job Description
The ASK Project Engagement Coordinators work together as part of the Inspiring the Future Schools Engagement Team, delivering the ASK programme across London and the South. This is our third year of delivering ASK and we have ambitious targets to reach over 1,000 schools, teachers and parents; and 81,600 young people. This is a fantastic time to join the team and ultimately support the charity in its aims of ensuring young people have access to a broad range of information about their career options and future pathways.
The role will specifically focus on coordinating and delivering ASK talks, presentations and workshops for schools. This is a home-based role and the successful candidate will be expected to travel regularly to schools, events and meetings across Essex and West Sussex; therefore, this person will need to live in a suitable location for the day-to-day travel to be feasible. The successful applicant will be a qualified driver with access to a car. Travel expenses will be reimbursed accordingly.
Working closely with teachers and careers staff, the successful candidate will arrange and deliver in-school sessions for young people aged 15 to 18, to raise their awareness of apprenticeships and support them with the application process. This person will also assist with other tasks related to the delivery of the project, such as delivering ASK sessions for teachers and parents.
This challenging role is an exciting opportunity to really build on professional skills including delivering excellent customer service for our community of teachers and careers advisors; delivering engaging presentations to students and teachers; managing relationships at varying levels and working efficiently to support the achievement of key targets. The role requires someone with strong communication and presentation skills as well as strong organisational and administrative skills.
Education and Employers is a small charity working at a rapid pace to bring about change and the ideal candidate will be a self-starter, able to absorb key information quickly, work well independently and within a small regional team.
Key Accountabilities
Coordination and Planning
· Leading the coordination and booking of ASK sessions for schools and colleges, and being responsible for the planning and logistics of own events.
· Working with teachers and careers advisors to assess their school/college apprenticeship delivery to date and organising a plan of support for the academic year.
· Working with local stakeholders such as CEC, LEP and LA etc to engage schools across the area.
· Sourcing Inspiring the Future and Young Apprentice Ambassador Network (YAAN) volunteers to support in-school events as needed.
Delivery of Sessions
· Delivering assembly presentations and classroom talks for students to raise awareness of apprenticeships, involving guest speakers from real apprenticeships where possible (as sourced from Inspiring the Future and the YAAN).
· Delivering interactive workshops for students, supporting them to register and apply for apprenticeships.
· Delivering awareness raising sessions for parents and teachers.
· Attendance at careers fairs and larger events.
· Supporting local area events which may include local employers to ensure inspiration.
Reporting and Administration
· Supporting collation and updating of data received from students, teachers and parents following in-school sessions.
· Updating the project database with event information.
· Preparing regular progress reports on completed sessions and attending regular meetings with the team (online and in person).
· Other ad hoc administrative tasks to support successful delivery of the project.
Other
· Assisting schools with registering for Inspiring the Future and dealing with general enquiries from teachers about the programme.
· Other ad hoc administrative tasks to support the team as needed.
Person Specification
Skills/ Knowledge/ Expertise
Essential
· Good level of education, demonstrating capability in producing written content to a high quality. Comfortable and confident in working with data.
· Strong interpersonal, relationship building and presentation skills with experience of presenting to younger audiences.
· Excellent external facing customer service skills – ability to engage confidently and sensitively with schools and at a range of levels of seniority up to and including head teacher level.
· Strong organisational and administrative skills including close attention to detail and effective time management.
· Proven ability to work as both a team member and independently.
· An articulate and confident communicator who is influential, and effective in presenting a concept.
· Demonstrable experience of managing a diverse workload; being able to prioritise work and working under pressure.
· Good working knowledge and practical application of Microsoft office tools.
· A willingness to learn about apprenticeships.
· Willingness to travel via car and public transport (and possesses ‘clean’ full driving licence).
· Positive attitude and integrity.
· Fluency in written and spoken English.
Desirable
· A passion for supporting young people in realising their potential.
· Experience of working in a small team.
· An understanding of apprenticeships.
· Understanding of risk management and data protection.
· Understanding of safeguarding and processes to take in the protection of children and vulnerable adults.
Personal Attributes
· Good level of education, demonstrating strong client facing aptitude and communication skills both written and verbal.
· Comfort and confidence in working with a variety of external stakeholders, having an entrepreneurial and enterprising approach to their work.
· Good working knowledge and practical application of Microsoft Office tools and customer relationships software.
· Influencer – demonstrates personal ‘presence’ and gains the confidence of others through temperament, capability and calibre.
· Demonstrates sensitivity and possesses the ability to manage effectively the organisational tensions that necessarily co-exist between stakeholders and partnerships.
· Team player: working collaboratively and flexibly to achieve outcomes.
· Able to undertake some occasional work in the evenings and at weekends.
· Able to travel in the UK.
Application
The closing date for applications is 11.30pm on Tuesday 16th April 2019. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified, no later than close of business on 19th April.
Interviews will take place in the week of 22nd or 29th of April at the Education and Employers offices just off Fleet Street, London.
Please note we will only consider applications with both a CV and covering letter. Applications from recruitment agencies will not be considered.
Education and Employers is committed to safeguarding children and young people. The successful applicant will therefore be required to undergo an Enhanced DBS check.
Registered Charity 1130760. Education and Employers Taskforce is a company limited by guarantee Registered in England and Wales No 06886359.