Job Description
Job Title: Project Coordinator, Careers Inspiration (Schools)
Grade: 3.3 – 3.5
Salary: £25,233 to £28,727
Responsible to: Careers Inspiration Manager
Background
Futures is committed to playing a lead role in changing the way people are inspired into making better informed career choices, raising their aspirations and making decisions that reflect these aspirations. Being an area of priority for the Government, this includes a particular focus on supporting young people to develop employability skills by getting employers to inspire and educate young people about the world of work.
Aim and Purpose
The aim of the role will be to support the development, promotion, coordination and delivery of the Futures Careers Inspiration Plan across the East Midlands and Central Eastern regions. This will involve working across a range of projects including our National Careers Service delivery in schools, coordination of employability projects linking employers with young people and developing new and innovative ways of inspiring young people to make informed careers decisions. The role will also involve development, provision and promotion of products and services, which support the Careers Inspiration agenda and will aim to:
· Play a direct and active role in engaging with schools and supporting them to connect with opportunities to deliver inspirational employability activities working in close partnership with local businesses.
· Develop strong relationships with a range of local partners and stakeholders to minimise duplication of effort and take advantage of the benefits of positive, collaborative working. This will also include coordinating activities on behalf of partners, which promote employability.
· Work with members of the Senior Management Team to identify new business opportunities for Futures within the Careers Inspiration agenda.
Contacts: Schools, colleges and academies, LEPs, partner agencies, employers and employer networks, Futures careers advisers, staff within the Division and wider Company.
Duties
Stakeholder Engagement
1. Represent Futures on a range of local partnerships including the LEPs and Local Authorities to ensure cohesion and synergy with existing provision and identifying gaps where they exist.
2. Build on existing partner relationships e.g. with schools and colleges, VCS partners and other organisations to promote the inspiration agenda.
3. Work with the Futures teams, delivering services in schools, and other agencies to scope out what inspirational activity schools are already offering, and to identify their needs through the completion of audits and action plans (including with schools where we do not currently have a relationship).
4. Identify appropriate and realistic opportunities for partnership working to develop inspirational opportunities for young people including identification and negotiation of funding opportunities.
5. Develop networks with schools to help them share best practice and access resources.
Employer Engagement
6. Work with a range of local partnerships to map current employer engagement and activity within schools.
7. Actively work with existing local employer networks, identify, and build relationships with new employers and employer bodies to establish what their skills requirements are now and for the future.
Brokerage and Information
8. Make links with local and national organisations that are actively involved in the inspiration agenda e.g. the Careers & Enterprise Company, Inspiring Futures, The Skills Show, Sector Skills Councils and Business in the Community, to broker what they can offer with schools.
9. Focus brokering activities on areas of skills shortage and those identified as LEP priorities and targets.
10. Work with the Labour Market Information (LMI) Coordinator to ensure local LMI is being gathered and disseminated.
11. Working with the LMI Coordinator ensure local and national LMI is readily available for schools and is presented in a way that the helps the audience to understand the nature and availability of real jobs that exist.
12. In partnership with others, create inspirational activities to encourage young people to access skills shortage jobs e.g. enterprise days, skills shows, careers fairs and employability skills days.
13. Develop and contribute to communication channels with schools e.g. newsletters, blogs, website pages, social media to create communities of interest, creating content as necessary.
Company Policy
1. To promote and uphold equal opportunities policy and procedures, actively promoting equality and seeking to challenge and overcome disadvantage and discrimination.
2. To develop and maintain own professional knowledge, skills and experience, including formal training, self-development activities and networking with fellow professionals.
3. To ensure that Safeguarding requirements are complied with and where appropriate reported in accordance with agreed criteria.
4. To manage and resolve any client and customer complaints as outlined within the Company’s complaints handling policy and procedures.
5. To ensure the exchange of relevant information between providers and specialists agencies takes place, ensuring a young person is aware of this and that data protection requirements are complied with.
6. To undertake any necessary administrative duties as required.
7. To take reasonable care for the Health & Safety of him/herself and of other persons who may be affected by his/her activities and, when appropriate, to safeguard the Health & Safety of all persons under his/her control and guidance in accordance with the provisions of Health & Safety Legislation.
8. To undertake any other duties which may reasonably be regarded as within the scope and responsibilities/grade of the post as defined, subject to the proviso that normally any changes of a permanent nature shall be incorporated into the job description in specific terms.
9. To undertake reflective practice, appraisal and practice observation (observational framework) as part of your personal development and support programme.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Post: Project Coordinator
Assessment Key
A = Application Form - Iv = Interview - R = Reference - C = Certificates
(E) = Essential, (D) = Desirable
Method of Assessment / A / Iv / R / CQualification and Training
Educated to NVQ4/HNC/HND/Degree level qualification (E) / * / *
NVQ 4 or equivalent in IAG (D) / * / *
Experience
Experience of developing and working with multi-disciplinary teams or groups and partnership working (E) / * / *
Experience of working with employers and employer bodies (E) / * / *
Experience of working with leads in schools (D) / *
Experience of project management/coordination across a number of projects (E) / * / *
Skills and Knowledge
Competent in the full range of Microsoft applications (E) / * / *
Knowledge and understanding of the Government Inspiration
Agenda and the drive to encourage people to raise their aspirations (E) / *
Knowledge and understanding of how CEIAG supports young people to develop their employability awareness (D) / * / *
Understanding of how LMI can support young people to develop their employability awareness (D) / * / *
Ability to engage and work effectively with a range of agencies and organisation from voluntary, private and statutory sectors (E) / * / *
Proven skills in brokering activities and facilitating relationships between employers and education establishments (E) / * / *
Professional interpersonal, presentation and communication skills, both written and verbal, including report writing, negotiation, influencing and networking skills (E) / * / *
Excellent organisational skills, including ability to prioritise work and meet agreed deadlines (E) / * / *
Ability to think creatively and adopt innovative ways of working in order to be an effective agent of change (E) / * / *
Disposition and Motivation
A professional approach and able to work effectively both within a team and independently (E) / * / *
Demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness to change with a commitment to CPD of self and others (E) / *
A commitment to promote equal opportunities (E) / *
Job Circumstances
Willing and available to work outside normal working hours including evenings and weekends (E) / *
Willing to travel across the East Midlands and Central Eastern regions (E) / *
Have access to and full use of a car for business use (E) / *
The ability to manage pressure as a result of competing priorities in a fast pace working environment (E) / *