Job Description

Job title:                                Head of Engagement South East

Location:                               Remote working in the South East of England

Responsible to:                  National Engagement Director

Expected starting Salary:  £40,000 - £45,000 per annum FTE

Full salary banding:          £40,000 - £50,000 per annum FTE

Contract:                            Full time, 37 hours a week

Closing Date:          Monday 4th July at 5:00pm

Interview Date:              Monday 11th July and Tuesday 12th July

Please note, if you do not provide a covering letter, your application will not be considered.

Although this role is based remotely, having knowledge of employer engagement in the South East is required. Please note, you may be required to travel to client locations in and around the South East; therefore, you should live within a commutable distance without impacting productivity or adding a substantive financial burden to the charity, to be successful in your application. This role will cover all areas in the South East, including; Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Essex, Southend on Sea, Thurrock, Kent, Medway, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Southampton, surrey, Reading, West Berkshire, Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex, Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead and Wokingham. Please only apply if you are based within one of the areas stated above.

Why us?

Speakers for Schools is a dynamic, swift-moving and fast-growing charity. We are on a mission to support a million young people across the UK annually by 2023. Having taken the first steps on the road to achieving this, our team has grown tenfold in the past two years. This has supported growth in our employer network from 70 to 700 leading employers and 3800% growth in the number of work experience places offered during the same period.

We want to level the playing field, making sure that all young people can access inspirational opportunities and experiences to fuel their ambition.

We are united and unique in our mission to transform lives through raising the aspirations of millions of young people every year. Each year, 1,500 senior leaders, celebrities and industry experts deliver a difference by sharing their story with students in schools and colleges in every corner of the UK. We connect employers such as Disney, The Bank of England, Spotify, PwC and almost seven hundred others to communities to provide access to the top opportunities for all across the UK. With us, you will be part of inspiring a generation to reach higher, broaden horizons and get equal access to the top.

To keep growing our charity and our impact, we need top talent and we are committed to treasuring, developing and supporting them to thrive within their roles. 

Speakers for Schools Values

PASSION:  We are committed to levelling the playing field for young people across the UK, creating social mobility and tackling disadvantages.

AGILITY: We challenge our ideas of what is possible in order to better meet the needs of those we support. We are human, make mistakes, learn, evolve and adapt.

INTEGRITY: We act with empathy and bring our authentic selves to work every day. We value and respect the talent, time and intentions of those we work with.

COLLABORATION: We are one team with one mission and only by working together can we deliver better outcomes for young people. We support each other unconditionally and feel motivation in shared success as well as individual progress.

DIVERSITY: We know it takes people with different ideas, strengths, identities, interests, and cultural backgrounds to make our organisation succeed. We encourage constructive debate and critical friendship.

Role Summary

This role is intended to lead a team in a dedicated region to deliver our customer experience across our portfolio of programmes.

You will manage direct reports to support schools, employers and stakeholders across the region. Coaching outstanding performance, measuring and raising standards through KPI management and ensuring the team remains engaged and motivated to perform.

Key Duties / Responsibilities

The role will be responsible for:

• Growing and leading the region to deliver significant national growth in Experience and across all of our programmes.
• Working with regional stakeholders (Local Government, EBPs, Employer Groups, Large and Medium sized employers and others) to deliver partnership opportunities resulting in increase engagement to our Experience programme.
• Leading your team to achieve ambitious commercial income targets while providing excellent customer service to all of our stakeholders.
• Managing senior-level relationships across organisations and institutions based in your region.
• Leading the delivery of commercial and philanthropic income to meet organisational income targets in your region.
• Responsible for delivery and completion of own operational and administrative activity
• Ensuring employer and placement targets are met in your area and delivered in line with organisational targets.
• Leading on the delivery of regional school, College and Young person programme enrolment targets for Experience, Progression and Youth Card.
• Leading on the promotion of Inspiration opportunities to schools, colleges and young people in your region to increase engagement.
• Delivering the regional engagement stakeholder strategy as defined by the National Engagement Director.

Skills / Experience / Knowledge:- 

Essential  

• Professional experience with proven track record of effective Programme delivery in a relatable area.
• Must be resident in your own region
• Demonstrable experience working with corporate or high-profile stakeholders on youth engagement programmes (ideally related to work experience, future talent or corporate social responsibility/citizenship in some way).
• Confident, highly professional communicator and able to create written briefs, documents and presentations to a high standard.
• Experience of managing geographically disperse team.
• Sociable and confident and happy building and maintaining relationships with multiple stakeholders
• Excel at organising their workload and enjoy driving work forward independently
• Think strategically and can change tactics while still meeting larger objectives

Desirable 

• Experience of leadership in a scaling organisation.
• Experience of implementing business opportunities and new ideas to generate growth.
• Experience implementing monitoring and impact processes.
• Working knowledge of the UK state education sector, including career related opportunities and funding opportunities.
• Advanced level of IT competency, ideally with experience of Salesforce, sophisticated e-management software and comfortable with bespoke online portal.

Benefits offered at Speakers for Schools:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Morning of your birthday off
• Pension scheme
• 3 voluntary days per year
• Wellbeing programme
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption package
• Subsidised office furniture
• CharlieHR perks
• Perkbox
• £500 a year training allowance

Diversity at our core   

At Speakers for Schools, we are committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce, and to eliminating discrimination. Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.   

We welcome applications from all, including those where employment has been affected by Covid-19 and those seeking to change careers. Diversity is at our core, join us.  

Disability Confident Employer

Speakers for Schools are glad to be Disability Confident Employers. This means that if you have a disability and you meet the minimum criteria for the role you will be invited to interview.

Please note that in certain recruitment situations, such as a high number of applications and seasonal and high-peak times, Speakers for Schools may limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

We usually ask for a CV and covering letter to be submitted as part of the application process. However, we understand that this is not always accessible to everyone, so we welcome video and phone call applications as alternative ways to apply. For additional information or support, please contact us.

How to apply:    

Please apply as soon as possible submitting your CV and a one-page covering letter which outlines your specific interest and ability to successfully fill this role, as well as your salary expectations and current notice period. Please note, if you do not provide a covering letter your application will not be considered.   

Appointees are subject to a successful DBS check, as contact with young people is likely.   

You must have the right to work in the UK to apply. 

The Journey to joining Speakers for Schools:  

The closing date for this role is Monday 4th July at 5:00pm.

Successful candidates will be invited to interview on either Monday 11th July or Tuesday 12th July

Please keep this date free as alternative dates may not be possible.  

Our new team member will start ASAP.  

If you have not heard from us two weeks after the interview date, please presume your application has been unsuccessful.