Career & Skills Progression Advisor

Essex County Council; Harlow; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 26,000; Part time

Job summary

Essex County Council’s Adult Community Learning (ACL) centre in the Essex area is recruiting a Career and Skills Progression Advisor. The role involves delivering high-quality information, advice and guidance to learners, and supporting them to move into employment, volunteering, or further learning.

The post requires a qualification in Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance at Level 2 or equivalent, plus coaching and mentoring experience, with strong IT skills and familiarity with

Qualifications

• Careers guidance practitioner with Level 2 qualification or equivalent by experience.
• Experience in coaching and mentoring.
• Strong IT skills and knowledge of digital learning platforms.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality information, advice and guidance to existing and potential learners.
• Facilitate self-directed learning within ACL centres and frontline support.
• Raise learner aspirations and support participation in learning and employment.
• Develop and maintain information resources for learners and stakeholders.
• Keep up to date with local labour market information for ACL staff.
• Work to meet Education Inspection Framework and Matrix Standard requirements.

Skills

Customer focus

Communication skills

IT literacy

Data analysis

MS Office

CPD

Tools

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook

Job description

Whilst your contractual base would be your local ACL centre. There is a requirement to be flexible to work across multiple ACL sites/stakeholder buildings/attending events - this could include travel to Harwich, Clacton, Colchester and Witham, in line with business need.

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

This is a part time opportunity working 30 hours per week with a pro rata salary of £23,206 per annum.

Adult Community Learning (ACL) is ECC's provider of lifelong learning experiences for Essex residents. ACL offers qualifications to help people move nearer to, enter, or progress within the workplace or gain skills to enhance life chances. The Career and Skills Progression Advisor assists in a customer-facing role, actively engaging with future and existing learners at ACL to support them in achieving their goals and move into positive destinations including further learning, volunteering, or employment.

Accountabilities

• Provide high quality and impartial information, advice and guidance to existing and potential learners including bespoke provision for ACL learners who are actively looking for work, using effective referral processes and signposting to both internal and external support.
• Facilitate self-directed learning opportunities within ACL centres as well as frontline support to learners accessing face to face, online and blended learning, using digital devices and platformssuch as Microsoft Teams.
• Raise learner aspirations, identifying individual needs, and providing support to participate in learning opportunities, gain employment, or progression in work.
• Develop and maintain high quality information resources for learners and stakeholders, both in centre and online.
• Establish and deliver innovative ways to support ACL staff to access resources that will support staff, including keeping up to date with local labour market intelligence.
• Work to meet the requirements of the Education Inspection Framework and Matrix Standard.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance practitioner, with a relevant qualification at Level 2 or equivalent by experience. Experience of coaching and mentoring.
• Well-developed organisational skills.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area, including the adult learning sector.
• Experience of working in a customer-focussed environment with excellent communication skills.
• High level working knowledge of IT and in particular Microsoft packages including Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Ability to collect data, interrogate it and provide evaluative reports based on an analysis of the findings.

To read more about our business area, please visit:

Policy, Economy, Investment and Property

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we're committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we are dedicated to making a positive difference for residents, communities and businesses across the county. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, Greater Essex was accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our

careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you've secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the

Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.