Careers and Employability Officer

UK Management College Ltd; Manchester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

UK Management College is seeking a proactive Careers and Employability Officer to support students across Manchester campuses. The role focuses on practical careers advice, employability activities, and building employer relationships to expand access to opportunities.

You will work within the Student Engagement and Career Development framework, delivering sessions and coordinating events while ensuring inclusive, impartial guidance for diverse learners.

Qualifications

• Degree or Level 6 qualification or equivalent professional experience in careers, employability, education or training.
• Experience supporting people from diverse backgrounds, including barriers to education or employment.
• Experience producing information, learning or training resources and delivering sessions to groups.
• Experience maintaining accurate records and producing straightforward reports.
• Clear, approachable communication and ability to build relationships with students, colleagues and employers.

Responsibilities

• Provide one-to-one and group career planning support, CVs, applications, interviews and networking.
• Help students explore career pathways linked to their courses and mature learners.
• Run drop-in sessions and bookable appointments across campuses; follow up referrals.
• Plan and deliver careers activity across the College, including events and workshops.
• Collaborate with academic teams and wellbeing colleagues to make activities accessible.
• Build relationships with employers and alumni to create placements, work experience and mentoring.

Skills

Communication

Planning & organizing

Student-focused approach

Interpersonal skills

Time management

Education

Degree or Level 6 qualification

Tools

Excel

Teams

SharePoint

PowerPoint

Job description

Careers and Employability Officer

UK Management College

Contract: Full-time, permanent.

Location: Manchester campuses, with regular travel to Derby, Newcastle (North Shields) and Sunderland.

Working pattern: Fully campus based. Occasional evening work is required for careers events, with time off in lieu in line with College policy.

Salary: £30,000 to £33,000

Please note: Remote or Hybrid working is not available

Help our students take their next step into work

UK Management College is looking for a proactive and approachable Careers and Employability Officer to help students build the confidence, skills and connections they need to progress into employment, further study or enterprise. This is an opportunity to join a new and developing service and play a practical role in shaping careers support across our campuses.

About UK Management College

UK Management College is an independent higher education college delivering honours degrees with an integrated Foundation Year in partnership with its awarding universities.

We support students across our Manchester campuses, Derby, Newcastle (North Shields) and Sunderland, studying subjects including business and management, digital marketing, health and social care, early childhood, creative industries and psychology.

Many of our students are mature learners, the first in their family to enter higher education, speak more than one language, or balance study with work and caring responsibilities.

We are committed to helping students continue and complete their studies and progress into graduate-level employment or further study.

About the role

Working within Student Engagement and Career Development, alongside the Centre for Career Development, Enterprise and Innovation, you will deliver practical careers advice and employability activities, develop employer relationships and help ensure that students across all campuses can access relevant support.

You will work closely with the Student Engagement and Career Development Manager, Personal Academic Tutors, Course Directors, course teams and other College colleagues.

Key responsibilities

• Provide one-to-one and group support on career planning, CVs, job applications, interview preparation, networking, LinkedIn and transferable skills.
• Help students explore career pathways linked to their courses and provide accessible information suited to mature learners and students facing barriers to education or employment.
• Run drop-in sessions and bookable appointments across campuses, and follow up referrals from Personal Academic Tutors and course teams.
• Plan and deliver careers activity across the College, including Careers Week, employer talks and panels, sector events, graduation and celebration activities, and events for Foundation Year students.
• Work with academic teams, Personal Academic Tutors, Wellbeing and EDI colleagues and the Student Association to make careers activity relevant and accessible to students.
• Build and maintain relationships with employers, community organisations and alumni to create opportunities such as placements, work experience, insight visits, guest speakers, live briefs and mentoring.
• Prepare students for placements and work experience, support required insurance, health and safety and safeguarding checks, and monitor progress with students and employers.
• Support student enterprise and mentoring programmes, including recruiting and matching mentors, inducting participants, coordinating activity and collecting feedback.
• Maintain careers information on the College website and student app, and develop practical resources such as guides, templates, recorded sessions and course-specific career maps.
• Provide Personal Academic Tutors with careers resources and briefings they can use with their students.
• Keep accurate records of appointments, referrals, attendance, employer engagement, placements and outcomes; support feedback collection, reporting and preparation for graduate outcomes reporting.
• Work to agreed priorities, represent the College professionally and follow policies relating to data protection, safeguarding, Prevent, equality, diversity and inclusion, confidentiality and health and safety.

About you

You will bring a student-focused approach, strong organisation and the confidence to deliver engaging support and activities across multiple campuses.

Essential Criteria

• A degree, Level 6 qualification or equivalent professional experience in careers, employability, education or training.
• Experience supporting people from a range of backgrounds, including people facing barriers to education or employment.
• Experience producing information, learning or training resources and delivering sessions to groups.
• Experience maintaining accurate records and producing straightforward reports.
• Clear, approachable communication skills and the ability to build effective relationships with students, colleagues, employers and external partners.
• Confidence presenting to and engaging groups, with strong planning and organisational skills and the ability to manage a varied workload across several campuses.
• Confident use of Microsoft 365, including Excel, Teams, SharePoint and PowerPoint, and willingness to learn College systems.
• Understanding of confidentiality, data protection, safeguarding and equality, diversity and inclusion in work with students and employers.
• Commitment to impartial careers advice, inclusion, respect and integrity, and the ability to use initiative while recognising when advice or approval is needed.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly between the campuses and work occasional evenings for events, as well as undertake relevant training and professional development.

Desirable criteria

• A careers information, advice and guidance qualification at Level 3 or above.
• A teaching, training or assessing qualification.
• Membership of, or willingness to join, the Career Development Institute.
• Experience working with employers or external partners to develop placements, work experience or mentoring opportunities.
• Experience in higher education, further education or widening participation.
• Experience coordinating events across multiple sites or maintaining web and app content.
• Knowledge of graduate and regional labour markets, the sectors relevant to the College’s courses, or the Matrix standard for information, advice and guidance.

The appointment is subject to right-to-work checks, references and a Disclosure and Barring Service check at the level required for student-facing posts.

UK Management College is committed to inclusion and to supporting students from a wide range of backgrounds. We welcome applications from candidates who share this commitment and want to help students realise their potential