Employer Partnership Lead

Red 5 People Ltd; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 44,000; Full time

Job summary

Red 5 People Ltd is seeking an Employer Engagement Manager to lead a two-person team and work with Youth Employment Coaches to create paid opportunities for young people across London.

You will build relationships with employers, government partners, and local authorities to secure vacancies and maintain a strong pipeline for around 1,000 young people over the next 18 months. Hybrid working is offered, with regular travel across London.

Qualifications

• Background in employer engagement within employability, apprenticeships, recruitment, or related sector.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder-management abilities.
• Experience leading or managing a small team is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead a small team of two Employer Engagement Officers and collaborate with Youth Employment Coaches.
• Build and manage relationships with employers, local authorities, and partner organisations to create opportunities.
• Secure suitable vacancies and maintain a robust pipeline of roles for young people.
• Represent the programme to employers across London and ensure alignment with funding requirements.

Job description

Would you like to lead a new team helping young people across London into paid employment? And do it through a programme where employers receive government funding to create those opportunities?

A London charity has recently secured a major contract to deliver a new government-funded employment programme across Central and North London. They're now looking for an Employer Engagement Manager to help get things moving.

This is a chance to join right at the beginning, build something new and make a genuine difference.

What will you be doing?

You'll lead a small team of two Employer Engagement Officers, working closely with Youth Employment Coaches to create paid employment opportunities for young people who have struggled to find work.

A big part of your role will be building relationships with employers. Some you'll approach directly, while others will come through existing partnerships with organisations such as the DWP, local authorities and their Section 106 and social value teams.

The good news is that you won't be starting completely from scratch. There are already established employer networks and partnerships you can tap into.

You'll be the link between employers and the Youth Employment team. Your job is to get employers on board, secure suitable vacancies and make sure the coaches have a strong pipeline of opportunities to match young people into.

And with the programme aiming to support around 1,000 young people into paid employment over the next 18 months, there's plenty of scope to make an impact.

What are we looking for?

You'll need a strong background in employer engagement, whether that's within employability, apprenticeships, recruitment or a similar sector.

What's particularly important is your ability to build relationships, open doors and get employers on board.

You'll be comfortable speaking with senior stakeholders, developing partnerships and turning those conversations into genuine employment opportunities.

Ideally, you'll also have some experience of managing or leading a small team.

You don't necessarily need previous experience of delivering government-funded employability programmes. If you've got the employer engagement skills, the programme-specific knowledge can be taught.

A bit more about the opportunity

The role offers a salary of £40,000 and hybrid working, although you'll need to be out meeting employers and partners across London regularly.

It's initially a two-year contract, with the possibility of further opportunities if funding is extended or other contracts become available.

You'll be joining at an exciting time, helping shape a new programme from the outset rather than stepping into something that's already established.