Interim Employability Manager

Panoramic Associates; Reading; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution in Sussex is seeking an experienced Interim Employability Manager to lead and implement employability programmes. This key role involves overseeing Employability Coordinators, developing quality programmes, and building external partnerships to enhance learner outcomes. The ideal candidate will bring strong strategic leadership and a commitment to improving work readiness and securing meaningful experiences for learners. This interim role offers a competitive day rate and is expected to last until Easter.

Qualifications

• Experience in leading employability programmes.
• Strong leadership skills and strategic thinking.
• Ability to engage with external partners for work experience opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the college's employability strategy.
• Develop and deliver quality employability programmes.
• Design and implement evaluation methods for programmes.

Job description

Job Description

Interim Employability Manager

Location: Sussex

Contract: Interim (Until Easter)

Start Date: ASAP

Day rate: Competitive

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Interim Employability Manager to lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of a college's employability programmes. This is a key leadership role with direct line-management responsibility for the Employability Coordinators, ensuring that learners receive high-quality, inclusive, and aspirational support that prepares them for employment, supported internships, or further training.

You will play a central part in enhancing learners' work readiness, securing meaningful work experience opportunities, and driving continuous improvement across the employability setting. Working closely with curriculum teams, transitions staff, and external partners, you will help shape a college-wide approach that raises aspirations and delivers outstanding outcomes for learners.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Lead the college's employability strategy and embed employability across all courses.
• Work with internal teams to secure strong learner progression pathways.
• Stay informed on sector developments and represent the college in relevant networks.

Programme Delivery

• Develop and deliver quality employability programmes that meet learner needs and outcome expectations.
• Coordinate and support the college's employability activity calendar to meet key milestones.
• Support and supervise Employability Coordinators to achieve high-quality learning outcomes for learners across all programmes.

Programme Evaluation

• Design and implement robust evaluation methods to capture effectiveness and impact of employability programmes.
• Leverage data to drive continuous improvement, enhance learner success and outcome expectations.

External Partnerships

• Build relationships and collaborate with external partners to encourage the participation of employers and industry representatives, WLN, and provide meaningful work experience opportunities.
• Represent the college in external forums and networks to maintain and promote the employability setting, including relevant employability meetings, career fairs, industry roundtables, etc.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with curriculum developers, transitions staff, and other stakeholders to embed employability learning outcomes across all programmes.
• Support the college's career and employability strategy to contribute to the work of the college-wide employability setting.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead the Employability Coordinators and ensure high standards of team management and professional development.
• Set clear expectations and support the team to achieve continuous professional development and learning outcomes for learners.
• Take a proactive, constructive, and inclusive approach to team management.

Skill Development Priorities

• Help build and develop a college culture of employability and support continuous improvement Champion the college culture initiatives.