Job Description

Job Title: Head of Governance Programmes – Employer and Volunteer Engagement

Reports to:  Director of Governance Programmes

Location: Quantum House, 22 – 24 Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London, EC4A 3EB

Purpose: The UK based Education and Employers charity aims to ensure that all young people have the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential. One of the ways it achieves this aim is via the Inspiring Governance service. Run in partnership with the National Governance Association this is a free governor recruitment and support service which gets highly skilled volunteers to serve as governors in some of the most disadvantaged schools in England and in so doing help raise educational achievement.

This is a fantastic opportunity to make a difference by taking on a leading role in engaging with employers and professional networks to secure the recruitment of excellent volunteers and governors for schools, academies and FE Colleges. The Charity currently delivers two Governance online recruitment programmes; one for the Department for Education and one for the Education and Training Foundation.

The postholder will primarily be responsible for engaging employers to recruit skilled volunteers to both governance programmes. This will include direct employer engagement with national level employers and professional networks and close liaison with other colleagues in the charity and a team of experienced Inspiring Governance Regional Managers; who engage employers and recruiters in the regions.

Outreach to FE providers and to school and academy governance recruiters will also form a secondary part of this role (working with the National Governance Association for Inspiring Governance). The role will also plan, oversee and manage mass outreach and engagement through marketing and communications; campaigns, social media and our website. Finally, this role has responsibility for contract reporting and client management for the Inspiring FE Governance programme.

Remuneration: £34k - £38k - depending upon experience

Additional Terms: 30 days paid holiday, exclusive of Statutory Holiday plus competitive pension scheme and a volunteering allowance of up to 5 days – pro rata in accordance with the length of contract. Additional family friendly benefits including enhancements to Statutory Payments.

Appointment Terms: Permanent and full time

Job Description

The successful candidate will be responsible for all aspects of employer engagement and volunteer recruitment across England in order to drive volunteer sign ups, secure employer engagement and the engagement of recruiters (schools/ academies and FE Providers) with our governance programmes:

• Inspiring Governance: This is a free (at point of use) England wide online recruitment service that connects schools with skilled volunteers interested in being governors and trustees. The service is currently funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and is delivered in conjunction with the National Governance Association - who provide onward support and training to IG placed governors and trustees. The programme has specific, and demanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to meet around numbers of volunteers sourced and placed, the diversity of volunteers and the number of vacancies registered by schools.
• Inspiring FE Governance: This is a free (at point of use) England wide online recruitment service dedicated to finding individuals with the right skills to serve on Further Education (FE Boards) in England, including chairs of finance committees. Board members are committed volunteers and the role is like a company non-executive director. The Inspiring FE Governance service is funded by the Education and Training Foundation and run solely by Education and Employers. The programme has specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to meet, around numbers of volunteers sourced and placed for example.

We pride ourselves on the diversity, age ranges and quality of volunteers we recruit in terms of the skills and different thinking they can offer to governing boards. The Head of Governance Programmes – Employer and Volunteer Engagement will work closely with the Director of Governance Programmes and the Head of Governance Programmes, Matching & Customer Service to take responsibility for the successful delivery of five areas:

1. Review, evolve and deliver our current employer and volunteer engagement strategy. This seeks to engage employers nationwide to encourage and support their staff to volunteer to undertake school visits or school/academy or FE governance. This will include working closely with our Regional Managers and driving forward our recently introduced ‘School Governor Champions’ campaign to ensure widespread sign up from national, regional and local employers;
2. Develop a clear strategy to engage professional networks and associations to encourage their members to volunteer to undertake school, academy or FE governance. This will include developing more professional sector based campaigns such as the engineering sector’s Take a Closer Look campaign to encourage more skilled professionals to consider volunteering for schools and school governance;
3. To conceptualise, plan and oversee the successful delivery of further mass outreach campaigns (such as those delivered with the National Governance Association - ‘Everyone on Board’ and ‘Educators on Board’) to engage employers and drive up volunteers in all areas of the country, particularly in rural and coastal areas where volunteer numbers are traditionally fewer.  To achieve this through a range of marketing and comms approaches, including working in partnership with the National Governance Association, digital campaigns, social media and our Inspiring Governance website. This post will undertake line management of the Inspiring Governance Communications, Marketing and PR Officer and will work closely with them to achieve the above;
4. Further develop, manage and deliver national outreach to encourage the registration of governor and trustee vacancies on our Platform (school, college and FE Provider vacancies). This will include direct contact with Colleges, FE providers, schools and other governance recruiters. This aspect of the role will work closely with the Charity’s school’s team, the IG regional team, and for the Inspiring Governance programme, with the National Governance Association;
5. To take responsibility for monthly and annual contract reporting and, in conjunction with the Director of Governance Programmes where appropriate, support day to day client relationship management (Education and Training Foundation) for the Inspiring FE Governance programme;

We are looking for a strategic individual who can target, drive forward and subsequently deliver successful partnerships with employers/ professional associations. The post-holder will understand the power of volunteering and is passionate about supporting young people to realise their potential. Education and Employers is a small charity working at a rapid pace to bring about change and the ideal candidate will be a self-starter with strong communication skills, able to absorb key information quickly and work well with a small team in a dynamic working environment.

Key Accountabilities:

Review and deliver our employer and volunteer engagement strategy

• To review and evolve our current employer and volunteer strategy to recruit more skilled professionals to volunteer as school/ academy and FE governors, meeting KPIs for volunteer sign up set by the client.
• To deliver the action plan associated with this strategy, making direct contact with national level employers and professional networks (in person, by phone/email etc) and securing their interest and intent to promote governance to their staff, undertaking light touch account management with VIP employers where required;
• To work closely and proactively with the Inspiring Governance regional team and stakeholder partners (such as Academy Ambassadors) to support and enhance our collective work with employers and to ensure a joined up, strategic approach;
• To contribute to the coordination of Charity wide work with employers and outreach which will include collaboration with the Senior Management Team and working closely and proactively with members of the central London employers team, as well as regional colleagues to support their work and facilitate a joined-up approach.
• To contribute to the strategic direction of Charity wide employer engagement work.

Engagement of professional associations/ sector bodies

• To develop a strategy to engage professional associations and sector bodies at a national level and ensure they promote becoming a school/ academy FE governor to their members
• Develop social media content and internal communications that professional bodies can readily use to persuade their members to volunteer as a governor in schools
• Conceptualise and develop campaigns in partnership with professional associations and sectors (to be agreed) that can bring high value to school and FE governance. Also, those which encourage their members to volunteer in schools more widely, raising children’s knowledge of a range of careers and different professions.

Develop and execute mass outreach campaigns to increase volunteer sign up

• To work with the charity’s Communications and Marketing team and the National Governance Association’s Communications and PR counterpart to identify and plan an annual programme of marketing campaigns and communications to support volunteer recruitment activity and the engagement of governor recruiters;
• To specifically help drive forward the joint Everyone on Board Campaign designed to increase the diversity of background and age of governance volunteers. Further, to support the Educators on Board campaign to ensure we secure volunteers with educational expertise for governing boards.
• To conceptualise and develop new campaigns (to be discussed) that target both skills and geographical volunteer needs, working closely with Inspiring Governance Regional Managers to do so (and where appropriate, working closely with our partners the National Governance Association).
• To oversee and support the effective delivery of mass outreach to volunteers through marketing and communications; professional networks, digital campaigns, social media and website profile.
• To identify appropriate metrics needed for management purposes and ensure these are systematically collected, analysed and disseminated where appropriate.

Engagement of governor recruiters (Chairs, clerks, MAT governance leads, etc.)

• Further develop, manage and deliver regional outreach (England wide) to encourage the registration of vacancies on our Platform (school, college and FE Provider vacancies). Outreach will include direct contract with Colleges, FE providers, schools and other governance recruiters (in person, by phone/email etc).
• Work closely and proactively with the Inspiring Governance regional team, and the National Governance Association around work with school governance recruiters;
• Work closely and proactively with the Charity’s schools team to identify scope for enhancing engagement around governance with schools registered on our Inspiring the Future programme;

Inspiring FE Governance Contract Reporting

• To write the monthly and summary contract reports for the Inspiring FE Governance programme (with support where needed from the Director of Governance Programmes);
• In conjunction with the Director of Governance Programmes where appropriate, manage the day to day client relationship with the Education and Training Foundation for the Inspiring FE Governance programme.

Line Management responsibilities

• Line management and day to day support and guidance of one FTE, the Governance Programmes Marketing, Communications and PR Officer. No additional line management responsibilities are envisaged at this point but as the Charity continues to develop this may be an area for future discussion.  

Other

• Represent the charity’s governance programmes and the Director at external events and conferences as appropriate
•  Proactively contribute ideas and thoughts into the governance programmes team and into the wider Charity; both on volunteer and employer engagement and the charity’s wider work; 
• Other ad hoc duties as required.

Person specification:

Skills/ Knowledge/ Expertise

Essential

• Senior level experience of developing delivery strategies and executing them via effective programme and project management;
• Demonstrable client and stakeholder engagement experience (including with employers and professional networks and ideally also including with education providers and their representatives);
• Senior level experience of managing and delivering across a function (experience of outreach and recruitment activity would be ideal) including scoping and delivering a programme of activity to achieve demanding Key Performance Metrics;
• Demonstrable experience of directly line managing staff and working effectively and collaboratively with staff and partners across multiple geographical locations;
• Excellent people skills, the ability to influence (including with senior representatives) and the manner to professionally represent both the governance programmes and the Charity as a whole with external employers and professional bodies;
• Knowledge and understanding of the role that marketing and campaigns can have in generating mass engagement of users with a programme or campaign at a national level;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and demonstrable experience of writing client focused reports.

Desirable

• A passion for supporting young people in realising their potential through harnessing skilled volunteers to engage in education; 
• A successful track record in delivering tangible outcomes through engagement with employers and professional networks;
• Specialist knowledge of the education and employment sectors and the policy environment and delivery models which underpin relationships;
• Experience and/or knowledge of governance within an education context; willingness to become a governor desirable
• Experience of working to deliver significant national Key Performance Metrics using resources (human and financial) efficiently and effectively; 
  • Understanding of risk management and data protection.

Personal Attributes

• Good level of education, demonstrating strong client facing aptitude and communication skills both written and verbal. Comfort and confidence in working with a variety of senior external stakeholders
• Self-motivated and relentless in pursuing goals, having an entrepreneurial and enterprising approach to their work;
• Good working knowledge and practical application of Microsoft office tools and the ability to understand and work with customer relationship management software – we currently operate our services on a Salesforce platform;
• A “doer”- ability to pro-actively anticipate requirements and act to provide workable solutions to these;
• Solutions orientated, perceiving processes as the means rather than the end and as an aid to effective delivery;
• Influencer - demonstrates personal ‘presence’ and gains the confidence of others through temperament, capability and calibre;
• Demonstrates sensitivity and possesses the ability to manage effectively the organisational tensions that sometimes develop between internal and external stakeholders involved in the organisation and delivery of programmes. 
• Team Player: working collaboratively and flexibly with other colleagues to achieve outcomes and is keen to add value to the Charity’s culture and ethos;
• Able to undertake some occasional work in the evenings and at weekends;
• Able to travel in the UK (England primarily).

Application process 

The Education and Employers charity values having a diverse workforce.  We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from all individuals from all backgrounds.

The closing date for applications is 6pm on Friday 29th November. Successfully shortlisted candidates will be notified no later than Wednesday December 4th. Interviews will take place on Wednesday 11th December at the Education and Employers’ offices in Fleet Street, London.

Applications will only be accepted from those with the right to work in the UK with a valid passport/visa

Please note we will only consider applications with both a CV and covering letter.

Applications from recruitment agencies will not be considered under any circumstances.

About the wider Education and Employers Charity

Education and Employers is an independent UK based charity launched in 2009 with the vision of “providing children and young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential”. It aims to achieve this by working with schools, employers, the national bodies that represent them and a wide range of other partners including the government and third sector organisations. The charity also works with partners internationally – more details here.

The charity runs Inspiring the Future, a free service which uses innovative match-making technology to connect volunteers with state schools and colleges, quickly, simply and at scale. Schools can very easily search a massive database of willing volunteers, filter against a wide range of criteria – e.g. subject, sector, career route and send them a message. It enables young people, wherever they live, whichever school they attend, the opportunity to meet people from a wide range of backgrounds doing jobs from across the whole world of work.

Over 55,000 people have already volunteered in the UK - people from all levels: apprentices to CEOs and all sectors: apps designers to zoologists and over 80% of English secondary schools have registered. People can volunteer from an hour a year in a local primary or secondary school to chat informally about their job and career route, take part in career speed networking session, give careers insights, provide mock interviews or feedback on CVs through to serving as a governor or trustee.  There is also the opportunity to link up with schools for workplace visits, job shadowing and mentoring.

Inspiring the Future operates on a technology platform kindly developed in partnership with Deloitte, Salesforce and Ordnance Survey. It allows the charity to run national campaigns such as Inspiring Women and others focused on specific geographic areas or economic sectors such as engineering, science, health and arts and culture. The campaigns have secured high profile support across government, business and teacher associations and ongoing corporate partnerships including our lead corporate partner Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In partnership with the National Association of Head Teachers the charity has developed a version for primary schools called Primary Futures and over 4,500 primaries have already signed up. To see a short clip on how it works please click here.  All campaigns run through Inspiring the Future share a common objective: to broaden young people’s horizons, raise their aspirations and show them the range of opportunities and careers routes e.g. apprenticeships and university open to them. Over 1.8 million interactions between young people and volunteers from the world of work have already taken place.

In partnership with the National Governance Association the charity runs Inspiring Governance the free governor recruitment and support service. This Department for Education funded service aims to get highly skilled volunteers to serve as governors in some of the most disadvantaged schools in England and in so doing help raise educational achievement.

Since the Charity’s launch it has sought to understand what difference employer engagement in education makes to young people and the economy. It works with academics and researchers from around the world and its own research is regularly cited by government and international organisations like the OECD. The research, which has informed and influenced a range of government policies, shows that employer engagement helps improve social mobility, reduces the likelihood of young people becoming NEET (not in education, employment of training), increases the amount they earn in adult life, helps them make better informed career choices and leads to improvements in educational attainment.