Student Academic Career and Employment Officer

Full time or Part-time (Pro-rata)

Reporting to: The Principal

Liaising with: Vice Principals (Academic Affairs) 

Accessible to: The Manging Director and Vice Principal (External Affairs)

Introduction:

Founded in 2003, ICON College of Technology and Management is a private higher and further education institution based in the East End of London and has in excess of 1,500 students. The College seeks to improve its student offerings year on year and develop a student-centred learning experience based on current teaching and learning pedagogies and systems of assessment. The College also seeks to satisfy the ever-increasing demands on higher education required by the Office for Students (OfS) and the Department for Education (DfE) in terms of widening participation. In the past eighteen months the College has established a partnership with Bishop Grosseteste University. This means that in addition to offering its Higher National Diploma (HND) qualifications awarded by Pearson, the College can now also provide a range of undergraduate degree level courses. Please see the College website (www.iconcollege.ac.uk) for further details of the full range of courses and subjects offered.

The College has a diverse range of students in terms of ability and age range, with the current student population being classed as ‘mature students’ although over time the student profile will change to reflect its new emphasis on ethnic minority groups and other under- represented groups in higher education. To meet this demand, the College has created a new role of Student Academic Career and Employment Adviser (SACEA)

The new role of Student Academic Career and Employment Adviser (SACEA) is being advertised to enable the College to provide both careers advice to students and going seminars and other activities to improve students’ employment skills and capabilities.

Job description:

The main duties of the newly appointed SACEA will be to:

• Liaise with employers
• Keep up-to-date with relevant job opportunities and engaging with relevant external agencies to facilitate student employment opportunities
• Support students in their job seeking process, including enabling them to prepare relevant and robust CVs and job application letters
• Organise and run job search short seminars
• Organise outreach work, promoting ICON College courses and students to local and national employers
• Meet with students on an individual and group level to identify any challenges and barriers they may experience with finding employment
• Build rapport and show empathy, motivate people and influence their perception of work and the skills needed to be a successful employee and/or own business owner
• Provide accurate data and commentary (qualitative and quantitative) and reports for internal and external committee meetings, as required, on student employment progression
• Undertake such other duties from time to time, as assigned by, and agreed with, the Principal and also liaise with the two Vice-Principals and the Student Welfare Officer.

Additional responsibilities and involvement will include:

• Attend committees meeting as shall be required/deemed appropriate from time to time.

Person Specification

Essential requirements:

• Proven experience and competence of working in a career development/advisory role at another institution of further (FE) or higher education (HE) where working to tight deadlines is required. Applicants without FE/HE experience will be considered where it appears that their prior experience will readily translate into a further/higher education context.
• Experience of working in job recruitment and selection, especially where it relates to student job development.
• The ability to write clearly and succinctly for a range of internal and external audiences.
• The ability to organise and run individual and group job skills training exercises.
• Good interpersonal skills, a team player and a flexible approach to working patterns.
• A first degree or an equivalent Level 6 qualification and/or significant equivalent professional experience.

Desirable requirements:

• Familiarity with the independent further and/or higher education sector in the UK.
• Front-line student facing services.
• Proven experience of careers placement or work experience advisory work.
• Provision of providing career management skills development and experience of establishing and supporting effective relationships with local and national employers in the context of graduate employment.
• Experience and/or understanding of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques used by employers during the recruitment and selection process.

Application process:

Your CV and covering letter should be sent (preferably) by email to: zahir@iconcollege.ac.uk (via the ‘Apply’ button above). In application and your letter, please detail how your qualifications and prior and current experience satisfy the ‘Person Specification’. 

In addition, please provide the names, job titles and contact details (including email and telephone numbers) of two referees, one of which should be your current or last employer. References will be taken up for all applicants invited for interview.

Applications will only be considered from applicants who are already entitled to work in the United Kingdom. The College cannot act, nor make an appointment, where it would be necessary for it to sponsor someone currently not eligible to work/reside in the United Kingdom.

The College will immediately begin to review and interview suitably qualified applicants as soon as applications are received because this post needs to be filled as soon as possible. The post will remain open until a suitable candidate is appointed but with a notional closing date for the receipt of applications will be Friday, 18 October 2024. If you have not been invited for an interview within four weeks of submitting your application, please assume on this occasion that your application has not been successful.

BENEFITS:

The College will offer a competitive salary within the range £38K-40K depending on qualifications and experience (pro-rata for a part-time post holder). In addition, there will be 33 days holiday per annum for a full-time candidate, including 8 statutory Bank Holidays. For a full-time member of staff there is a 5-8% pension contribution.

At ICON College we seek to positively encourage applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity status.