Business Engagement Officer

The Business Engagement Officer role will be to deliver targeted engagement of businesses within nominated sectors, focussing on under-engaged SMEs to help identify and address their skills gaps and skills shortages; supporting businesses with recruitment, succession planning, retention and understanding skills funding support and how to scale and grow. Ensure effective collaboration with other contracts within Education Development Trust's career's portfolio.
The post holder will be expected to liaise and maintain effective working relationships with a range of other agencies, businesses and employers. The post may involve working in more than one location and there will be travel involved. It may be necessary on occasion for the post holder to work outside of standard office hours., To deliver targeted engagement of businesses within nominated sectors, focussing on under-engaged SMEs to help identify and address their skills gaps and skills shortages; supporting businesses with recruitment, succession planning, retention and understanding skills funding support and how to scale and grow. Ensure effective collaboration with other contracts within Education Development Trust's career's portfolio.

Job Objectives:

- Promote and build sector-specific demand and interest in skills provision. Highlighting the benefits upskilling can have on Businesses.

- Undertake a thorough analysis of the business with each engaged SME, including a Training Needs Analysis and Skills Audit for employees. Utilise tools and resources that identify current and anticipated skills gaps and skills shortages, and any associated wider business support needs.

- Identify and tackle any obstacles related to a skills solution, ensuring that a structured support system is in place. For instance, facilitating engagement and recruitment for sector-specific Skills Bootcamps, charting apprenticeship pathways, and offering insightful critiques to employers regarding their hiring and training methods when necessary;

- Regularly review business and individuals progress, helping address any issues that arise, and re-examining level of need, and recording all support given, ensuring effective compliance with all systems and CRM packages;

- Achieve a range of set quantitative and qualitative targets using a case load management approach for both business and individuals' support; and broker effective solutions (and additional support where required) to ensure skills intervention takes place;

- Encourage and facilitate the clustering of SMEs by sector / cross-sector wherever it supports their skills requirements; and identify and capture good practice that can be used to promote skills solutions across various sectors and more widely wherever applicable;

- Link effectively with all skills providers that support the priority sectors identified; Identify and develop new business opportunities and partnership networks

- Continuously engage and track the beneficiaries (Individuals, learners, businesses, stakeholders) journey in order to achieve all relevant contractual outcomes, using all available interventions including social media, email, SMS. Ensure all interventions are recorded on the management information system;

- Maintain relationships with a range of stakeholder organisations e.g. Local Authorities, skills providers and ensure an accurate record is held of all applicable local skills provision relating to allocated skills sector area, and utilise Sector Skills Councils and national provider links to ensure all applicable provision is captured / continuously refreshed;

- Ensure all delivery evidence is complete and compliant in line with contract and quality standards and that all customer records are accurate and handled in accordance with appropriate confidentiality and data protection legislation and guidance. Manage the capture, collation and reporting of service evaluation data.

- Contribute to the effective operational and strategic management of the contract applicable in the contract area.

- Be responsible for adhering to both local and the Corporate Safeguarding policy and procedures aimed at promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and at-risk adults and attend mandatory child protection and/or adult protection safeguarding and prevent training.

- Effectively promote and support Equality & Diversity and Sustainable Development best practice.

Scope:

The post holder will be expected to liaise and maintain effective working relationships with a range of other agencies, businesses and employers. The post may involve working in more than one location and there will be travel involved. It may be necessary on occasion for the post holder to work outside of standard office hours., Excellence - creating and leading successSeeks to understand how the services, activities and strategies in their area work together to create value for the learner and clientSeeks opportunities to initiate and try out new ideas and actions in the business
Integrity - supporting and building trustCreates a positive environment in the team by being open, honest and thoughtful when communicatingDelivers on their responsibilities and admits when they do not know the answer or have the information
Accountability - delivering and improvingUnderstands the Trust's business environment and delivers a high quality service in line with commercial objectivesDevotes time to own development and gives others opportunities to learn and use their talents
Collaboration - engaging and partneringActively builds and maintains a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on objectives and shared interestsUses influencing skills to ensure successful working relationships with internal and external stakeholders

Job Family: Careers Grade 3

Education Development Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults whom we work with and come into contact with around the world. All applicants are subject to thorough screening and for applicable roles, successful candidates are subject to relevant criminal record checks with national police authorities or the UK's Disclosure & Barring Service.

Education Development Trust also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and we may request information from relevant job applicants' previous employers about any findings of sexual misconduct, including harassment, during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Knowledge Essential:

- Educated to Level 4 (or equivalent) in a relevant area.
- An understanding of business engagement and support
- Extensive knowledge and understanding of the wider skills agenda
- An understanding of relevant policy relating to skills (Including Skills Bootcamps and Apprenticeships)
- An understanding of the benefits of Apprenticeships to businesses and how to navigate the process.

Experience Essential:

- Experience of working with employers
- Experience of effective partnership working in the delivery of a service
- Experience of working in a skills, or related, field, » Educated to Level 4 (or equivalent) in a relevant area.
- » An understanding of business engagement and support
- » Extensive knowledge and understanding of the wider skills agenda
- » An understanding of relevant policy relating to skills (Including Skills Bootcamps and Apprenticeships)

- » An understanding of the benefits of Apprenticeships to businesses and how to navigate the process.

Desirable - » Business development
- » Understanding of the skills and employability agenda
- » Experience supporting Business growth

- » Hybrid delivery of training

Experience

Essential: - » Experience of working with employers
- » Experience of effective partnership working in the delivery of a service

- » Experience of working in a skills, or related, field

Desirable
- » Experience of managing projects and events

Skills

Essential: - » Effective communication skills including written and verbal, and able to relate to a wide range of people and organisations
- » Work collaboratively as part of a team
- » Excellent organisational skills to include time management of own work
- » Ability to meet deadlines and achieve targets and implement contingency plans where necessary
- » Excellent IT skills including all Microsoft Office software, including the ability to manage delivery of an on-line database
- » Apply a flexible approach to work activities including travel as required to meet business objectives
- » Display an open mind and positive attitude to work and colleagues
- » Ability to engage effectively with employer representatives and businesses

- » Ability to deliver an effective partnership strategy

Desirable - » Understanding of funding avenues across Skills, Careers and employability, Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

At EDT we pride ourselves on creating an environment that supports a healthy work life balance for all our staff. We provide policies that encourage flexible working around individual needs. We offer a range of benefits including a generous holiday allowance, pension scheme and additional voluntary money saving benefits

Education Development Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults whom we work with and come into contact with around the world. All applicants are subject to thorough screening and successful candidates are subject to the relevant level of criminal record checks with national police authorities or the UK's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This will be at minimum a basic DBS check.

At Education Development Trust, we strive to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, can be themselves and knows they can reach their full potential. We embrace and celebrate our differences through various initiatives and support colleagues through a number of staff networks. We're committed to building a strong, diverse workforce and making Education Development Trust an inclusive place to work. If you have specific requirements or adjustments, please let us know if there is anything we can do to support your application. We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident employer scheme.