Careers Coach

 Location: Multiple Campuses

Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Sunday 15 September 2024

Interview Date: Tuesday 01 October 2024

Birmingham City University is a large and diverse place to study right in the heart of the city and we have an exciting opportunity for 2 Careers Coaches to join our dynamic and growing team. The roles are Fixed-term for 12 - 18 months with the possibility to make permanent.

If you are looking for a new career, with potential for progression and are passionate about supporting a diverse and talented student base to secure a graduate role, this is a great time to consider joining our Careers+ service at Birmingham City University. Following the development of the University Employability Strategy, BCU is investing £2,000,000 in additional resources and staffing to support our students in gaining the skills and experience to develop successful future careers. The University strategy states: “We must ensure that our graduates enter their future careers ready to achieve their potential.”  

About the role:

We are recruiting Careers Coaches for both Faculty Of Computing, Engineering And The Built Environment (12 month Fixed-term) and Faculty Of Health, Education And Life Sciences (end date 31/03/2026). You will have experience of providing careers information, advice and coaching in a person-centred way, with a good understanding of the needs and expectations of students. The role will involve actively reaching out to students, managing a caseload and delivering a variety of one-to-one and group-based employability coaching activities to enhance employability skills and make a positive impact upon graduate outcomes.  

What’s in it for you?

In return for your dedication and hard work, you will benefit from ongoing opportunities for personal and professional development, as well as the following key benefits:

• Opportunity for hybrid working.
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 40 days (including bank holidays and closure periods).
• An attractive direct contribution pension scheme, or the option to retain LGPS for existing and previous members.
• Wellbeing advice and support through our Employee Assistance Programme.
• Cycle to Work Scheme.
• A supportive and collaborative culture and work environment, rooted in BCU’s values.

Why not take a look at the interactive map that shows the facilities across campus. 

Role requirements:

You will be skilled in building successful professional relationships and understand how to engage less confident students who may have several external commitments competing for their time such as part-time work or family commitments. You will also be skilled at developing, delivering and measuring the impact of training programmes and initiatives; with experience of using technology to enhance and scale up service delivery.

As a key member of a Careers+ team you will work collaboratively with your Careers+ colleagues and faculty teams to achieve the best outcomes for students.

For existing Birmingham City University staff, undertaking the role on a secondment basis will also be considered.  

If have any questions about the role relating to Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment please email Cheryl.phillips@bcu.ac.uk and relating to Health, Education and Life Science please email nejam.boksh@bcu.ac.uk

Further Details: Job Description

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University. Appointees with prior LGPS membership who wish to enter the LGPS scheme will be able to do so, and will be employed by Birmingham City University directly.

OUR VISION

Birmingham City University is growing in quality and standing, with an academic STEAM agenda at the heart of our ambitions. We are transforming the lives of students and their communities, and want outstanding people to join us in taking us on the next stage of our exciting journey.  

Our students learn through doing. They are empowered throughout their educational journey, achieving significant educational gain and personal transformation.  

There has never been a better time to join us. Come and be part of the next exciting stage of our journey.

ABOUT BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

At the heart of our 2025 Strategy is our mission is to enable our students to transform their lives and to achieve their potential. Through our education and research, and the roles our graduates go on to play in the world, we not only support individuals to transform their lives, but we also play a part in transforming society.

Located in the centre of the UK’s second city, we are a university with a long heritage of innovation and of making, dating back to our origins in 1843 when we were founded as the Birmingham Government School of Design.  

Our heritage of making through innovation and its application through knowledge exchange, and of creative research and practice, today finds it expression in our STEAM agenda, in our research and enterprise, and in our commitment to challenge-based learning. Working across disciplines, and delivering impactful research and enterprise, interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the continuing transformation of our academic portfolio. 

OUR STAFF COMMUNITY 

Birmingham is home to a rich and diverse range of communities. Our students reflect this rich cultural mix, and we are continuing to work to make sure that this is also reflected in our broader university community. 

Birmingham City University values the quality and diversity of our staff. Our staff and student community is defined by our core values, which outline who we are as a University and how we work with each other. Our core values are we create opportunity, we think differently, and we build community. 

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, continuously reviewing and improving our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential. 

We hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.

Our University is located in one of the most culturally rich and diverse Cities in the UK, and it is our ambition to be the University for Birmingham and the surrounding region. The events of 2020 have highlighted the stark inequalities that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities face and we are committed to removing the institutional barriers that our staff and students face and improve the representation, progression and success of staff and students from all backgrounds within higher education. To demonstrate this, we have signed up to the Race Equality Charter to show our commitment.

Birmingham City University has been recognised for its progress on LGBT+ equality with a Gold award in the Stonewall Index and have entered the Top 100 Employers 2023 for LGBT+ inclusion. Meanwhile, we are Disability Confident (Committed) and are on an exciting journey to advance our University to progress through the Disability Confident scheme.

We are also a Mindful Employer, which means we are committed to supporting the mental health and well-being of our staff, and we have also signed up to the Mental Health Charter led by student mental health charity Student Minds. Furthermore, we are signed up to The Technician Commitment - a university and research institution initiative supported by the Science Council and Gatsby Foundation – aiming to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research.

WORKING AND LIVING IN BIRMINGHAM

The youngest city in Europe with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of the population, Birmingham is a city full of energy and enthusiasm and is a great place to live and work.

Based in the heart of England, the city is easily accessible by road, rail and air. Birmingham New Street station has recently undergone major redevelopment, while the city is at the heart of the high-speed rail network, HS2. HS2 will provide new rapid rail travel connecting Birmingham City Centre to London and the rest of the network from the new Curzon Street Station – adjacent to Birmingham City University’s City Centre Campus – and will be one of the most environmentally friendly stations in the world.

The city’s appetite for progression is boundless, and it has been championing innovation since the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, reflected in Birmingham City University’s new STEAMhouse building which opened in October 2022 and is home to an inter-disciplinary community of entrepreneurs, businesses, academic researchers, and students offering a wealth of support to companies of all sizes to boost growth through innovation to address commercial and societal challenges.

Birmingham is brimming with great theatres, museums, the world-famous Birmingham City University Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as beautiful historical buildings and the iconic Library of Birmingham. It also has amazing concert and sporting venues including Edgbaston Cricket ground, which Birmingham City University has a long-standing partnership with. It is also home to the Alexander Stadium, which is the stunning new home for Birmingham City University’s sport courses. The Stadium was one of the main event spaces for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, which saw the eyes of the world on the city, and Birmingham City University staff and students played pivotal roles - including designing the official medals for winning athletes. 

Birmingham’s vibrant dining scene offers something for all tastes, including Michelin star restaurants, Spiceal Street at the Bullring, the Chinese Quarter, and the famous Balti Triangle.

The city also provides a great place to shop, being home the Bullring and Grand Central, the luxurious Mailbox Birmingham and the world-famous home of British bling - the Jewellery Quarter, which is home to Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery.

From Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and the beautiful arcades and independents, to the city’s historic markets in Digbeth, the shops in Birmingham offer a plethora of choice.

BCU Values underpin how we work in achieving the ambitions set out in our Strategy and Priorities, and are the principles that unite the way we work together and for our students.

£36,421 to £39,591 per annum