Career Mentor Project Co-ordinator

**Careers Mentor Project Coordinator**

**Full time post, Bedford.**

**4YP supported by Bedford Giving**

4YP simply stands for ‘for young people’.

We are a local ‘not for profit’ organisation in its 14thyear of trading.

Our mission statement, created by the 4yp team at the outset, is equally valid for us today:
‘To help young people become successful, contributing and aspirational members of society’.

4YP are delighted to have been chosen by Bedford Giving to deliver their flagship Careers Mentor Programme. As a result, we are seeking a talented individual with great communication and organisational skills to join us on the project team.

**About Bedford Giving**

Bedford Giving are partners, united with a single goal
- to create a brighter future for the next generation in Bedford. The 8 founding partners are - The Harpur Trust, The Connolly Foundation, The Gale Family Charitable Trust, The Panacea Charitable Trust, Lousada PLC, The Worshipful Company of Founders, bpha and St John’s Hospital Trust.

Bedford Giving is hosted by The Harpur Trust, who cover running costs so that all funds provided by the partners, donors, and other fundraising, go directly to projects like the Careers Mentoring Programme.

**The Programme**

The Careers Mentoring Programme will initially be a 2-year pilot, working closely with two local schools, to identify individual young people who would benefit from joining the programme, to build essential skills and knowledge needed to progress to successful and rewarding employment and thrive at every stage of life. Mentees will be matched with a Mentor from the local business community, and, using the Skills Builder Universal Framework, Mentors will meet with their mentee at least once a month, to help the student to develop these skills, fulfil their potential and raise aspirations.

The Coordinator role will be pivotal in pulling together the Mentors and young people, needed to make this project a success, effectively communicating and engaging with those across the business and education communities, to achieve the planned volume of referrals of young people, with the matching with the most appropriate Business Mentors, so that a positive outcome is achieved for all.

The Coordinator will also ensure that the necessary administration, induction training, and ongoing support is in place, to facilitate a safe, and valuable experience for all involved.
- **The role will involve**:_
- Supporting with the promotion of the programme within the business community, enthusing employers, and potential volunteer mentors about the opportunities the programme will provide for both mentor and mentee.
- Respond to enquiries and those who have registered interest on the Bedford Giving website promptly - building strong relationships from the start and throughout the programme.
- Working within the 2 pilot schools as the key project contact, promoting the programme to both key leads (including school senior management team), and students alike to encourage referrals of suitable students.
- Conducting 1-1 appointments to engage with each young person referred, to understand their needs from the programme and facilitate suitable matching with a business Mentor.
- Match individual young people with their Business Mentor, to achieve a successful engagement, experience, and best outcomes for both mentee and mentor.
- Organise and deliver interactive and engaging sessions, workshops, events, and feedback forums for mentoring relationships.
- Monitor and oversee each matching and be available to support both mentee and mentor throughout the programme to ensure both student and Mentor get the most out of the experience and ensure programme objectives are being met.
- Develop and maintain all necessary paperwork/systems and processes.
- Generate engaging web content, newsletter, reports, social media updates and other communications tailored to the audience.
- To always promote the safety and wellbeing of students. To follow 4YP’s safeguarding and other core policies and have full regard to the policies of the schools engaged in the programme.
- Gather data to support quarterly project reporting to Project Manager and commissioners, and to help ensure the project is a success.

**Essential skills and experience**
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to engage, communicate and negotiate effectively and adapt approach as appropriate with business mentors’ young people and education leads and senior management teams. Confident networker, presenter.
- A rapport builder - you will be empathetic to the needs of the mentor and the business they work for, the school, and the young person being mentored. You will be able to listen, negotiate and ensure relationships and built and sustained to aid the success of this programme.
- Enthusiastic, full of energy, able to bring this exciting initiative to life.
- Able to work autonomously (with the support of the PM), self-motivated - with