Senior Apprenticeship & Widening Participation Co-ordinator

Job overview

We are looking for an exceptional Senior Apprenticeships and Widening Participation Co-ordinator to join the team. Experienced in either Learning & Development, apprenticeships, widening participation, or a similar people-focused environment, you'll lead the delivery and coordination of a wide range of initiatives, including supporting our apprenticeship schemes, organising work placements, school engagement activities and career events. The role involves offering learner support to both new and existing apprentices , supporting internal teams with apprenticeship recruitment and onboarding, and ensuring compliance with funding rules. Strong communication, coordination, and data management skills are essential, including experience with spreadsheets. You will be engaging with individuals at all levels, clinical and non-clinical, senior leaders and entry level students, so strong communication and stakeholder management skills are essential. You'll need to be confident in influencing others and delivering a high standard of service to both internal and external stakeholders, as such, this role will suit someone who is highly organised, proactive and able to manage competing priorities.

Main duties of the job

This role is central to the delivery of the Trust's Apprenticeship and Widening Participation programme, which aims to broaden routes into healthcare and provide development opportunities and career pathways for existing staff. The post holder will coordinate the Trust's widening participation activity, including the work experience programme, covering applications, pre-placement checks, induction and evaluation, and supporting its ongoing development. You will develop and maintain relationships with schools and colleges, support the School Ambassador Network and create opportunities for local students to explore healthcare careers through careers events, school visits, talks and outreach. You will also support T Levels, placements and other initiatives that create pathways from education into NHS careers. You will support the delivery of the Trust’s apprenticeship strategy, coordinating events that celebrate and raise the profile of apprenticeships across the Trust. You will liaise with apprentices, line managers and apprenticeship providers, ensuring they are appropriately supported and that issues are resolved in a timely manner. You will also help connect widening participation activity with apprenticeship and early careers opportunities. The post holder will need to be adaptable and responsive to changing priorities and emerging opportunities in line with local and national policy.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information, please refer to the detailed Job Description & Person Specification:

Apprenticeships

• Provide advice and support to recruiting managers interested in recruiting a new apprentice starter, including advising on appropriate providers, supporting the advertising and shortlisting processes and liaising with recruitment to co-ordinate employment start dates with course enrolment.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with managers, apprentices, training providers and external partners to ensure a coordinated approach to programme delivery.
• Support apprentices, providing guidance throughout their programme and acting as a key point of contact between the apprentice, line manager and training provider, ensuring queries are addressed and appropriate support is in place.
• Maintain oversight of learner progress, proactively monitoring end-point assessment and completion dates, ensuring timely completion and accurate recording of grades and outcomes for reporting and quality monitoring.
• Be proactive in ensuring the Learning Hub is kept up to date, and all apprenticeships content is current and relevant.

Widening Participation

• Coordinate the Trust’s Work Experience Programme, including applications, pre-placement checks, induction and workshops.
• Advise, guide and actively support managers on the structure and content of the placements and the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of work experience placements.
• Act as the Trust’s main point of contact for work experience with local schools and colleges, building and maintaining relationships to coordinate placements, share information and resolve issues.
• Continue to build engagement with clinical and non-clinical managers to increase the number of areas welcome to hosting work experience placements across the Trust.
• Continuously improve processes for work experience with the aim of improving the experience and outcomes for placement hosts and students.