Student Futures Placements Manager – School of Law & Politics

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Student Futures Placements Manager – School of Law & Politics

Student Futures, part of the Student Life Division of Cardiff University, is a fast-paced department working with University colleagues, students, and employers to provide a service that enhances student employability and improves graduate outcomes. 

You will lead and manage placements and associated work-related learning and experience in the School of Law & Politics, generating new opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students; maintaining and developing employer and partner relationships; supporting students in finding opportunities, and working with academic colleagues to support students while they are undertaking a placement.

The post is full time (35 hours per week) and open-ended.

Salary: £35,333 – £42,155 per annum (Grade 6)

Due to the nature of this role, you may be occasionally required to undertake some work in evenings and at weekends. 

We offer an excellent renumeration package including 37 days annual leave per year plus 8 bank holidays, pro rata for part time staff, as well as access to a range of staff discounts and development opportunities through accredited training.

Date advert posted: Tuesday, 15 November 2022

Closing date: Friday, 2 December 2022

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Job Description

Key Duties

• Support senior colleagues in the School of Law & Politics and Student Futures to convert the agreed aims for placements work in the School into an operational plan, making recommendations for systems and processes that will establish this service to achieve objectives and deliver against targets;
• Work closely with the Employability Lead in the School to establish clear processes to enable successful work-related learning and placement activities to take place that meet learning outcomes and professional accreditation requirements;
• Contribute to the long-term management of placements and associated work-related learning and experience in the School of Law and Politics.  This will include a clear focus on sourcing placement opportunities and building strong networks with employers especially law firms and also undertaking key placement processes such as risk assessment;
• Develop an integrated service to engage students and provide support, feedback and pastoral care, in individual and group settings.  This will include active management of students on placement and the processes related to this such as co-ordinating and participating in relevant visits with students and placement providers;
• Deliver annual operational and marketing plans and reports;
• Develop relevant marketing materials and organise events to promote the opportunities within the School including being a proactive contact point for prospective placement student enquiries;
• Implement the Target Connect Placements system to manage and capture all placement and work-related learning and experience activity in the School;
• Establish working relationships with key contacts, developing appropriate communication links with the Colleges, Professional Service departments and outside bodies.  This will include working closely with other Student Futures Placements Managers in Schools such as the Business School;
• Contribute to the Placement Officers Network and generate proactive links with all Placement Officers in Schools;
• Undergo personal and professional development that is appropriate to the role and which will enhance performance;
• Gather and analyse data working with Graduate Outcomes, Target Connect and the Information Systems Manager to inform decisions, establishing basic trends and patterns in data and creating reports as appropriate in line with key performance indicators;
• Establish a process for managing quality in the delivery of all elements of placements and work-related learning and experience in the School, and recording work experience for professional Qualifying Work Experience purposes;
• Work closely with Student Futures colleagues in Global Opportunities, Employer Engagement, Futures Connect and Career Confident to align processes, understand networks and build on them, cross-promoting opportunities and links where appropriate;
• Work with the Business Partner and senior School and Student Futures colleagues to seek sponsorship for activities and new developments, and to secure the long-term sustainability and expansion of the service;
• In the event of the service growing, manage the operation of the team. This will involve planning, organising and delegating work, monitoring progress against targets and budgets;
• Manage the performance, induction and development of any staff, supporting and guiding team members in welfare issues, escalating as necessary to specialist support areas.

General Duties

• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties;
• Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity;
• Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Important notice:

• It is the University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable.
• As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement.
• Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below.
• Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each element.

When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number, e.g. Supporting Statement for 15523BR

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education

Degree/NVQ 6 or equivalent Professional membership/experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Substantial experience of recruitment and management of teams.

Able to demonstrate professional knowledge within specialist discipline to give advice and guidance to internal and external customers.

Proven experience in developing new processes and procedures including project management and delivering agreed targets.

Customer Service, Communication and Team Working

Ability to communicate detailed and complex information effectively and professionally to a wide range of people.

Experience of marketing and PR, including integrated social media.

Experience of dealing with performance and welfare issues.

Evidence of ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.

Planning, Analysis and Problem solving

Evidence of ability to solve problems using initiative and creativity; using detailed understanding of methodologies and knowledge of key advances in area to select the right approach.

Evidence of ability to plan the work of a team, over extended time periods, reacting to changes in workload and priority.

Desirable Criteria

Relevant Postgraduate/Professional qualification.

Knowledge of health and safety legislation (training will be given).

Car owner / driver.

Fluency in Welsh, written and oral

Job Category

Management & Executive