Employer and Student Engagement Manager

Join Colchester Institute – Where Your Career Makes a Difference

At Colchester Institute, we believe in the power of education to transform lives and communities. As one of the leading providers of education and training in the region, we are proud to offer a dynamic, supportive, and forward-thinking working environment.

We are seeking a Employer and Student Engagement Manager to join our team. In this role you will support Colchester Institute’s mission to deliver first-class education, professional development, and technical skills training that develops careers and strengthens the local economy. You will embody the Institute’s core values by placing student success, wellbeing, and an outstanding learner experience at the centre of your work.

You will lead the coordination and organisation of stakeholder and employer engagement activities across Professional Apprenticeships and Access to Education programmes, including Functional Skills. Working closely with curriculum teams, employers, and external partners, you will ensure that stakeholder relationships effectively support curriculum delivery, learner achievement, and progression opportunities.

A key aspect of the role will be developing, maintaining, and enhancing strong partnerships with existing employers and stakeholders, while proactively identifying and securing new opportunities for collaboration. Through effective engagement and partnership working, you will help enrich the learner experience, support positive progression and destination outcomes, and contribute to meeting local and regional workforce development needs.

You will act as a key link between employers, stakeholders, and curriculum areas, ensuring that programmes remain responsive to industry requirements and that learners are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities needed for future career success.

Job title: Employer and Student Engagement Manager

Full time, Permanent

About the role:

• To coordinate and support the area’s employer engagement and industry partners, to promote and grow the provision.
• To work with Curriculum Leaders to further develop a range of materials to support the practicalities of work placement process and monitoring, ensuring relevant documentation in place before commencement
• To collaborate with the apprentice employer engagement team to explore, identify and establish opportunities for new employer relationships to increase apprenticeship numbers.
• To develop and maintain accurate customer records on CRM and ensure all relevant employer information is directed to relevant teams.
• To lead on organisation of work placement opportunities for students and be the main point of contact for the employer ensuring that employers understand the requirements of the roles that students need to undertake.
• To support students in their understanding of the work placement objectives, including pre-placement advice and guidance on workplace etiquette including punctuality and other behavioural expectations and practicalities of travel arrangements.
• To work in partnership with internal stakeholders to ensure work placement risks are assessed and monitored, to include Health and Safety, Safeguarding and Welfare.

Essential Experience:

• Proven track record of providing accurate advice and assistance to colleagues and customers  
• Excellent IT experience, including Microsoft Office products to produce clear and accurate communications, using information from databases and other systems
• Working knowledge and experience of data protection and working with confidential and sensitive information
• Good Experience of providing customer focused support, and dealing with complex enquiries from internal and external stakeholders
• Evidence of the effective co- ordination or management of a team, demonstrating improvements in quality outputs and success indicators

Essential Qualifications:

• Minimum of Level 2 qualification in English and Mathematics GCSE 4+ or C and above / CSE Level 1 / O-Level C or above / Level 2 Adult Numeracy or Literacy or equivalent.

Why join us?

At Colchester Institute, we value our staff and invest in their growth. Joining us means becoming part of a vibrant community dedicated to excellence in education and training. If you are passionate about making a difference and inspiring the next generation, we would love to hear from you.

We do not engage with recruitment or search agencies unless they have been officially contracted in line with our PSL.