Apprenticeship Project Officer – Draft Job Description and Person Specification Versa Professional Services has successfully bid for funding to the National Apprenticeship Service Diversity in Apprenticeships programme to deliver new programmes in Oxford, Reading and Lambeth targeted at engaging new apprentices from within ethnic minority and other non-traditional communities, including girls into jobs traditionally taken by boys. Working with partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors, Versa will target the recruitment and placement of approximately 50 apprentices in each of the three geographical areas. A profile of target communities, employment sectors, skill areas and levels has been drawn up for each geographical centre. We now wish to recruit an Apprenticeship Project Officer to operate in each area. Under the direction of a Versa-appointed Project Manager she/he will work with Versa colleagues and with partners, providers and employers to draw up and put into action a programme of activities designed to deliver the local targets. Versa Professional Services Limited is an independent provider of high quality consulting services to public service organisations. We are therefore pleased to submit our proposals for this project. We set up Versa specifically to provide cost effective consulting services that combine ‘fresh thinking’ with practical ‘know how’; we aim to deliver for our clients measurable improvements in performance. As a company we are committed to:      

putting the interests and aspirations of our clients first providing objective advice and support unlocking the creativity and imagination of our people recognising and learning from difference and diversity working in an open, transparent and ethical way leading by example and acting with integrity.

The Reading Programme In Reading we will be working with an established partnership of organisations who are well placed with the key stakeholders in this programme. These include Reading Borough Council, Reading UK CIC, Connexions Berkshire, the Thames Valley Regional Network, and BASIAN. Working with these partners we will engage with young people from BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) backgrounds and with employers, and will seek to support the recruitment of 50 apprentices from within BME communities. We will be prioritising apprenticeships in the following sectors: Retail, Hospitality & Catering, Social Care, Construction & Engineering, Business Administration and IT, Financial Services and Emerging Environmental Technologies. 1

Job description

Job title:

Apprenticeship Project Officer

Location:

Reading

Duration/Scale of Contract

1 year fixed term; 80%

Salary

£25,000 (pro rata)

Job purpose:

to encourage the uptake of apprenticeships within disadvantaged/non-traditional communities; to generate 50 apprenticeship starts; to ensure that our initiatives complement other local activities, such as the Skills for Business programme in Reading

Key result areas:

nos. of starts profile of starts disaggregated by: level sector/skill area ethnicity/gender/disability profile

Responsible for:

N/A

Responsible to:

local Project Manager

To work with:

local partners local Project Manager other Versa staff (administrative/research) other Apprenticeship Project Officers

Main duties

engagement of young people to work with partners to design and deliver a set of local activities to engage young people to broker the recruitment of a minimum of 50 new apprentices from the target communities to engage directly with young people in a range of settings, including schools, youth groups, community settings, mosques & temples etc.

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employer engagement to work with partners to design and deliver a set of local activities to engage young people to engage directly with employers to encourage the creation of 50 new apprenticeship placements/recruitment from the target communities to encourage a positive attitude to recruiting apprentices from disadvantaged/non-traditional communities working with partners to work with partners to design and deliver a set of activities to engage with appropriate local/regional/national providers to ensure the ‘fit’ of the programme with other related local initiatives, such as the Skills for Business programme in Reading; to ensure that all activities are complementary working with providers to recruit and support young people from target communities to support providers to use the principles of the Good Practice Guide in their promotion, marketing and recruitment practices planning to contribute to the preparation, delivery and monitoring of a local action plan reporting to contribute to the preparation of reports to the local operational and advisory group the nominated Project Manager

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Person specification Skills/Competencies

Essential good computer skills

Knowledge

Essential experience of working with target communities of young people, diverse communities and employers Desirable knowledge of and understanding of the Apprenticeship programme

Qualifications

Essential degree or equivalent Desirable a level 4 professional qualification in a related discipline e.g. Youth Work, Careers Guidance, Teaching/Training, Social Work, Education Welfare

Attributes

Essential the ability to work effectively independently as well as part of a team ability to work on own initiative as well as directed good people skills ability to engage/collaborate with young people, employers, partners and colleagues good communication skills (including writing) skills good organisational and project management skills initiative and enthusiasm the ability to work from home

Practical Requirements

Essential current driving licence and own transport

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Applications and Further Details Applications are sought from suitably qualified individuals and should be made by email to Simon Tepper, [email protected] by noon on Friday, 26th November 2010. Please include an up-to-date CV and a letter setting out why you are interested in and consider yourself suitable for the post. If you have any further queries or would like an informal discussion about this post, please call Simon on 07980 211191.

Versa Professional Services November 2010

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