Lead the Future of Employer Engagement

At Inspire Education Group, we're committed to creating Careers, Not Courses. We're looking for an ambitious and commercially-minded Group Head of Employer Engagement to lead and transform how we work with employers across our region.

This is a high-profile leadership role where you'll shape strategic partnerships with businesses, industry bodies and key stakeholders, ensuring employers are at the heart of everything we do. Working closely with curriculum leaders, you'll help influence educational provision, drive apprenticeship and work placement opportunities, and support learners in developing the skills employers need today and tomorrow.

About the Role

Reporting to the Vice Principal Apprenticeships and Higher Education, you will lead our employer engagement, apprenticeship recruitment and work placement functions, bringing together talented teams to create a high-performing, target-driven service.

You will:

• Develop and deliver the Group's Employer Engagement Strategy
• Build and maintain strong relationships with employers, business networks and regional stakeholders
• Drive apprenticeship recruitment, industry placements and commercial opportunities across the Group
• Champion our "Careers Not Courses" approach, ensuring employers help shape curriculum development and learner experiences
• Lead, coach and inspire a team of employer engagement and recruitment professionals
• Use data and CRM systems to manage pipelines, forecasting and performance
• Represent the Group at regional business events, employer forums and strategic partnership meetings

  We're looking for a confident leader with a proven track record of delivering results through employer engagement, business development or B2B sales.

You will have:

• Significant experience leading employer engagement, account management or commercial business development activities
• A strong track record of building strategic partnerships and developing new business opportunities
• Experience managing high-performing teams and delivering against ambitious targets
• Excellent relationship-building, influencing and negotiation skills
• Experience using CRM systems to manage sales pipelines and customer relationships
• Understanding of workforce development, apprenticeships, employability or skills-based provision
• A degree-level qualification or equivalent professional experience

 Experience within Further Education, training or apprenticeships would be advantageous but is not essential.

Why work for IEG?

• Generous Leave: Up to 43 days' holiday per year, including Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days (pro rata for part-time staff).
• Competitive Pension: Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), including death-in-service benefits
• Health and Wellbeing: Benefit from a gym, free on-site parking, access to employee assistance programme and a friendly team atmosphere
• Professional Development: Ongoing training and development opportunities, including sponsorship for HE/professional qualifications
• Employee Benefits and Rewards: Vivup employee benefits, including lifestyle savings, eligibility to apply for a Blue Light Card, providing access to a wide range of national discounts

IEG is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, young people and any vulnerable groups within the college community and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to thorough vetting process which includes, an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Candidates are reminded that if they are barred from working with Children it is a criminal offence to apply for this position.

Disability Confident

At IEG, we are committed to ensuring that our Talent Acquisition processes are accessible to everyone. 

If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you during the application or interview stages, such as documents in an alternative format, additional time for assessments, or specific accessibility arrangements, please contact the People Services team on (insert phone number) or at (insert email address). We will treat any sensitive information you provide as confidential, and will work with you to make the process as fair and inclusive as possible.