Employer Engagement Officer - REQ004201

Job title: Employment & Skills Employer Engagement Officer

Salary: SO2 £37,280 - £39,152

Hours: 37

Contract: F/T Permanent

Location: Leeds/Work From Home

As an Employment & Skills Employer Engagement Officer you’ll be passionate about supporting Leeds’ most vulnerable residents into employment using your specialist skills and experience to support businesses to recruit and retain residents who benefit from a supported employment approach. In so doing you will contribute to delivery of both the Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy and the government’s economic growth mission.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As an Employment & Skills Employer Engagement Officer, you will bring to the role:

Degree or equivalent qualification or with commensurate operational experience in an appropriate working environment/community setting
Significant experience of supporting employers to recruit and retain vulnerable and hard-to-reach residents, including those facing barriers to employment
Ability to deliver resident-focused employment and training services – particularly to residents with significant barriers to employment who would benefit from a supported employment approach
Significant knowledge of the city’s labour market, including growth sectors and trends, and the opportunities this offers to residents to access jobs and apprenticeships

About the role

As an Employment & Skills Employer Engagement Officer, you’ll be working on a national programme with key significance for the local economy. By working closely with employers to recruit adults who have significant barriers to employment you’ll be creating bespoke learning journeys which match customer and employer aspirations.

You will proactively support growth ambitions of businesses in the city through the provision of tailored recruitment and skills support including training on e.g. inclusive selection and recruitment processes, in-work support and job retention support, information using schemes and support such as Access to Work.

The role is integral to our Employment & Skills Service and you’ll be working alongside other advisors in theLeeds Employment Hub offering tailored support to target clients to support a healthier, greener and more inclusive economy that works for everyone.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online short application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose To support the delivery of work programmes across the Employment and Skills service, particularly those that target customers with significant barriers who would benefit from a supported employment approach. To meet service priorities by serving customers including local and key employers, employer networks and stakeholder groups and residents. To provide support to other teams within the Service as demand and priorities dictate, and carrying out any other duties commensurate with the grade and required for the role

Responsibilities

Working with Employment & Skills Advisors (Supported Employment)/Keyworkers to focus engagement efforts on the employers and industries that residents with significant employment barriers are most interested in

Use available Labour Market Information (LMI) data to understand the local labour market, identify which employers to approach, understand where job growth would come from, the skills required by employers and the specific needs of the customer

Identify receptive employers and engage with internal Business Engagement functions, existing networks and local Chambers of Commerce to make contacts

Building Partnerships with businesses and viewing employers as equal customers to develop strong, proactive relationships. Understanding business needs by conducting thorough job analyses to learn about the employer's organisation, culture, and recruitment needs.

Facilitating inclusive recruitment by working with employers on reasonable adjustments, changing recruitment practices, and generally making their workplaces more inclusive for disabled talent.

Providing ongoing support by offering high-quality assistance not just to the jobseeker, but also to the employer throughout the recruitment, hiring, and retention process.

Proactively support growth ambitions of businesses in the city through the provision of tailored recruitment and skills support including training on e.g. inclusive selection and recruitment processes, in-work support and job retention support, information using schemes and support such as Access to Work

Organise and support the delivery of recruitment activity in communities including jobs fairs and recruitment activities for key developments/employers/employer networks

Promote and deliver positive solutions to achieve diversity and equality of opportunity in all aspects of service delivery whilst balancing these with a good understanding of specific recruitment and workforce development needs

Manage and adhere to effective governance and risk management arrangements as well as meeting fidelity assessment requirements

Manage and handle information and data in line with the Council's agreed policies on Information Governance and Data Protection

Ensure adherence to Health and Safety in accordance with all statutory obligations and relevant health and safety policies.

The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications Degree or equivalent qualification or with commensurate operational experience in an appropriate working environment/community setting

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Able to deliver employer-focused recruitment and skills services

Able to deliver resident-focused employment and training services – particularly to residents with significant barriers to employment who would benefit from a supported employment approach

Able to promote and market employment services to businesses

Able to work on own initiative and make effective decisions and judgements commensurate with the role.

Significant knowledge of employment and skills policy issues at a local, regional and national level

Significant knowledge of the city’s labour market, including growth sectors and trends, and the opportunities this offers to residents to access jobs and apprenticeships

Significant experience of delivering employer-responsive activity

Significant experience of working with key growth employment sectors in the city

Significant experience of communicating with employers, delivery partners and other key stakeholders to deliver services

Significant experience of supporting employers to recruit and retain vulnerable and hard-to-reach residents, including those facing barriers to employment.

Significant experience of productive, collaborative working with a wide range of audiences

Significant experience of managing competing priorities

Significant experience of preparing and presenting reports

Positive attitude towards managing change and the achievement of targets

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality & diversity of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Desirable requirements Candidates are not required to meet all the following desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

Knowledge of local and regional skills provision and capacity to meet the city’s needs
Knowledge of careers education information advice and guidance policies and practice, and school-employer brokerage

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