Early Career Development Manager

Location: Flexible / Midlands / Blended Working
Contract: Full time, Permanent
Salary: c£55,000 plus car / car allowance, 33 days holiday, pension, bonus, life assurance, employee assistance programme, wellbeing support, and flexible benefits scheme

About the Job

As Early Career Development Manager for Unipart Group you will own, develop, implement, and coordinate our Early Career talent development programmes including: apprenticeships, graduates, year in industry, summer placements, first movers, and other careers initiatives required to support the development of our future talent pipeline. As a subject matter expert in relation to Early Careers initiatives and all aspects of their running, you will represent Unipart externally, promoting our employer brand to generate enhanced awareness of who we are and what we do, our organisational values and the benefits of working with us, in addition to highlighting specific opportunities to meet our aim of attracting, developing, and retaining the very best Early Careers talent. You will also ensure that our culture, values and The Unipart Way are core to all our programs.

As part of your key responsibilities you’ll:

• Work in conjunction with key stakeholders across the business to develop a holistic early talent development offering which supports the delivery of our corporate plans
• Ensure funding is defined and in place to support the programmes
• Facilitate the effective running of the Early Career working group and ensuring all relevant data and metrics are available for it
• Define and continuously improve our resourcing strategy for all Early Career entry points
• Build and maintain relationships with key schools, colleges, and universities; acting as a liaison for outreach with industry organisations and attending careers fairs as appropriate to promote opportunities
• Work in collaboration with the HR team to develop effective, fair, and engaging selection methodologies to identify the best Early Careers talent
• Monitor diversity of intakes onto the various programmes in order to identify any particular underrepresented groups and develop action plans in line with our Diversity and Inclusion plans
• Work closely with key stakeholders to shape programmes that deliver against the organisational skills development needs and prepare early talent for substantive roles in line with organisational demand
• Co-ordinate onboarding and induction of early talent into and onto their relevant development programmes in line with agreed timescales
• Develop and implement a structured timetable of development activity and rotational placements for each programme liaising with participants and Divisions to ensure smooth and timely transition
• Engage support from subject matter experts as required to develop and maintain relevant and informative content for development programmes
• Collate feedback from participants and other stakeholders, evaluating the impact of early talent programmes and recommending future improvements and opportunities to grow provision
• Establish and lead a regular progress review process, involving relevant stakeholders and training providers as appropriate, to ensure that the development needs of those on programme are identified and given priority through personally tailored development plans
• Provide pastoral support to participants and encouraging them to reflect on learning and engage in proactive career planning with the aim of aligning career goals with organisational need, to enhance engagement and retention
• Run the mentoring for those in Early Career roles
• Ensure that all training is defined and that training providers are in place, working in line with agreed procurement frameworks, to provide timely, cost effective and high quality training across the various programmes
• Manage the Government Apprenticeship Levy account, monitoring spend to ensure that available funds are fully utilised and opportunities to draw down additional funds are explored and implemented as appropriate to business needs

About You:

We’d love you to have the following skills and experience, but please apply if you think you’d be able to perform well in this role!

• You will be an experienced HR/L&D professional with significant exposure to the recruitment and development of Early Career talent
• Strong track record in delivery and execution of Early Careers projects
• Strong planner with the ability to highlight early on where further support is required
• You will excel in developing relationships at all levels and approach situations with a firm and supportive manner
• A creative problem solver
• A strong bias to action - you will get things done

Our recruitment and selection process has been developed to ensure that it is consistent, fair and provides equality of opportunity - all selection decisions are based solely on technical and behavioural competencies. We do not discriminate on the grounds of race, colour, or nationality, ethnic or national origins, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, disability, religion or belief, age or any other current or future protected characteristic as defined in the current Equality Act of England and Wales. As an organisation we also promote an environment which encourages diversity of characteristics and thought, where you feel included, safe and confident to be the best version of yourself and do your best work every day.

You may have experience in the following: Early Career Programs Coordinator, Talent Acquisition Manager (Early Careers), Entry-Level Talent Development Lead, Early Career Pathways Manager, Youth Development Coordinator, Emerging Talent Manager, Junior Talent Development Specialist, Trainee Development Manager, Future Leaders Program Manager, etc.

REF-211 906