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Form of work
SalaryWe are looking for a passionate, collaborative and inclusive Programme Manager, who understands the transformative impact of mentoring and coaching and is committed to supporting and championing women with experience of the UK's hostile asylum system. If you want to have a deep impact by supporting the development of equitable and empowering mentoring relationships, then we would love to hear from you.
About Routes
Routes exists to grow the resources of refugee and asylum seeking women to ensure that they have equal access to jobs and education in the UK. Our vision is of a future where people seeking safety in the UK are afforded access to opportunities and networks that they need to build meaningful and fulfilling lives, the ability to choose their future path, and the resources they need to reach their full potential.
We achieve our objective through three programmes:
1:1 Mentoring: a four month programme offering 1:1 mentoring, networking opportunities, skills workshops, and practical support. The programme connects refugee women with mentors in a unique mutual mentoring programme that supports both mentors and mentees to learn and grow from each other. We provide training for mentors to ensure that the support they provide mentees is high quality, and to offer a learning experience for them too. For mentees, the mentoring is supplemented by workshops covering topics like self advocacy and public speaking, wrap-around support, check-in calls, casework, and access to a comprehensive resource database.
Research: Routes is conducting research into how to create systemic change for women refugees facing unemployment in London. This includes looking into apprenticeship schemes, funded training programmes and business partnerships to create employment pathways. The outcomes of this research will feed into Routes’ wider work as the findings develop.
Alumni support: designed to support our growing community of graduates from the mentoring programme with their continued development towards their goals, this includes bursary opportunities with City and Guilds Foundation, free comparability statements for qualifications gained abroad through ECCTIS, career talks with the aim of raising awareness and aspirations, jobs list to circulate opportunities, workshops for continued skills development and more.
Our ways of working
We are currently a team of five, who all work part time (mix of three and four days a week). We are motivated by investing in people and potential; we don’t just accept things as they are and are always open to learning how to make things better. We invest in our own development and growth, through strengths coaching sessions, and training opportunities.
We have flexible working and aim to establish working patterns that suit everyone; it’s important to us that everyone feels able to thrive in the team. Working from the office is a requirement of this role, but we all work hybrid so there is the option to work from home some of the week if you would like to.
About the programmes you’ll manage
Mentoring Programme
The Routes Mentoring Programme has been running since 2018. We run currently two Mentoring Programmes a year, supporting 60 mentees, and we pride ourselves in delivering this programme in a way that centres autonomy, care, and learning and development.
You will be responsible for ensuring the smooth delivery of the mentoring programme for our mentees and mentors. Routes mentees are women from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds with goals to do with their personal and professional development. You will take the lead in managing their journey through the programme from recruitment, matching, onboarding, programme events, support throughout the programme, offboarding, and impact measurement.
Routes Mentoring Programmes are designed to create relationships that are supportive, equal and empowering. We take care to fully understand each person’s goals and aspirations, so that we find them a mentor who can support on their goals. We know that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work, which is why the 1:1 support of a mentor can be so transformative.
Routes mentors are women from our partner organisations across sectors. We provide extensive training in coaching and mentoring tools and techniques that they can use for their mentoring and beyond in their professional lives, ensuring that the programme is a learning opportunity for them too. The learning on our Mentoring Programme focuses on inclusive leadership, and may be useful in other 1:1 relationships, including line management, work with colleagues and other personal and professional contexts. The mentoring programme is a crucial part of our business model as an organisation; the mentors’ places on the programme are funded by their employer through learning and development budgets.
Read more in the job description below
