Alumni Manager

Job Title: Alumni Manager

Contract Type: Permanent, 37.5hrs inc 30mins unpaid break

Start Date: August-September 2024

Shortlisting: Friday 19th July 2024

Interviews: Monday 22nd July 2024

We are fully focused on equality and believe deeply in diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other characteristics that make us different.

About East London Arts & Music (ELAM)

Role Purpose & Description

ELAM was a school born out of industry need and partnership. Success sees our young people - from all backgrounds and particularly from underrepresented backgrounds - entering the creative workforce and thriving. This will only happen if they receive the most plugged-in, industry relevant training on offer anywhere in the UK so that our vision, for all children growing up in the UK seeing themselves reflected in UK culture, is one step closer to being realised.

The Alumni Manager is a new full time role that will draw on aspects of previous roles that had industry and alumni as their focus. We are looking for a professional to grow and lead our alumni strategy, provision and build partnerships so that we can deliver our vision for our Alumni for years to come. They will do this through their exceptional abilities in partnership building, employability and work readiness support, individual and group support with our alumni and develop strong links between alumni and current trainees so that they are fully supported even after graduating from ELAM.

The Alumni Manager will be someone who is passionate and informed about engaging the ELAM alumni community, passionate about developing strategies around how to support and create pathways into the creative industries for underrepresented creatives.

Setting our Alumni up for success: ELAM recognises that talent alone is not always enough to succeed in the creative industries. Unfortunately, this continues to be particularly true for traditionally underrepresented groups.

In order for us to drive true systemic change within the competitive creative industries, we need to do more to equip our young people with the knowledge, skills, professional behaviours and industry nous they need to succeed. We recognise there is an element of more general ‘work readiness’ support required (for example like CV development and interview preparation) and more specific ‘industry readiness’ (such as understanding roles in the creative industries and having the chance to interact with those in the creative industries). This does not end when trainees graduate from ELAM so we want to make sure that they feel supported even after they leave.

We want to ensure that Alumni can rely on support from ELAM where needed and the Alumni Manager will be available to meet with Alumni and support them with career development and progression. Additionally, with employment at the centre of the Alumni strategy, the Alumni Manager should actively seek to build new relationships with companies in the employment sector such as recruitment companies and other companies in the creative industries to work with them to build opportunities for the ELAM Alumni community including assisting with the recruitment process so that a continued talent pipeline is created taking our ELAM Alumni directly into the creative industries.

Looking at professional behaviours and attitudes, we believe that by instilling a strong work ethic, punctuality, and a commitment to excellence, we can prepare our Trainees to meet the demands of the competitive creative industry head-on. ELAM's work and industry readiness programmes would encompass a range of areas critical for success in the workplace. In the core curriculum this includes communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability and presentation skills. It will also involve practical elements of being able to secure work - having an up-to-date CV, having a work portfolio ready to share and being ready to interview through support and practice. The alumni manager will continue to assist alumni in the development of these skills for as long as is needed.

The Alumni Manager will be in regular contact with the Alumni community, providing a weekly newsletter made up of work opportunities both created independently and brought to us directly from partners.

Complementing the work regarding employment, the Alumni Manager will oversee the coordination of ELAM’s Alumni board and actively work with the board to foster more relationships between ELAM alumni and ELAM current trainees. The Alumni Manager will work with the wider Industry Team to support, organise and facilitate ELAM Alumni increasingly becoming involved in ELAM events.

2024/2025 is ELAM’s 10 year anniversary and as such there will be numerous events related to this taking place over the course of the academic year. The Alumni Manager will play an important role in the organisation of events which celebrate the success of ELAM and of each year group since ELAM’s launch.

ELAM’s industry ethos and values will influence the work of all of our staff as they construct powerful and relevant learning experiences that are industry relevant. This role will play an important part in creating this ethos and continuing the momentum built up with our partners who are increasingly seeing the value-proposition of our Trainees and Alumni in their organisations.

Deliverables

To develop and implement an industry strategy that strengthens our ELAM Alumni community, that provides regular and high quality support for Alumni, that builds new partnerships, specifically around work, internship and apprenticeship opportunities.

Co-ordinate the ELAM Alumni board

• Recruitment of alumni board members
• Management of the alumni board including coordination of regular meetings and general communication and management of board member responsibilities within ELAM alumni community

Weekly Newsletter

• Prepare and send out a weekly newsletter made up of jobs, internships and other work opportunities

Relationship and Network Building

• Build relationships with recruitment agencies especially those who specialise in creative industries e.g Handle to create more work opportunities for alumni
• Design internships, work placements with existing and new partners and then manage recruitment process with alumni community
• Engage with different stakeholders to consult on how to develop the Alumni network
• Innovate to find best/easiest ways to allow Alumni to connect/support/share

Industry Readiness and Employment Resources

• Add to existing industry readiness resources by working with partners to ensure all resources are up to date and relevant and created in consultation with members of industry

In person and online meeting with members of Alumni community

• Within set windows, meet with alumni members where required

ELAM 10 Year Anniversary

• Plan and deliver 10 events over the course of the year - 1 per graduating year group

Marketing Materials

• Create a interview series, podcast, alumni stories/case studies to be used in multiple contexts

Data

• Develop systems to track alumni destinations including regular updates
• Analyse data and use it to inform further projects/actions

Person specification

Job Title: Alumni Manager

You will:

• Be a confident communicator who is happy reaching out to both existing and potential partners
• Be an exceptional professional who builds long-lasting relationships with all stakeholders
• Have experience of working with diverse stakeholders and be confident and deliberate in adapting your style
• Have an excellent understanding of the current creative employment landscape and who is confident in what is required for high quality CVs, cover letters, interview skills and general professionalism
• Have a solid understanding of the creative industries;
• Be innovative and creative in your approach to your work
• Be passionate about supporting young people in their employment journey and in general
• Highly organised and be an excellent role model to Trainees and Alumni;
• Work with our fundraising partners to support in the reporting of impact;
• Be confident collecting, analysing and presenting data in order to be proactive and improve the provision ELAM offers

Safeguarding, salary and how to apply

Safeguarding our young people

This post is subject to receipt of a satisfactory Enhanced DBS Check. To safeguard our trainees, the post for which you are applying is exempt from Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Scheme certificate will be obtained before an offer of employment is confirmed.

Please find our policies here: safeguarding, code of conduct and safer recruitment policies

Start date

The start date for this role will be in August/September 2024.

Salary

The salary range will be ST21 - ST28 (£40,592 - £46,003) depending on relevant experience and current position.

How to apply

To apply please email complete the application form found:

https://candidates.every.education/Vacancies/Details?advertKey=e4b2d7f6-d782-4d35-a9cd-2 ad4aaf89c45

If you would like to discuss the role please feel free to contact Matt Sheldon (Principal) via Jackie Ford, Executive Assistant to Principal at jford@elam.co.uk