This unique role offers you an opportunity to immerse yourself in all aspects of Human Resources/workforce related issues while at the same time making a real difference within our vital Further Education sector.

Association of Colleges is a not-for-profit organisation and the national voice for further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England - established by colleges, for colleges. As a membership organisation, everything we do has our members at our heart.

Working in a small team your role will be varied and busy, with a big focus on building and maintaining excellent relationships with HR professionals and senior leaders within member colleges across England. The role of our team is to ensure our members are fully briefed on actual and potential HR/workforce related issues, can obtain credible and trusted advice and guidance and crucial benchmarking data, and have access to sector and external networking/relationship building opportunities. To do this we also have to ensure that we have the knowledge required to be able to represent colleges effectively to government and other significant organisations.

You can review the role in more detail in the job description and person specification, but headlines include having a good understanding of current and up-coming employment/HR/workforce issues and the ability to articulate information and concepts clearly verbally and in writing. Ideally you’ll have experience of working with and/or advising managers/leaders in an HR role, and it would be helpful for you to have experience of an education setting (or similar) as you’ll be familiar with the ‘language’ and ways of working (but if not we can bring you up to speed quickly). You’ll enjoy data and you’ll be IT competent and confident, with good knowledge of and skills in the usual Microsoft packages (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint). Many of our meetings are held online, for which we use Teams and Zoom, but there will be some in-person meetings and events to attend, which will involve travelling.

If you have any questions or would like to have an informal chat about the role, please contact Jo Taylor (Head of Employment Advisory Services) at [email protected] to arrange a conversation.

To service our members and their students well, we need a workforce and Board that is more representative of those we serve. That’s why we welcome applications from everyone, from all backgrounds, who share our vision and values and want to be a part of this journey with us.

AoC is a great place to work. In our last survey, 96% of staff members said that they believe that we make a positive contribution to the world, and 90% said that their team is fun to work in.

Some travel will be expected to attend meetings either in London or at college locations across England, which may include overnight stays.

AoC has a culture of high performance and commitment and we expect and get a lot from our staff. We offer trust and autonomy in a highly flexible working environment with a great package of rewards that includes a generous holiday entitlement, final salary pension scheme, opportunities for professional development including sponsorship of professional qualifications. We also know that our passion for the further education sector, and our focus on enabling colleges to help people realise their talents and ambitions, act as a great motivator for working at AoC.

Please note that your equality and diversity monitoring form will be separated from your application and will not be considered by the shortlisting panel.

AoC is committed to providing equal opportunities and embracing diversity. We encourage applications from everyone and will not discriminate against any applicants on the basis of age, disability, sex, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. To service our members and their students well, we need a workforce and Board that is more representative of those we serve. That’s why we welcome applications from everyone, from all backgrounds, who share our vision and values and want to be a part of this journey with us.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend any interview, please email us to let us know.

Thank you for your interest in this opportunity to join the AoC team.