Placements and Employability Manager

Are you committed to making a real impact on students’ career journeys, enhancing employability skills and ultimately improving graduate outcomes? Birkbeck, University of London, is seeking a Placements and Employability Manager to lead the development, delivery and quality assurance of its placement activity. In this new role, you will drive effective collaboration, uphold best practice and inclusivity, and ensure robust processes to support and enhance the placement experiences of students and placement providers.

As Placements and Employability Manager, you will be responsible for the development, delivery and management of all placement-based activities at Birkbeck – including operations, governance, administration and quality assurance. Acting as the central liaison point, you’ll ensure effective communications between academic staff, students, and placement providers throughout the placement lifecycle. You will also generate employer engagement with partnership activity and work to optimise opportunities for student placements.

Working within the Careers and Enterprise Service, you will line manage two Module Leads, developing a team to provide excellent learning and assessment experiences. You will also liaise with other academic and professional services colleagues to ensure module delivery is high quality, robust and compliant.

• Proven experience of developing and managing high‑quality placement activity, and confidently navigate the UK higher education landscape – applying best practice in governance, risk management and quality assurance.
• Excellent organisational skills, strong attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple processes, systems and stakeholders.
• Effective communication and relationship‑building skills – working well with students, academic and professional services colleagues, and external placement providers, offering clear and thorough guidance while maintaining productive collaboration throughout the placement lifecycle.
• Ability to analyse data, solve problems, and maintain accurate records.
• As a line manager, you will motivate and support colleagues, contributing to an inclusive, student‑centric Careers and Employability service.

Ready to make a difference? If you are committed to enhancing Birkbeck students’ career paths and can build and maintain effective relationships with all stakeholders, we would love to hear from you.

This opportunity builds on work as: Work‑Related Learning / Placements Manager; Employer Engagement Manager; Careers & Employability Adviser / Consultant; Programme / Module Manager; Industry Partnerships or Engagement Officer/Manager.

£44,247 rising to £50,379 per annum. Grade 7 on the College's London Pay Scale which includes a consolidated London Weighting Allowance. Benefits include a competitive salary and pension scheme, 31 days paid leave, flexible working arrangements, generous benefits in the HE sector, and being located in the heart of Bloomsbury, Euston, London.

Permanent contract, full-time (35 hours a week), Monday‑Friday 9‑5pm with a flexible and hybrid working pattern – including some evenings and weekends.

For more information, please contact Huw Andrews, Career Services Manager, at h.andrews@bbk.ac.uk. If you have difficulty using the recruitment portal, please contact jobs@bbk.ac.uk providing your name and the job reference number of the position. Only formal applications through the online system can be considered. We welcome applicants from all sections of the community and backgrounds to apply at www.bbk.ac.uk/jobs. The College is committed to improving the gender and cultural diversity of its workforce, holding an Athena SWAN award and operating Disability Confident & Mindful Employer schemes.