At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to enhance student employability and integrate career development into the curriculum.
- Company: Edinburgh Napier University, dedicated to empowering students for career success.
- Benefits: 41 days annual leave, generous pension, flexible working, and professional development opportunities.
- Other info: Join a supportive environment with a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on students' careers while shaping university strategies.
- Qualifications: Degree level education, significant experience in careers guidance, and strong leadership skills.
The predicted salary is between 46049 - 58225 £ per year.
The Employability & Careers team is Edinburgh Napier University's dedicated professional service for student and graduate career development. The team's work focuses on developing the career readiness of our students, empowering them to become career ready and highly employable. Our Career Development Consultants are an essential part of this service, working in partnership with academic colleagues in each of our schools to integrate career development learning into the curriculum and provide career guidance to our students and recent graduates.
Currently, we are recruiting a Careers, Skills & Academic Partnerships Manager to lead an expert and committed team of practitioners and work closely with a wide range of stakeholders in academic schools and other professional services, to ensure that employability becomes firmly embedded in the university's provision.
The Role: As our new Careers, Skills & Academic Partnerships Manager, you will have an excellent opportunity to use your significant experience of careers guidance/employability services to lead on planning and coordinating activities associated with integrated careers and employability delivery, helping to ensure that these align with university strategies/KPIs. Working in partnership with the academic community, you will be in a strong position to use your relationship building and influencing skills, your understanding of learning and teaching in an HE context and experience of playing a significant role within an employability and careers service to consider and implement a range of innovative approaches to careers development across the university, ensuring that the university provides a high-quality, inclusive service that meets the diverse needs of our students, graduates and employers.
Your data analysis skills will also serve you well as you ensure appropriate career readiness data is captured, analysed, visualised and distributed with academic partners - using this to inform the setting of priorities and action planning. This is a pivotal role in the Employability & Careers service and across the university, seeing you become a valued member of the department leadership team. This is also an exciting time for Napier as we develop our new University and Education & Student Experience strategies.
We are looking for an experienced manager and leader who is passionate about career development learning and has experience of integrating employability into curricula and assessments and working in partnership with academic colleagues. If you have relevant experience of employability and careers in Higher or Further Education, strong leadership skills and the desire to lead work that is collegiate and impactful, then we would love to hear from you.
What we will need from you:
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- Significant careers guidance, or other relevant experience regarding employability, within an HE or FE context
- Experience of leading or playing a significant role within a careers guidance service
- Management experience at both strategic and implementation levels and experience of managing and motivating staff
- Ability to analyse, develop and implement strategy, setting clear objectives and ensuring performance against these
- Ability to use strong leadership and management skills to motivate staff to deliver a high-performance culture
Benefits we offer: 41 days paid annual leave per year, employer pension contribution of 17.6% and flexible/hybrid working. There are professional development prospects, discounted access to onsite sports facilities and a wide range of other staff discounts.
Additional information:
- Salary: £46,049 - £58,225 (depending on experience)
- Contract: Permanent, Full Time - 35 hrs/wk, (hybrid 2-3 days on campus).
- Application Deadline: 26th August 2026
- Interviews: Week commencing 14th September 2026
On this occasion, the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship or visa support for this role. International applicants will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK. The University holds Disability Confident, Carer Positive and Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champion status. We are a flexible Employer.
Careers, Skills & Academic Partnerships Manager employer: Edinburgh Napier University
Join a forward-thinking organisation at the forefront of digital construction and skills innovation, where your expertise will directly contribute to transforming the built environment. With a strong commitment to employee development, you will benefit from extensive learning opportunities, generous annual leave, and a supportive work culture that values collaboration and innovation. Located at the BE-ST campus in Hamilton, this role offers a unique chance to make a meaningful impact while enjoying a hybrid working model and access to a range of employee benefits.
Contact Details:
Edinburgh Napier University Recruitment Team
