Industry Partner and Academic Ops Specialist in London

Contract Type: Full Time / Permanent

Salary: 32k –35k GBP

Benefits: Pension Contribution, Enjoy flexible work arrangements and an appreciation for work/life balance.

Location: London, England

Reports to: Academic Programmes Manager, England and Wales

Position Overview

Are you a life-long learner, curious about the world around you? Are you ready to bring your unique skills to a mission-driven organization? Do you enjoy being a part of a student’s journey of personal, academic and intercultural growth? If so, we would love to welcome you to our global community!

We are looking for an individual to support IFSA’s programs in England and Wales. The Industry Partner and Academic Operations Specialist provides specialised support for students on IFSA’s Centre-based programmes. An integral part of the local Academic team, the Industry Partner and Academic Operations Specialist works with the Academic Programmes Manager to facilitate the delivery of IFSA’s flagship Career Accelerator programmes in London in the Biosciences and Health Sciences.

The postholder will provide coordination between Leadership Course faculty, students, and industry partners to deliver Challenge Projects – the core component of the Career Accelerator programmes, allowing groups of students a unique opportunity to address real-world problems by fulfilling a brief from their allocated industry partner. Your role will involve fostering effective teamwork, promoting inclusive leadership, encouraging reflective practice, and facilitating clear communication between students and industry partners. In addition, the role is integral to the student academic experience, ensuring the highest degree of quality and student learning.

Successful candidates will monitor attendance; manage Canvas administration, course registrations, and cocurricular activities; and support IFSA faculty. The postholder also works closely with the Operations Team, Student Experience team, and the Director.

In this position, your responsibilities would include:

• Support for Career Accelerator programmes
• Working with students in teams of three to five to ensure successful completion of the Challenge Project
• Mentor students throughout their projects, providing guidance on professional skills and technical aspects
• Liaising with industry partner organisations to ensure clear communication and expectations and a smooth workflow
• Plan and execute events related to Challenge Project deliverables, including kick-off, update, and final viva voce conference-style presentations
• Collect student stories/testimonies/photos for marketing purposes
• Facilitate bespoke student networking opportunities with sector professionals
• Fostering effective teamwork, inclusive leadership, and reflective practice on the part of Career Accelerator students
• Coordination with Student Engagement team on duties related to pre-arrival tasks for proprietary programme students such as academic orientations, important dates, class offerings, syllabi links, module registrations, etc.
• Working with the Academic Programmes Manager, ensure IFSA’s academic policies and practices are continually implemented and maintained, in line with our accreditation requirements
• Serve as a contact for proprietary programme student inquiries concerning academics
• Execute course registration process on site with students to ensure clear communication of expectations and reduction in stress/ambiguity
• Support academic cases for students in Salesforce
• Support IFSA faculty with Canvas use and cocurricular arrangements
• Monitor attendance on proprietary programmes
• Support Academic Programmes Manager and Director with accreditation inspections and administration
• Liaise between IFSA faculty and students where needed
• Assist with arrangements for implementation of academic accommodations where required
• Alongside the Academic Programmes Manager and Director, review survey responses from student feedback evaluations for proprietary programmes to ensure highest quality of academic experience
• Liaising with Student Experience Team to provide joined up approach to student support on the proprietary programmes

Requirements, Work Experience and Education

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Familiarity with Life Sciences industry strongly desired
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong time management and planning skills, with the ability to work independently to execute time-sensitive tasks and duties successfully
• Strong attention to detail in creating internal and external documents and in managing programme and administrative data
• Strong digital competencies, including the ability to engage with multiple systems and our database platform, Salesforce.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office systems including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook required
• Proven ability to work well in a team
• Ability to engage with and support students with diverse lived experiences including students of colour, students with mental and physical disabilities, first-generation college students, and LGBTQIA+ students
• An ability to respond calmly and professionally to emergency situations
• Experience with Learning Management Systems such as Canvas strongly desired
• Familiarity with US academic system desired
• 2 years of work experience preferred
• The legal right to work in the UK required

We know there are great candidates who won’t check all of these boxes, and we also know you might bring important perspectives, experiences and skills that we haven’t considered. If this describes you, please don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

Physical and Work Environment

• Working on a computer, making phone/video calls.
• Required to navigate and travel around the city and for excursions, potentially outdoors in the heat or cold
• Occasional physical activities such as arranging chairs/tables in classroom settings.

To Apply

To apply, please submit both a cover letter and a CV for this position via IFSA’s career page: https://www.ifsa-butler.org/connect-with-us/ifsa-job-openings/

In your cover letter, offer a compelling “Why” statement as to your suitability to the role using the job responsibilities and organizational commitments as a framework, including your motivations for applying, life sciences sector familiarity, and where you see your strengths complementing the role.

Review of applications will begin immediately, and the position will remain open until filled.

IFSA is an equal opportunity employer, and our hiring process is inclusive of all genders and gender expressions, races and ethnicities, ages, religions and sexualities as well as veterans and people with disabilities.