Workforce Development Partner in Sheffield

The Early Years Workforce Development Partner will play a pivotal role in supporting local early years employers to build strong, capable teams. This role is about more than training - it's about understanding each employer's workforce needs and helping them plan for the future. You will work closely with small and medium-sized early years settings, supporting them to recruit, develop, and retain talent through apprenticeships, adult skills funding, and commercial training. You will also guide staff progression beyond Level 5 qualifications, including routes into higher education where relevant. Your role will be human, approachable, and supportive - acting as a trusted partner to employers while helping their staff grow and thrive.

Key Responsibilities

• Build strong, lasting relationships with local early years employers, acting as their go-to adviser for workforce planning and development.
• Assess workforce needs and provide tailored recommendations on qualifications, training programmes, and career progression.
• Support employers in using apprenticeships, adult skills funding, and commercial training opportunities to grow their teams efficiently.
• Advise on succession planning, retention strategies, and career pathways for staff at all levels.
• Guide learners through progression routes, including Level 5 qualifications and pathways into higher education where appropriate.
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure new employer partnerships are smoothly transitioned and fully supported from the outset.
• Track outcomes and report on the success of workforce initiatives and learner progression.

Community & Sector Engagement

• Promote the organisation's training offer to SMEs in the local area in an approachable, consultative way.
• Actively contribute to shaping the local early years talent pipeline, ensuring alignment between employer needs and training opportunities.

Where will I be based?

This is a home-based role, with some travel required for client meetings, exhibitions and company events. This will be discussed with you further in your interview.

The Benefits

• 25 days holiday plus public and bank holidays
• Purchase scheme for up to 5 additional days annual leave
• Birthday and Christmas Eve off
• Flexible working
• Health Shield scheme
• Life insurance
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Sick pay
• Bereavement leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• £1,000 Employee referral bonus scheme

About You

• Proven experience in workforce development, apprenticeship management, or early years training, ideally with SMEs.
• Strong understanding of early years qualifications, training pathways, and adult skills funding.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills - approachable, empathetic, and able to engage employers and learners at all levels.
• Experience supporting learners through progression routes, including Level 5 and higher education.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, managing multiple employers and projects.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to monitor progress, track outcomes, and report effectively.

What Happens Next?

The Realise Recruitment team will be in touch, regardless of the outcome. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely. You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position, which will comprise a one-hour formal interview, likely on Teams, where we will ask you a series of competency and behavioural questions. As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

About Us

Realise helps more than 18,000 learners every year to achieve their goals. We only specialise in the areas we have in-depth expertise in - that's early years & education, health & social care, transport, business skills, and adult skills. Our mission has always been clear, to deliver great training programmes. We promote the wellbeing of all our learners and our employees and are fully committed to safeguarding, safer recruitment and fulfilling our Prevent Duty obligations. Please be aware that all successful applicants will undergo a DBS and online search check at the job offer stage. We request proof of qualifications and the Right to Work in the UK. Realise is committed to investing in the latest technology to support our learners and teams. As part of our quality assurance and training processes, we may occasionally record audio and visual content. By applying, you acknowledge and accept this as part of our working environment. Realise has been in business over 35 years from our humble roots in Sheffield, to over 500 employees UK-wide. We are proud to be a part of the AQA charity group.