Workforce Manager in St Albans

Expert Workforce Lead, Oliver Mc Gowan Mandatory Training

About the role

Our Expert by Experience workforce is a national team of more than 100 people with lived experience of a learning disability and autism.

They co-deliver the Oliver Mc Gowan Mandatory Training alongside our facilitating trainers.

This role supports that workforce and is accountable for it start to end.

• You will be accountable for the forward plan, deciding who is recruited, deployed where, keeping the booking and compliance systems accurate, and being the person our experts come to when something matters to them.

You will run recruitment and onboarding for new experts, and you will be trusted to handle wellbeing and safeguarding conversations properly and sensitively.

• This is not a role where you wait to be told what needs doing.

You will be the person who spots a capacity gap six weeks out and has already arranged the cover.

You will decide how the process works, then improve it because you can see where it creaks.

• We are looking for someone who already understands the day-to-day realities of supporting adults with a learning disability and autistic adults, and who pairs that with genuinely strong administration and systems skills.

Both halves matter.

One without the other will not work here.

• This position works hand in hand with our Expert Administrator.
• What you will support and be accountable for
• The forward plan and expert deployment

You are accountable for the schedule.

You will work at least four to six weeks ahead across Tier 1 and Tier 2 delivery, matching experts to bookings based on location, experience, availability, reasonable adjustments and customer need.

You will monitor capacity and utilisation, spot where the team is thin before it becomes a problem and tell managers what we need to recruit and when.

When sickness or a late cancellation lands, you sort the cover and communicate the change calmly and quickly.

Systems, records and reporting

You are the person who keeps our data trustworthy.

Bookings, cancellations, availability, cover arrangements and expert compliance all live with you, across Dante, our LMS and other internal systems.

You will build and maintain reporting in Excel covering utilisation, cancellations, capacity and booking trends, and you will use it to make a case rather than just circulate a spreadsheet.

If a process is manual and does not need to be, we would like you to fix it.

Recruitment and onboarding

You will run the recruitment workflow for new experts through our ATS, from Meet and Greets through interviews to onboarding, and coordinate Train the Trainer bookings and progression.

You will guide new experts through Access to Work applications and make sure the first few months feel welcoming and well organised rather than confusing.

Wellbeing and safeguarding

You will be the first point of contact for expert wellbeing.

You will recognise, record and escalate safeguarding concerns in line with the UTS Safeguarding Policy, keep accurate records, follow actions through to closure, and coordinate wellbeing and safeguarding CPD for the team.

You will know when to signpost to internal or external support, and you will be comfortable holding a difficult conversation without passing it up the chain by default.

Relationships and communication

Experts, trainers, customers, contract administration and account management all rely on you being straight with them and quick to respond.

You will keep experts informed about bookings and diary changes, and work across departments so delivery holds together.

What you will bring

Essential

• Direct experience supporting or working alongside adults with a learning disability and autistic adults, in a professional setting.
• Proven experience in coordination, scheduling, resourcing or operations, ideally holding a process yourself rather than working to someone else's plan.
• Strong systems and administration skills, including confident use of Microsoft 365 and working knowledge of an LMS, CRM or scheduling platform.
• Solid Excel skills. You can build a report, spot a trend and explain what it means.
• Experience managing multiple diaries, bookings or workforce schedules in a fast-moving environment.
• A working understanding of safeguarding principles and the confidence to act on a concern.
• Sound judgement and the ability to make decisions without checking in first.
• Experience handling confidential information appropriately.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with people at every level.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the Oliver Mc Gowan Mandatory Training programme.
• Knowledge of Access to Work.
• Experience of inclusive recruitment or supported employment.
• Experience improving or redesigning an operational process.
• How we work

UTS is a Disability Confident Employer.

Person centred working, equality, diversity and inclusion are not add-ons here, they are the product.

We expect professionalism, discretion and a collaborative approach, and in return you get genuine accountability for your area and the room to run it your way.

What success looks like

We judge this role on outcomes, not activity.

• Every training event is fully resourced well ahead of delivery, with the right experts in place.
• Capacity gaps and recruitment needs are identified early, not discovered late.
• Our experts feel supported, valued and well informed, and it shows in engagement and retention.
• Bookings run cleanly in Dante, and changes are handled calmly and communicated fast.
• New experts get a warm, well organised welcome, including proper Access to Work support.
• Wellbeing and safeguarding matters are handled sensitively, promptly and correctly.
• Reporting is accurate and actually used to make decisions.
• The way we work improves because you keep finding better ways to do it.

Package

• Circa £35,000-40,000 depending on experience.
• 21 days flexible holiday
• All bank holidays
• +4 additional days leave at Christmas
• Full time, on site, central St Albans, flexibility is considered.