Employer Partnerships Lead - Employability

Job Role: Employer Partnerships Lead - Employability Employer Engagement | Business Development | Employability | Team Leadership Location: East London (Community, Employer-Site & Outreach Based) Salary: £40,000 per annum Contract: Permanent, Full-Time Hours: 37 hours per week

Role Overview:

We are recruiting an experienced and commercially minded Employer Partnerships Lead to lead employer engagement activity across a high-profile employability programme in London. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Employer Engagement Lead, Recruitment Manager, Business Development Manager, Account Manager or Employability Professional who enjoys building employer relationships, developing opportunities and leading teams to deliver meaningful outcomes. As the Employer Partnerships Manager, you will lead a small employer engagement team, build relationships with local, regional and national employers, and ensure a strong pipeline of vacancies, interviews and job starts. You will work closely with Career Coaches, Team Leaders and delivery teams to translate employer demand into sustainable employment outcomes for programme participants.

This role combines leadership, employer engagement, performance management and strategic relationship building, making it ideal for someone who thrives on developing partnerships and driving results.

Key Responsibilities

Employer Engagement & Business Development

• Lead employer engagement activity across the programme.
• Build and maintain relationships with local, regional and national employers.
• Develop a strong pipeline of live vacancies and employment opportunities.
• Identify and develop opportunities within both advertised and hidden labour markets.
• Promote inclusive recruitment and workforce development practices.
• Lead employer meetings, networking activity, site visits and recruitment events.
• Support employers to access diverse talent pools and sustainable recruitment solutions.

Team Leadership & Performance Management

• Line manage and develop a team of Employer Engagement professionals.
• Deliver regular supervision, coaching and performance reviews.
• Monitor performance against vacancy generation, interviews, offers and job start targets.
• Review conversion activity and identify improvement opportunities.
• Support individual development and performance improvement planning.
• Foster a positive, high-performing and collaborative culture.

Employer & Participant Matching

• Work closely with delivery teams to understand participant aspirations, skills and support needs.
• Coordinate recruitment activity from vacancy through to job start.
• Support effective job matching and progression planning.
• Ensure vacancies are suitable, realistic and aligned to programme requirements.
• Monitor recruitment pipelines and forecast future outcomes.

Operational Performance & Reporting

• Maintain oversight of employer pipelines, vacancy activity and employment outcomes.
• Analyse performance data and provide employer engagement reports.
• Produce accurate forecasts and labour market intelligence.
• Monitor KPIs and implement recovery plans where required.
• Support continuous improvement and service development activities.

Stakeholder & Partnership Working: Develop relationships with:

• Employers
• Employer Networks
• Local Authorities
• Jobcentre Plus
• Community Organisations
• Delivery Partners

• Represent the programme at stakeholder meetings and partnership forums.
• Support wider regional and national employer engagement strategies.
• Promote collaboration and sharing of employer intelligence across teams.

Quality, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure all employer activity complies with programme requirements.
• Maintain accurate CRM and employer records.
• Promote safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Support audit readiness and contractual compliance.
• Ensure opportunities are safe, sustainable and appropriate for participants.

Essential Criteria: Experience within:

• Employer Engagement
• Recruitment
• Business Development
• Account Management
• Employability Services
• Sales Leadership

• Experience leading, coaching or supervising staff.
• Proven track record of achieving employer engagement and recruitment targets.
• Experience building and maintaining employer partnerships.
• Strong business development and networking skills.
• Experience managing performance data and KPIs.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong organisational and planning ability.
• Experience using CRM systems and reporting tools.
• Willingness to travel throughout the contract area.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience delivering employer engagement within government-funded programmes.
• Understanding of employability, welfare-to-work or employment support provision.
• Knowledge of DWP-funded programmes and compliance requirements.
• Experience managing large-scale recruitment campaigns.
• Relevant management, recruitment or business development qualification.

How to Apply: For a confidential discussion or to apply please contact: Tiff Bennett (phone number removed) (url removed)