Access & Participation co-ordinator Education & Learning

We are seeking an Access and Participation Surge Support Coordinator for Education and Learning to serve as a key member of the Refugee, Resettlement, and Migration service.

About the role

In this role you will be responsible for providing a front-line service direct to customers and partners, to help integrate them into their new lives and orient them in the area. This will include working as part of a small team providing practical support on diverse subjects, but with a particular emphasis on education and learning.

You will use diagnostic tools to gather information and provide community-led solutions. Travelling around the county to offer support through libraries, community hubs, leisure outlets and education settings developing, organising and delivering individual, family and group meetings on appropriate subject matter as needed. The focus of this role is to develop, implement and oversee a truly customer-focused, high quality and consistent service delivering 'Customer Excellence'.

You will be responsible for the day-to-to-day embedding of our families into West Sussex communities, facilitating their access to services providing childcare, education and learning and working collaboratively to provide the tools they need to support their own resettlement and self-sufficiency.

Salary: £39,862 to £42,839 per annum (plus a Crawley Weighting allowance)

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-time (37 hours per week)

Location: Your base location will be Crawley with required countywide travel.

Closing Date: 5th April

Please note that you will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

This role requires the successful candidate to travel to community hubs and provider locations around the county to facilitate programme delivery. Regular attendance at your designated base location will also be necessary, and there will opportunities for some remote work.

Day to Day Role

Our work in Refugee, Resettlement and Migration Service and any given day can often feel quite different from the next! There will be some key responsibilities likely to feature in this role, including:

• Act as a subject matter expert in community activities and contribute to the development and implementation of initiatives that support wellbeing, aligned with the broader strategies of the Communities Directorate and County Council.
• Collaborate as part of a small team to provide practical support across diverse areas, with a particular focus on facilitating access to community and wellbeing activities.
• Utilise diagnostic tools such as surveys and statistical analysis to gather data and inform community-driven solutions.
• Responsible for the daily support and integration of individuals, families, working-age adults, and older adults into West Sussex communities, ensuring their access to services that promote engagement in arts, food and culture, sports and physical activity, leisure and recreation, as well as health and wellbeing.
• Support staff development within the service to enhance skills and knowledge across the full range of refugee community support, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of the services provided.
• Be a motivating leader in the management and development of the Project Support Officer, provide support to the Apprentices within the broader team, who will play a vital role in delivering operational assistance.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

(Please refer to the job description for the full list of key skills in your covering letter and detail how you demonstrate the skills/knowledge in your career to date, as this is how we shortlist our roles).

• Background in Education or Teaching qualification would be desirable.
• Degree in a relevant subject, or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating comparable expertise in researching, analysing, and evaluating arguments and information related to refugee support or a related field.
• Extensive experience in managing and leading a local team of staff.
• Confident in producing concise written business reports for various purposes, such as research, project proposals, or business cases recommending a course of action.
• Proven experience working within community development and participation settings, including designing and delivering community-led activities as well as planning and implementing wellbeing support initiatives.
• Demonstrable evidence of delivering customer-focused, timely, and accurate advice, guidance, and training to colleagues and the public, effectively addressing complex issues within the relevant area of expertise and maintaining appropriate documentation.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role. You will benefit from generous annual leave, plus the opportunity to buy additional leave and an excellent local government pension scheme

A range of discounts give our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

How to Apply

Upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you therefore discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to right to work within the UK, enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, satisfactory references, and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.