Deputy Head of Careers

Department: Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship

Location: Birmingham

Please note, we have separate ads running to cover other regions we can hire this role in: 25704 (London), 25708 (Manchester) and 25709 (Leeds) - If you wish to be considered for this role at one of these other locations, please apply to the relevant advert.

Type of Contract: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full Time - 40hrs Per Week

Salary Range £45,000-£55,000pa

GBS is a higher education provider offering a range of sector-relevant courses across ten campuses in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Working in partnership with several of the UK’s leading higher education providers, we deliver vocational, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in finance, accounting, business, construction, tourism, healthcare, and more.

Our Vision: Changing lives through education.

What We Do: The Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship department at GBS is dedicated to preparing students for successful careers and business ventures. It offers tailored one-to-one guidance, a dynamic online Careers Hub via Handshake, and a structured Employability Award that builds critical job-seeking skills through Bronze to Platinum levels. Students gain practical experience in CV building, networking, and real job applications, including tools like ChatGPT.

The role: The Deputy Head of Careers will assist the Head of Careers provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Careers team members, ensuring their activities align with institutional objectives and industry best practices. The Careers team include Careers Consultants, Careers Officers, Campus Administrators and Campus Managers.

The role requires someone with a passion for driving student success in securing employment, enabling seamless career transitions, and fostering graduate outcomes that meet institutional B3 Progression targets.

The primary focus of this role is helping students and recent alumni who are currently unemployed into paid employment and those who have jobs in posts that are SOC 1-3 grade. This will involve creating a range of career support strategies that are contextualised to the individual circumstances of each student, including their ambitions, personal circumstances, programme of study and location.

The successful candidate will help lead a diverse, multi-campus team, driving excellence in programme delivery, innovation, and stakeholder engagement while ensuring the highest standards of quality and impact across all initiatives.

Please note, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position.

What the role involves

Strategic Leadership

Work with the Head of Careers to develop and articulate a clear vision and strategic plan for the Careers team, with a clear focus on providing individualised and contextualised support for students.

Understand and champion the full breadth of employment ambitions and circumstances for all of our students and recent alumni.

Understand the local, regional and national job markets and contextualise the team’s careers support activities to best align with these.

Work with the Head of Careers to align the team with institutional B3 goals, particularly around getting students into jobs and progressing to more senior, professional-grade roles.

Act as an advocate for careers initiatives, promoting their value internally and externally.

Oversee the support for mandatory placements.

Programme Management

Work with the Head of Careers to provide strong leadership, direction, and programme management support to a diverse team across all campuses.

Work with the Head of Careers to support the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Careers team activities to ensure consistency and quality of support to students across locations and maximise graduate outcomes for our students and recent alumni.

Develop, monitor, and report on KPIs to measure the success and impact of the team’s activities, with an emphasis on securing graduate employment outcomes.

Innovation and Continuous Improvement

Work with the Head of Careers to lead the development and implementation of innovative approaches to enhance the Careers support available to students and alumni.

Stay abreast of industry trends, incorporating best practices to maintain the programmes’ competitiveness and relevance.

Work with the Head of Careers to oversee feedback collection and evaluation processes to drive continuous improvement in rates of professional-level employment for students and alumni.

What Experience/Skills are required

Leadership

Experience leading progression, recruitment or employment programmes across multi-campus environments either within the higher education sector or in an industrial setting.

Data and Performance Analytics

Expertise in using employment data, labour market intelligence, and dashboards to drive institutional decision-making.

Strategic Change Management

Proven success in implementing large-scale initiatives that transform employment outcomes and support B3 progression metrics.

External Stakeholder Engagement

Strong track record in building partnerships with employers, professional bodies, and industry networks to