IT Graduate 2022

Jisc is the UK higher, further education and skills sectors’ not-for-profit organisation for digital services and solutions. We operate shared digital infrastructure and services; negotiate sector-wide deals with IT vendors and commercial publishers; and provide trusted advice and practical assistance for universities, colleges and learning providers.

For us, it’s all about having an entrepreneurial and growth mindset. Our culture is one of lifelong learning, where everyone’s voice and perspective is heard in a diverse, inclusive environment. At Jisc, we all play a key role in delivering meaningful and positive impact every single day. That’s the definition of a meaningful career.

Here we are surrounded by some of the brightest people in the sector, all dedicated to empower others to achieve their professional and personal ambitions. It’s inclusive and friendly, an ideal place to shape a career – from collecting new skills to finding our niche, here we are encouraged to try new things and keep us a the cutting-edge.

The teams

We develop new products and provide technical support to meet the needs of our members now and in the future. We provide technology leadership within the organisation and to our members and customers allowing us to focus on delivering Jisc's digital vision for members and customers.?

About you

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they think they can’t tick every box but we realise the ‘perfect candidate’ doesn’t exist. So, if you can do most of what we’re looking for, go ahead and apply. You could be exactly what we need!

• We are looking for
• Ability to create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of internal, external and connected stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written
• Effective problem solving skills
• Strong team player prepared to work flexibly
• At least a 2:2 in an IT related degree (or you’re on track to get this)

About the role

The Jisc IT Graduate scheme will entail three nine month rotations within IT over a 2 year period you will rotate around several different parts of our technology teams, including software testing and development, data, and infrastructure, getting a clear idea of what’s involved in each, and help you find your niche

You’ll get the opportunity to spend time in three unique business placements where you’ll learn about different aspect of our business.

On your placement you could:

• Work with the senior research lead at Jisc you will be carrying out primary research and analysis on topics related to education, research, and technology. During your period with the team you will be working directly with staff and students in colleges and universities, learning and using a range of methods and tools both in data collection and analysis of that data. The outputs will be used to help Jisc in developing services and products for the education sector, in addition there will be opportunities to publish the research you are working with in a range of formats.

• Support the Proof of concept (PoC) and customer beta phases for the Customer Innovation team and to provide market and customer research into key non sector external markets and asses the viability of potential PoCs. Be able to work with partners and suppliers to deliver create and deliver customer focused initiatives and Support the Innovation consultants with key projects and deliverables. Join key event delivery teams to successfully position our initiatives and solutions for Jisc publicly and work with Innovation Consultants to develop and deliver customer showcase demos and experiences. Interface with Internal IT, Marketing and other Jisc teams as required to successfully deliver key Innovation projects.

• Work within the innovation software team, primarily supporting the work of the National Centre for AI in Tertiary Education. This will include supporting pilots of AI tools and services, researching into potential uses cases of AI, both from a technical and user perspective, and helping us produce advice, guidance and reports. The role will also involve helping demonstrate and explain AI and related tools. There will be the opportunity to contribute to the development of prototypes, proofs of concepts and experiments. Also a focus on the National Centre for AI, but the team also work on a range of other technologies, such as internet of things, virtual reality, and other new technology for support learning and teaching, and there may be the opportunity to get involved in these areas.

• Working in the OpenAthens Team would enable you to develop an understanding of a SaaS software business and how the products are marketed, built and supported. It is an opportunity to work in software development to build development skills in Java and experience the software development lifecycle, or to work in DevOps to learn automation and infrastructure skills on a modern cloud platform. You will also gain exposure to the single sign on space and its core concepts.

Why work at Jisc?

We want to make sure our people have the flexibility they need to balance their personal lives and do well at work. So, we focus on outputs rather than presenteeism and are open to a whole range of ways of working, including flexible hours and working from home.

You can look forward to a rewarding job with opportunities to develop and make a real difference to the education and research sectors. At Jisc we offer hybrid working so you have the flexibility to work from home or if you prefer, from any of our offices. At times you may be required to attend meetings, however there are situations where you may need to work from the office more often, but will be dependent on your role requirement.

We’re always learning and developing. All our people have access to a huge variety of learning resources to help them achieve this.

Our benefits are great too. We offer:

• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays and three additional days Christmas closure) and flexible agile working
• A range of health and wellbeing benefits, including access to wellbeing support
• The option to join a generous pension scheme
• A wide range of discounts, a cycle scheme, financial wellbeing savings and season ticket loans, as well as a range of other benefits
• We also offer generous parental leave arrangements, career breaks and volunteer leave
• Dedicated training and development programme on your scheme.
• Support from your line manager and mentor
• Network community with your cohort and previous cohorts
• Chances to go to career days to promote Jisc early careers schemes

Connecting with each other is easy, thanks to our technology but getting face to face is something we value and find time for when we can. Our main offices are Bristol, London, Harwell and Manchester, so you may need to travel on occasion.