Project Coordinator Newcastle 2024

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

The role

The North East Raising Aspiration Partnership is looking for a Project Coordinator to join the Central Project Team based at Newcastle University. The North East Raising Aspiration Partnership (NERAP) is a collaboration of the five universities in the region working together to support the progression of under-represented groups into higher education. Working as part of a Central Project Team you will co-ordinate and deliver a range of activities and services in order to support the development and delivery of the Partnership activity on behalf of the NERAP Partner Universities (Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside).

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate excellent interpersonal, organisational and communication skills, who is enthusiastic about the benefits of higher education and motivated to inspire the next generation of students. To be successful in this role, you will be an engaging presenter, be able to tailor your approach across different contexts and to a range of audiences and have a proven ability to organise and deliver complex events and activities. It is important that you bring with you an awareness and understanding of widening participation and experience of working with and enthusing young people about Higher Education.

This role involves considerable travel throughout the region. Therefore, we need candidates who have a full UK driving license. You will be also required to take an enhanced DBS check as the role involves working with children and young people. When not delivering activity in the region you will work from the office based at Newcastle University and we offer blended working arrangements.

Key accountabilities

• Develop and deliver outreach activity as agreed with our Partner institutions
• Co-ordinate the development and delivery of the specific targeted Choices Together progressive programme for young carers and care-experienced young people
• Contribute to the monitoring and evaluation of our programmes including the creation of the annual impact report. Prepare relevant evaluation reports to ensure continuous improvement of activity and provide evidence to illustrate progress against Access and Participation Plan Agreement collaborative targets/outputs. Understand evaluation techniques in reference to HE activities
• Maintain an overview of the NERAP delivery budget
• Contribute to the development and production of appropriate NERAP online and printed communication and marketing materials for use with key audiences, including presentations for students, teachers and parents/carers, and key programme information. This will involve liaising with design companies; co-ordinating design schedules; proofing work and contributing to decisions about the design of materials
• Under the guidance of the NERAP Project Manager, co-ordinate the schedule of communications for teachers, parents/carers and partners to ensure that they are regularly informed and updated about the NERAP offer, liaising closely with the rest of the Central Project Team with regard to relevance and useful content
• Under the guidance of the NERAP Project Manager, develop and manage relationships with key stakeholders (Partners, schools, local authorities etc)
• Maintain the Partnership booking and monitoring systems and the NERAP website
• Supervise the Partnership Higher Education Ambassadors to ensure NERAP can deliver on agreed widening participation activities
• Under the guidance of the NERAP Project Manager, maintain an overview of GDPR requirements for the Partnership
• Contribute to other relevant duties and activities as directed by the NERAP Project Manager

The person

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Direct experience of the UK school and HE system
• An awareness and understanding of issues relating to the progression, recruitment and admission of students into Higher Education, especially from under-represented groups
• An understanding and interest in widening participation
• Experience of working with and enthusing young people about Higher Education
• Experience of planning and organising intensive, complex, customer-orientated events and activities for young people, parents/carers and teachers
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent team working skills
• Excellent presentation skills
• Excellent IT skills
• An understanding of data protection, child protection and internet safety issues
• Experience of digital content creation/production, e.g., video editing, production and animation
• Full UK driving licence (vehicle will be provided as necessary)

Attributes and behaviour

• Outstanding attention to detail
• Flexibility and a positive approach to tasks, activities and situations
• The ability to handle difficult and often sensitive situations
• The ability to communicate both verbally and in writing with a wide range of audiences
• The ability to research and develop new outreach activity in support of progression to HE
• Willingness to work at Partner organisations across the region as required
• Willingness to travel regularly across the region
• Willingness to work some evenings and weekends

Qualifications

• Degree level qualification

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.