BUSINESS ACTION GROUP FOR SCHOOLS
PROJECT MANAGER
TERMS & CONDITIONS, JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON
SPECIFICATION
Terms and conditions
Job Title: Business Action Group for Schools Project Manager
Reports to: Education Works Programme Manager - Schools
Salary: £28,000 - £32,000
Hours: 35 hours per week, some evening work is required
Annual Leave: 27 days per annum plus public holidays
Length of 12 months fixed term contract
Contract:
Location: East London Business Alliance
3rd Floor, City Reach
5 Greenwich View Place
London E14 9NN
About ELBA
ELBA is the leading social regeneration charity in east London. It facilitates corporate investment
from over 100 organisations into community programmes across the growth boroughs of Hackney,
Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. ELBA also manages an award winning
employment and skills programme.
With over 24 years of experience enabling successful partnerships between businesses and
communities, during 2012/13 ELBA delivered over 12,000 employee volunteers into the community
and worked with over 250 local organisations to help build their capacity and support their
beneficiaries. ELBA supported over 800 local people into work through its employment and skills
programme.
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Purpose of the job
ELBA’s award winning Business Action Group for Schools (BAGS) programme is a high impact
education programme currently supporting eight secondary schools in the London Borough of
Newham engaging over 30 ELBA corporate partners. The aim of each BAG is to create a sustainable,
responsive partnership between businesses and schools. ELBA has ambitious plans to expand the
programme in Newham and into the neighbouring borough of Waltham Forest. The programme is
funded by KPMG, both local authorities and participating schools. BAGS is a key component of
Education Works, ELBA’s over-arching education programme which seeks to raise aspirations of
young people, develop employability skills and support the leadership and governance of educational
institutions across east London.
As Project Manager you will be responsible for managing an agreed number of BAGS, developing the
relationship between the school and businesses supporting them. Working with the chair of each
BAG, business volunteers representing a range of businesses and key stakeholders in each school
including the Head Teacher and senior leadership team you will develop and facilitate business skills
volunteering activities that respond to identified priorities during the academic year.
The Project Manager will report into the Education Works Programme Manager and will contribute
to the evaluation and communication of the BAGS programme alongside other members of the
BAGS team.
Job Description
Relationship Management
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Work with Head Teacher and Chair of BAG to design an annual programme of activity for
up to six individual BAG across Newham and/or Waltham Forest, as directed by the
Education Works Programme Manager.
Develop relationships with key stakeholders including each BAG business representative,
school leadership team and support staff to maximise the effectiveness of the BAG.
Organise three BAG meetings per school over the academic year, invite attendees, produce
minutes, related activity plan and communicate actions with all BAG members throughout
the academic year
As directed by the Education Works Programme Manager ensure BAGS funding partners
are updated and involved in programme development through the BAGS steering group and
related meetings.
Delivery
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Conduct a needs assessment with each BAG and skills audit of business representatives to
ensure that each BAG maximises opportunity to engage business volunteers.
To deliver projects and activities for each BAG in line with the priorities and opportunities
identified by the Head Teacher and BAG.
To work with BAG business representatives, CSR and other contacts within ELBA
corporate partners to promote and enable delivery of projects/activities.
Work with the Education Works Programme Manager to pro-actively engage and work with
ELBA corporate partners and individual business volunteers to promote BAGS volunteering
activities.
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Work with BAGS team to develop material and share best practise
Identify innovative projects/activities as required and implement as directed by Education
Works Programme Manager
Communication and reporting
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Update ELBA’s CRM with all business volunteer activity in line with agreed timescales
Regularly complete case studies, photographs and maximise use of social media for each
BAG
Work with ELBA Community Operations Co-ordinator to ensure communication material
is updated on the ELBA website and promoted through ELBA’s social media channels
Work with BAGS team to produce a comprehensive report per term detailing programme
activity and impact
Contribute to the production of relevant marketing/communication material and reports as
directed by Education Works Programme Manager
Attend Education Works forum and complete presentations to key stakeholders as directed
by Education Works Programme Manager
Evaluation and impact measurement
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As directed by the Education Works Programme Manager assist with the development of a
comprehensive evaluation framework for the programme.
Work with each BAG to implement agreed evaluation and impact measurement tools.
General
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Represent and act as an ELBA ambassador at meetings, social events and functions when
required
Attend ELBA team meetings, collaborate with other ELBA colleagues on projects where
appropriate and contribute to the development of ELBA as an organisation
Adhere to relevant policies including equal opportunities and health and safety
Undertake any other reasonable duties as requested by your line manager.
Person Specification
ELBA’s core competencies define the principles and ethos that are central to the way we seek to
operate as an organisation and the way we treat those with whom we come into contact. They
inform what we do and how we do it; we expect every member of staff to commit to creating
value for our members and community partners. ELBA’s core competencies are:
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Accountability
Leadership
Commercial awareness
Relationship management
Adaptability
Delivery
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Communication
Creativity
In addition the ideal candidate will have:
Essential skills and experience
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Highly organised with an ability to prioritise, work under pressure and deliver against set
targets to agreed deadlines
Effective time management skills and interpersonal skills including negotiation, persuasion,
flexibility and problem solving
Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage and track multiple
projects, often with competing deadlines
Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to articulate messages
clearly and concisely in an engaging style consistent with ELBA’s brand
Thoroughness, accuracy and attention to detail
Experience of developing sustainable and effective partnerships with multiple stakeholders
The ability to work across all levels in the school, ELBA’s corporate partners and the local
authority
An understanding and passion of the principles of corporate community investment and
employee volunteering
An understanding and working knowledge of the education sector particularly secondary
schools
A high level of IT literacy
Desirable skills and experience
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Experience of working with and facilitating employee volunteering activities
Experience of working with young people in a learning environment
Knowledge and experience of corporate community investment
An understanding of evaluation and impact measurement techniques within the education
sector
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