Careers Manager

Position: Careers Manager - Employer Engagement, Work Integrated Learning and Alumni Engagement

Supervisor: Career Development & Employability Manager

Reporting to: Head of Career Development & Employability

Key Relationships:

• Director of Student Registry Services
• Career Development & Employability Team
• Work Placement Supervisor
• Registrar
• Students
• Deans & Faculty
• Programme Co-ordinators
• External Clients

Role Overview:

The Career Development and Employability Team at National College of Ireland supports students and graduates to develop the skills, experience and confidence required to progress successfully into employment. The team works closely with academic colleagues, employers and alumni to deliver careers education, work-integrated learning, placement support, employer engagement and graduate recruitment activity across NCI programmes.

National College of Ireland is seeking an experienced and collaborative Careers Manager to lead key areas of Employer Engagement, Work-Integrated Learning, Alumni Engagement and Team Delivery. This is a management role requiring strong relationship-building skills, sound operational judgement and the ability to deliver effective services for students, graduates, employers, alumni and academic colleagues.

The postholder will play a central role in developing and managing NCI’s employer-facing and faculty-facing activity. This will include strengthening employer relationships, supporting work-integrated learning opportunities, overseeing work placement processes, contributing to graduate recruitment activity, developing alumni engagement and ensuring that students have access to relevant and timely employability supports.

The role will also involve line management of members of the Careers team, with responsibility for supporting staff performance, service quality, operational delivery and continuous improvement. Working closely with the Head of Career Development and Employability, the postholder will contribute to the ongoing development of the service and ensure that employer engagement, work-integrated learning, placements and alumni activity are well coordinated and aligned with institutional priorities.

This role would suit an experienced careers, employability, placement, employer engagement, recruitment or business development professional who is student-centred, commercially aware, data-informed and confident working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

Strategic leadership and service development

• Support the strategic development, planning and continuous improvement of the Careers Service
• Lead employer engagement, Work Integrated Learning and alumni engagement plans aligned to NCI’s student experience, graduate outcomes and recruitment priorities.
• Use labour market intelligence, employer feedback, graduate outcomes and student engagement data to shape priorities and measure impact.
• Represent the Careers Service at relevant internal and external meetings, events and networks.
• Oversee key initiatives, including Springboard Careers provision, the NEIC TY Placement programme and the annual Graduate Outcomes Project

Employer engagement and business development

• Develop targeted employer engagement plans for specific programmes and student cohorts.
• Build strategic relationships with employers, recruiters, industry bodies, professional associations and sector partners.
• Secure graduate roles, internships, placements and work-related learning opportunities for NCI students and graduates.
• Oversee employer-facing activity, including careers fairs, presentations, networking events, industry panels, skills sessions, mock interviews, CV clinics and employer-led initiatives.
• Gather employer intelligence on recruitment trends, skills needs and emerging opportunities, and share relevant insights with Careers and academic colleagues.
• Work towards agreed targets for vacancy generation, employer participation, student engagement, WIL opportunities and graduate outcomes impact.

Work Integrated Learning

• Lead the development of Work Integrated Learning activity, working with academic colleagues, employers and internal stakeholders.
• Support opportunities that connect academic learning with professional experience, including placements, internships, employer projects, live briefs and work simulations.
• Work with programme teams to embed WIL within curriculum, co-curricular activity and employer-led provision.
• Ensure students are prepared for work-related learning, including applications, recruitment processes, workplace expectations and professional conduct.
• Support the development of WIL processes, resources, records, reporting and evaluation.
• Work with employers and academic colleagues to identify and resolve issues relating to student readiness, placement suitability, employer expectations or WIL delivery.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of Work Integrated Learning provision in line with sector practice and institutional priorities.
• Monitor and oversee risk management strategies for work placements.

Alumni engagement

• Lead alumni engagement activity that supports student employability, career confidence and professional networks.
• Develop alumni panels, mentoring, networking events, sector talks, career stories and programme-specific initiatives.
• Use alumni stories to showcase graduate pathways and labour market expectation
• Build alumni engagement into employer events, careers education, programme activity and student recruitment messaging.

Careers education and employability initiatives

• Oversee employability initiatives that respond to student needs, employer expectations and labour market change.
• Support the development of workshops, webinars, employer-led sessions and online resources.
• Ensure careers education is practical, inclusive, evidence-informed and aligned with graduate outcomes priorities.
• Promote scalable approaches, including online resources, asynchronous delivery and data-informed student communications.

Team management and operational delivery

• Line manage designated Careers team members, supporting performance, workload planning, professional development and service delivery.
• Provide operational leadership across employer engagement, WIL, alumni engagement and related careers activity.
• Support staff onboarding, training, supervision and development.
• Maintain high standards of professionalism, student service and stakeholder engagement.
• Ensure business continuity and service delivery during periods of vacancy, absence or peak demand, including taking on reallocated work, adjusting priorities, supporting colleagues and ensuring essential student, employer and stakeholder activity continues.
• Support the Head of Career Development and Employability with planning, reporting, risk management and service improvement.

Data, systems, reporting and evaluation

• Oversee accurate recording of employer engagement, alumni engagement, WIL activity, student participation and outcomes.
• Use CRM systems, careers platforms and data dashboards to support planning, reporting and continuous improvement.
• Produce regular reports on activity, engagement, outcomes and impact.
• Use evaluation, feedback and data to identify gaps, improve provision and inform service development.

Communications, Campaigns and Digital Engagement

• Oversee student and employer-facing communications across careers platforms, newsletters, online resources and social media.
• Lead campaigns that increase engagement with careers activities, employer events, WIL opportunities and graduate recruitment deadlines.
• Ensure digital content is clear, accessible, inclusive and responsive to student needs.
• Use engagement data to improve reach, relevance and impact.

Essential Requirements:

• A primary degree with significant relevant experience in careers, employer engagement, recruitment, business development, placement management, work-integrated learning or alumni engagement.
• A relevant postgraduate qualification in Guidance, Counselling, Careers, Career Coaching or a commitment to securing same once in role.
• Strong understanding of graduate recruitment, employability, student career development, Work-Integrated Learning and labour market trends.
• Evidence of leadership capability, such as leading projects, coordinating colleagues, influencing stakeholders, improving processes, mentoring others or taking responsibility for service delivery.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, exercise sound judgement and maintain service quality in a busy student-facing environment.
• A commitment to continuous improvement, including personal professional development, reflective practice and ongoing enhancement of service quality, processes and student, graduate and employer experience.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience of managing projects, events or service improvement activity from planning through to delivery.
• Confidence using data, CRM systems, digital tools and reporting to support service planning, delivery and impact.
• Experience of developing and delivering employability, recruitment, placement, employer engagement or student-facing initiatives.
• Experience of developing and managing stakeholder relationships, including with employers, academic colleagues, professional services teams or external partners.

Salary: Manager Band (€53,836 - €75,508)

Annual Leave: 27 days per annum

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Hours of work will be generally 9.00am to 5.00 pm., A willingness to work flexibly to cover some events and activities outside of usual working hours is required.

Application Process: Applications will close at 5pm on the 22nd of July

Note: The functions and responsibilities assigned to this role are based on the current stated role and objectives of the college. These functions and responsibilities may alter in line with any change in the role and objectives of the NCI.

The Importance of Confidentiality We would like to assure you that protecting confidentiality is our number one priority. You can expect that all enquires, applications and all aspects of the proceedings are treated as strictly confidential and are not disclosed to anyone, outside those directly involved in that aspect of the process.

Candidates' Obligations

In submitting a completed Curriculum Vitae and supporting documentation, candidates are declaring:

That all the particulars furnished in their application are true and correct without omission and that they are aware of the qualifications and particulars for this position. That to the best of their knowledge that there is nothing in relation to their conduct, character or personal background of any nature that would adversely affect the position of trust in which they would be placed by virtue of this appointment. Their irrevocable consent to NCI making such enquiries as deemed necessary in respect of their suitability for the post in respect of which their application is made. Their acceptance and confirmation of the entitlement of NCI, as appropriate to, reject their application, or to terminate their employment (in the event of a contract of employment having been entered into on foot of this competition) if they have omitted to furnish NCI with any information relevant to their application or their continued employment or where they have made any false statement or misrepresentation relevant to this application or their continuing employment with the College.

Candidates should note that they may be required to submit documentary evidence in support of any particulars given by them in their application for the post.

Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018 and the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 to 2014 as amended

Data collected for the purposes of recruitment activities

NCI conducts recruitment processes to fill vacancies within the college. When applying for these competitions applicants are asked to submit a range of documents, e.g., a completed application form, CV and/or a personal statement or cover letter. For the purposes of recruitment activities, we will not collect any personal data that we do not need to assess your candidature for a role with us.

Legal Basis for Processing

NCI ’s legal basis for the processing of this data is a combination of individual consent, contractual necessity and legal obligations.

Withdrawal of Consent

Applicants can withdraw their consent for the processing of their personal data at any time by notifying the College. It is important to note that withdrawal of consent prior to the completion of the process will be considered as a withdrawal of the application.

What we do with your data

People who are directly employed by NCI and are based in Ireland process all the personal data collected for both recruitment and HR purposes.

Shortlisting

HR draft up the shortlisting documents and provide the initial screening to determine if a person meets the essential criteria of the competition. A shortlisting panel is generally made up of two senior grade staff members from the relevant department for which the role is being recruited.

Sharing of your data

Where you have been successfully shortlisted for a post, each interview panel member will be furnished with a copy of the relevant information of those who will be attending interview in order that they can review applications in advance of the interview process. All such information will be returned to NCI and shredded following the competition process. Some of the interview panel will be external interviewers, who are not employees of NCI but are engaged for the purpose and are strictly subject to the rules and policies of the College.

Access

Applicants can request and receive access to their data at any time and can request and receive a copy of this data, in electronic/transferable format.

Erasure

Applicants can request the data held be erased. In this case, the application for a position is considered withdrawn.

Rectification

Applicants can have any incorrect information corrected.

Objection / Withdraw

Applications can object to this information being processed and/or can request to withdraw from the application process

Complain

Applicants can make a complaint to our internal Information Governance and Data Protection Officer

NCI Information Governance and Data Protection Officer

National College of Ireland, Mayor Street, IFSC, Dublin 1

Tel (Direct): + 353 1 4498 523 ; Tel (Reception): + 353 1 4498 500

And/or make a complaint to the relevant authority

Data Protection Commission, 21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28

Tel: +353 (0) 761 104 800

National College of Ireland is an equal opportunities employer and is a Member of the Athena SWAN Charter. NCI is committed to serving our diverse community and welcomes applications from underrepresented groups.

Salary: Manager Band (€53,836 - €75,508)

Annual Leave: 27 days per annum

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Hours of work will be generally 9.00am to 5.00 pm., A willingness to work flexibly to cover some events and activities outside of usual working hours is required.