Advert
Project Co-ordinator - (Modern Foreign Language Projects Portfolio)
The post holder will be part of the team delivering the Modern Foreign Language (MFL) Mentoring project, which has been funded by Welsh Government since 2015 to arrest and reverse a 20-year decline in the number of young people opting to study a modern foreign language at GCSE in Wales (please see the additional information section for more project detail).
This role is designed to support the large-scale operations of the MFL Mentoring Project with particular focus on managing relationships with schools and mentors; delivering and assessing accreditations; supporting development and delivery of professional development for teachers; and support external partnerships.
The post holder will lead on engagement with a caseload of schools and mentors. They will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the university students engaged with the project, and the partner teachers. This will involve tracking progress, providing updates on processes and procedures, providing support and guidance and offering bespoke support as per the requirements of the teacher or student. They will be led by the Operations Manager and will be vital in providing the logistical and operational support needed to the project. The post holder will also be involved in the delivery and assessment of accredited assessments completed by learners. This will involve marking, benchmarking and ensuring compliance with assessment criteria, eg. checking for use of AI. The post holder will also contribute to the development of professional learning toolkits to support teachers to use resources designed to support the develiery of the Curriculum for Wales and will contribute to the delivery of professional learning in the latter part of the contract.
The role is suited to someone who enjoys taking the initiative, being creative and is passionate about supporting education in Wales. In particular, the role will suit someone who enjoys a varied task load and will thrive in a busy, enthusiastic team. The role will require some travel and weekend working.
This role is full-time (35 hours per week), available immediately, and is fixed term until 31 March 2028.
Salary: £33,482 - £36,130 per annum (Grade 5)
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Lucy Jenkins, Programme Manager: JenkinsL27@cardiff.ac.uk
Date advert posted: Friday, 27 June 2025
Closing date: Friday, 11 July 2025
Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.
Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.
Job Description
The job requires the role holder to:
* Provide professional support, advice and guidance on the mentoring project processes and procedures. Proactively contributing to the continuous improvement of operational systems and processes to facilitate the work of the project using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action where appropriate and ensuring complex and conceptual issues are understood and ensure compliance with all regulations of risk, management and evaluation are adhered to.
* Contributing to the continuous improvement of operational systems and processes to facilitate the work of the project and as required investigate and analyse specific issues within the mentoring project.
* Ensure that the school and mentors caseload provision is delivered in line with the mentoring project, proactively changing the delivery according to customer requirements.
* Support the development, management and assessment of externally validated mentor accreditations, providing feedback and liaising with external providers where required.
* Support the ongoing monitoring of quality assurance linked to the project’s accredited training and pedagogical practices, contributing where needed.
* Establish working relationships with key contacts, supporting the management of external partnerships, developing appropriate communication links with the University’s Schools/Directorates and outside bodies as required
* Provide advice and guidance on child behaviour management strategies, child engagement strategies, risk management in school settings and health and safety protocols in schools.
* Support the development of toolkits and guidance to support teacher professional learning relating to International Languages.
* Support the delivery of professional learning workshops for teachers relating to International Languages.
* Be responsible for the recruitment, management, and development of a network of mentors from across partner universities. This will involve recruiting mentors from across partner universities and university departments.
* Support the development of the project’s communications strategy, developing content and supporting dissemination of project outcomes (eg. attending networking events) where appropriate.
* Gather and analyse data to inform management decisions, establishing basic trends and patterns in data and creating reports as appropriate.
* Contribute significantly to the training of a cohort of mentors both in terms of logistics and delivery.
* Be confident using a range of digital tools to support your working practices across all areas of the role.
* Instruct and guide other employees across the University within schools engagement and impact as required
General Duties
* Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
* Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the project.
* Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity.
* Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
Person Specification
It is Cardiff University's policy to use the person specification as a key tool for shortlisting. Therefore, candidates must evidence they meet ALL the essential criteria and, where relevant, the desirable. Please attach a supporting statement, using each of the below criteria as a heading evidencing how you meet each. When attaching the supporting statement to your application, please ensure you name it with the vacancy reference number: 20258BR.
Essential Criteria
Qualifications And Education
* Degree/NVQ 4 or equivalent Professional membership/experience
* A teaching qualification (eg. PGCE) or relevant experience of working directly with children.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
* Substantial experience of working within large-scale projects and managing a varied portfolio of activity.
* Experience of creating assessments; managing delivery of assessments; and assessing accredited work completed by learners.
* Ability to set up standard office systems and procedures and make improvements as appropriate
Customer Service, Communication and Team Working
* Evidence of strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate conceptually detailed and complex information effectively, particularly with the purpose of building relationships with partners
* Evidence of ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered
Planning, Analysis and Problem solving
* Evidence of ability to solve expansive problems using initiative and creativity; identifying and proposing practical solutions and resolving problems with range of potential outcomes
* Evidence of ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning and setting priorities for own work and that of others as well as monitoring progress.
Other
* Excellent knowledge of the practical application of mentoring practice in an educational context and/or experience of designing and delivering professional learning to school teachers.
Desirable Criteria
* Fluency in Welsh, written and oral
* Strong competencies in the use of online learning design tools such as Canva, genial.ly and PowerPoint.
* Mentoring and/or coaching qualifications.
* Project Management qualifications (eg. Prince 2).
Additional Information
The Modern Foreign Language (MFL) Mentoring project has been funded by Welsh Government since 2015 to arrest and reverse a 20-year decline in the number of young people opting to study a modern foreign language at GCSE in Wales, in support of the aims and ambitions of Welsh Government’s Global Futures strategy. The project works across Wales working with over 100 secondary schools across Wales, 100s of teachers, 10 partner universities, over 150 university students spanning university and a range of subject areas, and engaging with over 10,000 secondary school learners each year. The project also has partnerships that extend throughout the UK.
Salary Range Min.
33,482
Salary Range Max.
36,130
Job Category
Management & Executive
Grade
Grade 5 #J-18808-Ljbffr