Overview
Early Careers Programme Lead role at Visionpath. We’re on a mission to make early careers more equal by partnering with employers to create best-in-class early talent solutions that help them reach, recruit and retain diverse school leavers for apprenticeships and early careers.
We’ve worked with over 50,000 young people and partner with top employers. We’re growing and looking for a purpose-driven and people-focused Early Careers Programme Lead to join us.
The role is ideal for someone who thrives in early careers, believes in the power of social mobility and is passionate about leading and developing people to deliver results and impact.
You’ll manage a team running a portfolio of early careers programmes for our clients – from early engagement and attraction programmes, all the way to end-to-end early talent partnerships that span outreach to onboarding.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
In this role you’ll lead our programmes team and oversee execution and performance across our portfolio of programmes, ensuring we deliver on our clients’ early talent needs and unlock life-changing opportunities for young people. You will:
🌟 Lead and empower others
* Line manage a team of 4-5 Programme Managers and Coordinators
* Coach, support and develop your team to deliver high-quality programmes
* Hold regular 1:1s, performance reviews and appraisals
* Be a role model for our values and ways of working
🤝 Partner with employers and schools
* Build strong relationships with clients as a trusted early talent partner
* Regularly meet and engage with clients to understand their early talent needs, shape programmes and solutions, and ensure we continue to support their objectives
* Identify opportunities to grow partnerships and deepen our impact
* Provide accountability to Programme Managers on programme and solution delivery
* Track and monitor progress against KPIs and statements of work
* Lead internal programme review processes
* Uphold high standards of delivery and quality across our portfolio
* Ownership of data, evaluation and reporting both internally and externally
As a growing business, you’ll also have the opportunity to be involved in a variety of other projects and to be on-the-ground supporting and delivering programmes with employers, schools and young people. Having experience of facilitating and delivering workshops and events would be a big plus.
ABOUT YOU
You’ll combine leadership experience with a genuine passion for early careers and social mobility. You’ll be confident managing people and teams, overseeing programme delivery and know how to balance high standards with a supportive, collaborative approach.
You’ll bring:
* Proven people management and coaching experience
* A background in early careers, social mobility or related fields
* Strong project leadership and delivery management skills
* Experience working with corporate clients (SMEs to multinationals)
* Understanding of the education landscape, working with schools and safeguarding
And you’ll be:
* A relationship builder with integrity and professionalism
* Supportive of others and collaborative
* Someone with a can-do attitude, eager to get stuck-in and make things happen
* Organised, structured and results-focused
* Commercially-aware with a strategic mindset
* Driven by purpose and impact
WORKING AT VISIONPATH
We’re a collaborative, delivery-focused team who take pride in doing work that matters. Our culture is built on our values:
* Show The Way - We’re role models for others
* Think Differently - Embracing difference, bringing fresh ideas, no “one-size-fits-all”
* Inspire Trust - Trusted partners, keeping our promises and acting with integrity
* Always On Point - Staying one step ahead and always striving for excellence
* One Team - Going far by going together, having fun, respecting each other, it’s never “not my job”
You’ll see these embedded in how we work with each other, with the young people we support and with our employer and school partners.
This is a hybrid role, with three days a week in our Sawbridgeworth office and two days remote. Team connection and collaboration are central to how we work, so please only apply if this working pattern works for you.
If you want to help drive change on social mobility, unlock careers for young people and help employers tap into high potential future talent, then we’d love to hear from you.
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 7th November 2025 with interviews taking place w/c 17th November 2025.
SAFEGUARDING:
This role involves working with young people. It is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and requires an enhanced DBS check. The successful candidate must also register with the DBS Update Service to ensure continued safeguarding compliance.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES:
We’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive team and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
Note: This refined description retains the core responsibilities and requirements for the Early Careers Programmes Lead role while removing unrelated postings and formatting issues present in the original. The content remains job-focused and legally relevant.
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