Alumni Relations Officer

Department: Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship

Location:  Greenford, West London (On-site)

Type of Contract: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full Time - 40hrs Per Week

Salary: £29,000pa (Fixed Salary)

GBS is a higher education provider offering a range of sector-relevant courses across ten campuses in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Working in partnership with several of the UK’s leading higher education providers, we deliver vocational, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in finance, accounting, business, construction, tourism, healthcare, and more.

Our Vision: Changing lives through education.

What We Do: The Employability and Entrepreneurship Department at GBS is dedicated to preparing students for successful careers and business ventures. It offers tailored one-to-one guidance, a dynamic online Careers Hub via Handshake, and a structured Employability Award that builds critical job-seeking skills through Bronze to Platinum levels. Students gain practical experience in CV building, networking, and real job applications, including tools like ChatGPT. 

The role: If you are passionate about careers guidance and want to enable the next generation of career professionals, your work will see you supporting students and graduates as they prepare for life beyond university. Your work will enable them to create actionable career plans, get high quality support and guidance, and help them to identify and develop their interview skills. It's a great opportunity for you to be part of helping to shape confident, capable, and informed future professionals.

This role is largely about communication and support. You will keep alumni connected to each other and GBS, to encourage and promote the professional development of alumni on an individual basis, including helping them to secure graduate level outcomes where necessary, and to keep the alumni community aware of the institutions’ developments, including work placement opportunities and achievements.

• The Alumni Relations Officer will develop and maintain the relationship between GBS and our growing number of alumni. Your key task is to build up our Alumni programme and to manage the relationship between GBS and its graduates, including informing them about the Graduate Outcome Survey. This will be done through communication with the alumni community by newsletters, events, on-line events, in-person events and other resources. 
• You will work closely with the Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship Team in tracking our graduates as they move into future employment and explore opportunities for our internship and volunteering programme. 
• Where alumni have not secured graduate level progression, you will be signpost them to the Careers Consultants for support. You will work closely with the Marketing Department in creating and distributing communications for our alumni. 
• You will also help build a community of external stakeholders to support our alumni, including local employers, public bodies and third sector organisations.

Please note, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position.

Duties:

• To communicate with our alumni and external stakeholder communities.    
• To populate and maintaining the alumni database.    
• To work with marketing distribute an alumni magazine/newsletter.  
• To provide content for the alumni publication.  
• To arrange networking events, reunions and other events, both in person and on-line, for alumni members and external stakeholders.  
• To encourage engagement from alumni and external stakeholders to support extra-curricular events, GBS development and promotion, and volunteering and placement opportunities.   
• To promote the alumni community to current students and external stakeholders.   
• To contribute to strategic planning for the direction of the alumni office.  

To help maintain the alumni website, Careers and Placement platform, and online community.   

To source discounts, benefits and services for alumni members and raising awareness of those.   

To communicate with local businesses and organisations to arrange benefits packages for alumni members.  

To keep alumni informed about the Graduate Outcomes Survey and ensure that they feel prepared for it.  

To track the employment status of alumni and refer them to the Careers team if they have not achieved graduate level outcomes in the period up to the Graduate Outcome Survey.  

To promote any notable alumni success stories.  

To undertake any other duties as may reasonably be required, including administrative and evaluation duties appropriate to the role.

What Experience/Skills are required:

Essential:

• Hold Further or Higher Education level qualifications
• Achieved a minimum of GCSEs grade C or above in Math’s and English (or equivalent)   
• Good project management skills are required in this role   
• You will be expected to work to deadlines and prioritise workloads   
• Demonstrate highly developed interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to influence, collaborate and interact effectively with a range of stakeholders.   
• Understanding of and passion for both higher education and for working with a diverse student body, especially mature students from a widening participation background   
• Flexibility with time and travel is required as you will occasionally be required to work outside of regular working pattern over weekends and evenings, and travel to our various campuses    
• Good IT skills working on all Microsoft packages  

Desirable:

• Qualified to degree level  
• Professional qualifications in the areas of administration and marketing are desirable  

Experience of university administration or marketing duties  

Willing to work occasional weekends and evenings, and to go travel to our various campuses   

Experience of working with a customer relationship management (CRM) system

What We Offer

• 25 days annual leave, plus 8 public holidays
• 1-day extra leave per year of service, up to a maximum of 5 days
• Workplace pension scheme
• Tuition reimbursement for career development courses
• Flexible Benefits: Cycle to Work, Workplace Nursery, Techscheme and much more
• Perks@Work discounts platform, wellbeing centre and much more
• Reward and recognition programme
• £500 award employee referral scheme
• Discretionary annual performance bonus

GBS supported my development by enrolling me in an external Leadership and Management course, which equipped me with the tools to drive my team towards continued growth and success. Before joining GBS, I did not envision myself as a manager, but I have now found my passion in leadership.  — Ebony Bates (Professional Services Employee)

GBS is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and providing a workplace free from discrimination or harassment. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and communities. We take our core values seriously and work hard to create an environment where everyone feels welcomed.