Early Careers Manager

Version 1 is celebrating 25 years in the IT industry this year and we continue to be trusted by global brands to deliver IT solutions that drive customer success. 

Version 1 is not just a Microsoft Gold Partner, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner and an Oracle Platform Partner; we are also an award-winning employer and our employees are at the heart of Version 1. We invest in a strong culture of wellness through programs that help our employees create their journey toward optimal wellbeing. This framework is based on the ‘Strength in Balance‘ theme and this seen again in our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Team motto “Bring Your Difference“. 

At Version 1, we strive to maintain our standard of excellence and our status as a Great Place to Work. We aim to ensure our people are in the best possible place to have maximum impact and perform at their best in a digital workplace. This in turn enables Version 1 to realise its full potential despite external circumstances or challenges.

This role forms part of the strategic growth plans in Version 1 where ‘growing your own’ is front and centre. as a result, you will become one of the key members in the rapidly growing Talent Development team. 

Please be aware that this role can be based anywhere in the UK, but they may have to travel to Version 1 offices on occasion.

The Early Careers Manager will be the ambassador for the Version 1 brand. Building on Version 1’s reputation as a great place to work and also being an employer of choice for the:

(a)   Graduate community across multiple geographical locations,

(b)   The apprenticeship scheme in the UK,

(c)   Individuals looking to continue to grow their career and find their second job.

To do this successfully you will manage the end-to-end Early Careers experience from attraction through to becoming a Version 1 Naturally Digital Consultant.  You will provide a significant level of support and coaching to our Early Careers cohort over their first 18 months in Version 1.

The key areas of this role include:

Graduates/Associate Consultants:

Own the Early Careers function in Version 1, reporting directly to the Head of Talent Development.

• Work with the various business Practice Managers to understand our future skills and Early Careers requirements across the organisation.
• Continue to build on and expand the remit of the existing Accelerate Programme (Graduate).
• Be the Version 1 resident Early Careers expert: you will be the key point of contact working with universities, professional qualification bodies (where required), and government bodies (across multiple geographical locations), to understand the external Early Careers market, continually advising on new opportunities to meet our future skills requirements and advise on Future of Work trends.
• Create, deliver and be an active participant at events and initiatives that enable us to build a pipeline of Early Careers candidates and promote Version 1 to a broad range of potential talent.
• Lead on the development of our Early Careers brand; coming up with innovative ideas and clear attraction campaigns, working with Marketing and the Employee Experience Teams to ensure our approach is consistent and on-brand.
• Own the selection process.  Developing the assessment criteria and material and leading on our approach to assessment centres.
• Design and support the delivery of the Early Careers on-boarding experience, working with colleagues to ensure a consistent approach across Version 1.
• Work with managers to identify any areas of concern regarding Associates performance and areas in which they may be performing particularly well, engaging with relevant parties as appropriate.

Apprenticeship Scheme (UK) – additional responsibilities:

• Fully participate in the UK Apprenticeship scheme and design and implement a model that enables Version 1 to avail of this pool of potential candidates.
• Work with the respective government agencies to ensure we avail of all the appropriate services.
• Create a programme that can facilitate the intake of apprenticeships across all strands of the business – it will incorporate many of the similar activities associated with the graduate Accelerate Programme.
• Liaise with each of the Practices to establish which skill sets fit into the process best.
• Work with the relevant Practices to ensure they the right mechanisms in place to take this cohort on and upskill them to Naturally Digital Consultants.

Early Careers – the second job pool – additional responsibilities:

• Working with the Resourcing team on specific campaigns in line with the respective business need, you’ll manage the onboarding and up skilling on this cohort of Early Career employees.
• Ensure this cohort of employees are onboarded and brought up to speed to life in Version 1 as quickly as possible.
• Be a point of contact as they navigate their first quarter in Version 1.

• Experience of designing and implementing successful Early Careers programmes from attraction strategy and marketing campaigns, through to delivery.
• Proven success in building and delivering successful and end to end Early Careers learning programmes and Learning Journeys.
• A thorough understanding of the Early Careers market to help us meet our future skills needs
• You will have previous experience of working in a recruitment environment and understand the cycle of early careers recruitment
• You will have experience of creating and delivering development/training modules for students and line managers, and look to continuously enhance the firms Early Careers offering
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with an ability to build trusting relationships both internally and externally.
• Ability to build lasting relationships with the Early Career cohort of employees thus empowering them to make informed decisions and setting them up to be successful in Version 1.
• Stakeholder management – working with the various Practices & Portfolios & 3rd party vendors (universities, government agencies etc)
• Drive, to see tasks through to completion and to overcome obstacles in your way.
• Ability to apply critical thinking skills to a variety of challenges.
• Ability to work effectively & efficiently in a fast-paced environment.

(experience of working with the UK apprenticeship scheme an advantage).

Before you apply, here are some of our benefits. We offer profit share, pension, private healthcare cover, flexible working policy and more. We offer incentives for accreditations and educational assistance for courses relevant to your role.

We offer employee recognition in the form of Excellence Awards and V1Ps which is awarded by your peers. Engagement is incredibly important with local engagement teams driving our engagement events!