Apprenticeship Lead

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced training manager to work for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust within the Apprenticeships /Education and Development area. You will drive and manage the next phase of expansion in apprenticeships, as per the NHS workforce plan and across the Trust to meet both strategic and operational objectives and targets.

Working closely with the Associate Director Organisational Development & Inclusion, you will need expertise and knowledge of apprenticeships, as well as accuracy and a methodical approach to deliver a timely strategic and implementation plan for increased apprenticeship starts.

You will need experience of stakeholder engagement, excellent IT skills, an eye for detail, along with commissioning/procurement experience. You will have experience of providing performance and monitoring reports and managing quality systems, to support current apprentices and new starts on programme.

In this post you will be a key contact for divisional leads, managers, staff and education providers; you will be expected to work with partners and stakeholders across the Health and Social care sector, such as Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS England, to inform our Trust strategy, policy and implementation plans. You will need to be able to demonstrate excellent communication skills and the ability to prioritise and problem solve, sometimes in a fast-paced environment. You will contribute to the seamless provision of a customer orientated, flexible, quality driven and responsive service.

The Trust is dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and as the Apprenticeship Lead, you will also support the wider Organisational Development & Inclusion team, to broaden access and widening participation.

As part of a dedicated team, this is a great opportunity for you to develop and implement a strategy for the expansion of apprenticeships and this post will have training options, for you to do a leadership and management apprenticeship.

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust has a strategic objective to ‘promote a caring workforce through good quality leadership and excellence in education’. A workforce strategy underpins the Trust’s overall objectives to provide consistently safe, high quality patient-focussed services. The workforce underpins the organisation’s success.

The Organisational Development & Inclusion department sits within the wider Workforce and education directorate and provides expert access to

Leadership and Management development
Education, Learning and development
Library and Knowledge Management
Equality Diversity & Inclusion
Staff Engagement & Insight
Collectively, these functions facilitate the effective management and development of a workforce which is equipped to meet organisational needs and deliver effective quality driven patient care. The development has the overarching aim to support delivery of LGT’s Organisational Development function through its coordinated activity.

Job Summary:
The Apprenticeship Lead will be responsible for leading a programme of major expansion in apprenticeship activity across the Trust to support staff development and the utilisation of the Apprenticeship Levy.

The post holder will provide strategic direction, specialist knowledge, planning and leadership to successfully review, design and implement an apprenticeship strategy which maximises the benefits to be gained from the levy specifically in relation to quality, impact in meeting real workforce challenges and value for money.

The measure of success for this role will be an expansion in high-quality apprenticeship activity, with new apprenticeships being used in new service areas and in new roles to respond to Trust workforce challenges.

The post holder will be required to operate as a senior member of the Education and Development team, providing management support as required.

Key Result Areas & Performance:
1. Apply expert knowledge in interpreting recent and anticipated changes in national policies and guidelines with regard to apprenticeships and in evaluating the impact of these on the Trust use of apprenticeships.
2. Work closely with the Organisational Development & Inclusion senior team to influence and developing Trust policies for the use of apprenticeships;
3. Proactively identify new clinical and non-clinical opportunities for apprenticeships, making a persuasive case for the use of apprentices in a range of new settings
4. Provide expert guidance in designing, developing and implementing apprenticeship programmes.
5. Management responsibility for the delivery and evaluation of apprenticeships, including: apprentice role design with service leads; apprenticeship programme design; identification of external education providers; development of infrastructure to support apprentices (including development of mentors); performance management of external providers; evaluation of impact and continuous improvement to meet Trust needs.
6. Apply expert project and programme management skills to simultaneously manage multiple new apprenticeship initiatives across many services / departments / sites, developing robust plans to ensure all deliver on time and in line with the needs of the services.
7. Demonstrate ability to manage workload and priorities in supporting multiple apprenticeship initiatives at any one time.
8. Work with Service Leads and HR Business Partners to redesign roles to make them suitable for apprenticeships.
9. Lead the design of new apprenticeship programmes based on national approved frameworks and supplemented with additional education components to meet local service needs.
10. Identify education providers to respond to the requirements of the agreed apprenticeship programme and commission preferred suppliers through procurement processes that meet procurement regulations and the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions.
11. Lead the development and regular updating and approval process of Trust policies and procedures in relation to the use of apprenticeships
12. Evaluate the impact of apprenticeship programmes once they have been established, measuring their impact on the Trust, identifying lessons learned that can be applied elsewhere and continuously improving the quality of programmes.
13. Develop systems, processes and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the recruitment and support of apprentices, to make it as simple as possible for services and departments to recruit apprentices.
14. Link the use of apprenticeships with other strategically important initiatives taking place across the Trust.
15. Provide a range of internal and external appropriate reporting to support the evaluation and development of the apprenticeship portfolios as required
Workforce
1. Coordinate the recruitment and selection of apprentices with education providers and the Trust Recruitment Team.
2. Plan and organise the development of mentors within services to provide support to apprentices within the work environment.
3. Manage the performance of external education providers in delivering education components of the apprenticeship programme, responding quickly to any performance issues identified by service lines and ensuring a high-quality service from providers.
4. Use a wide range of communication channels to promote awareness and understanding of apprenticeships across the organisation, using case studies from within and outside the organisation tailored to specific service lines.
5. Working with services and departments (in collaboration with HR Business Partners) to proactively identify new opportunities for apprenticeships, applying knowledge of how apprenticeships have been used in other organisations (inside and outside the NHS)
6. Persuade clinical and non-clinical colleague of the new opportunities that there may be for the use of apprenticeships, managing potential resistance or reluctance on the part of service / department leads.
7. Provide guidance in the development of new apprenticeship programmes to services considering the use of apprenticeships.
8. In areas where apprenticeships can be used, undertake analysis of the range of options available such as:

delivery options (in-house versus externally provided);
which framework to use and which provider (if external);
which level (intermediate, advanced, higher)
opportunities to collaborate with other organisations and provide a recommended course of action for services/departments.
1. Develop and or support the production and formulation of business cases for developing apprenticeships in new areas, including means of measuring the financial and non-financial benefits of apprenticeships (for example, in terms of recruitment, retention, and turnover).
2. Proactively identify opportunities to collaborate with other partner organisations within the health economy with regard to apprenticeships.
3. Work with colleagues to develop apprenticeships as part of a coherent approach to widening participation in healthcare careers in the Trust, particularly in improving access for under-represented groups.
4. Facilitate audits within the Trust wherever apprenticeships are used to assess compliance with Trust policies, identify common issues and better understand key factors for a successful apprenticeship
5. Directly manage bank administrator(s), as and when required to support data input and coordination of apprenticeship activities across the Trust.

Financial
1. Robust financial management when commissioning from external providers and holding them to account for the quality of apprenticeship programmes.
2. Responsible as a delegated budget holder, including raise requisitions and authorise invoices in relation to apprenticeships.
3. Maintain accurate recording of all income and expenditure.
4. Negotiate contracts and service level agreements with external education providers.
5. Write and submit finance reports as required on apprenticeship income and expenditure.
6. Work closely with management accounts so that systems are in place to record and monitor expenditure and ensure expenditure remains within allocated limits.
7. Act in accordance with the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions

Partnerships

Communications and Relationships
1. Plan and deliver large group meetings and events promoting apprenticeships, including presenting to large groups of stakeholders.
2. Attend and present at committees, meetings and to groups as required,
3. Manage internal relationships with internal stakeholders associated with the delivery of apprenticeships.
4. Act as the first point of contact for both apprentice and apprentice mentor queries, providing advice or referring to other services where appropriate.
5. Deal with confidential and sensitive information and queries in relation to apprentices and pastoral support issues. This may include apprentice progression, pastoral or health issues.
6. Deal with confidential and sensitive information in relation to external providers of apprenticeship programmes and manage performance issues where they are not delivering to the required standards.
7. Represent the Trust at various external meetings relating to apprenticeships, including with external commissioners (Health)