Engagement & Placements Officer

We are looking for a confident and personable Employer Engagement & Placements Officer – Chester & Warrington to join Barfection on an initial 6-month fixed-term contract, working full-time, 35 hours per week, with the potential to become permanent subject to the success and continuation of the project.

This role will focus primarily on building strong relationships with hospitality employers across Chester and Warrington to secure high-quality work placements and positive employment outcomes for learners, while also identifying wider commercial and permanent recruitment opportunities for Barfection. We are looking for someone with a strong understanding of the front-of-house hospitality industry, excellent people and organisational skills, and ideally some previous B2B sales experience.

The salary is £24,000 per year plus commission for meeting agreed targets, making this a strong opportunity for someone who enjoys building relationships, creating opportunities and making a tangible impact on both learners and local hospitality employers.

• Build and manage high-quality employer relationships across Chester and Warrington to support work placements, learner progression and positive employment outcomes.
• Source, support and document safe, sustainable work placements for learners, providing additional support where required.
• Support learners into positive destinations and employment following programme completion.
• Develop a strong local employer network that supports Barfection's education delivery and creates longer-term commercial relationships.
• Identify permanent recruitment opportunities with hospitality employers in the Chester and Warrington area, qualify the requirement and make a clear internal handover to the permanent recruitment team.
• Support the recruitment of learners and contribute to wider employer-engagement activity for current and future programmes.
• Maintain delivery, safeguarding, quality and funding-body standards in accordance with Barfection procedures and the Education Inspection Framework (EIF).

• Source suitable and sustainable work placements with ethical employers across Chester, Warrington and surrounding areas.
• Manage and develop existing placement-host relationships and ensure employers receive appropriate support.
• Ensure the learner remains at the centre of placement decisions and that placements are safe, welcoming and relevant to programme goals.
• Complete all placement documentation required by Barfection operating procedures, funding requirements and Health & Safety standards.
• Identify learner support needs, including Functional Skills, employability and soft-skills needs where relevant.
• Agree learner starting points and set meaningful, motivating targets for development and progression.
• Review learner progress in line with contractual requirements and Barfection systems, involving workplace supervisors or mentors where appropriate.
• Maintain detailed progress records, action plans and evidence of continuous development.
• Monitor attendance, retention and achievement and elevate concerns promptly.
• Proactively support learners into positive destinations, including employment, further training or other agreed outcomes.
• Work with employers to identify suitable vacancies for learners completing Barfection programmes and support learners through the transition into employment.

• Act as a key Barfection contact for education and placement employers across the Chester and Warrington area.
• Build trusted, long-term employer relationships rather than transactional placement arrangements.
• Understand employer workforce needs, recruitment…