Senior Job Coach

Working Pattern:
Term-Time Plus 3 weeks in the holidays

Orchard Hill College is an Outstanding Specialist College (Ofsted, April 2025) offering life-changing learning opportunities to young people and adults with a range of special education needs and/or disabilities. We operate vibrant community-based College Centres across London and Surrey, where committed specialist teams deliver a variety of programmes designed to meet the diverse needs of our students.

Students who study with us have a wide range of needs including profound and multiple learning disabilities, communication and behavioural difficulties and specific medical needs. All students are individual, and their learning programme is designed to support and empower them to achieve their aspirations and goals, whilst developing skills to become more independent members of their community.

We are currently seeking an experienced and passionate Senior Job Coach to join our team at Orchard Hill College. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in leading and developing our employability provision, helping young people and adults with SEND overcome barriers to learning and achieve meaningful employment outcomes.

As a Senior Job Coach, you will provide operational leadership to the Job Coach team, ensuring high-quality, consistent employability support across all College sites. You will oversee work placements, employer partnerships, quality assurance processes, and staff development, while maintaining a small caseload of students to model excellent practice. Through your work, you will make a significant contribution to improving student progression, independence, and long-term employment opportunities.

• Lead, supervise, coach and support Job Coaches, ensuring high standards of performance and professional practice.
• Oversee and quality assure employability provision, including work placements, workplace coaching, risk assessments, student progress records, and compliance documentation.
• Coordinate referrals, caseload allocation, and Job Coach deployment to ensure timely and effective support for students.
• Maintain a targeted student caseload, supporting learners with job searching, CV development, interview preparation, work placements, and progression into employment.
• Develop and strengthen employer partnerships, creating sustainable work placement and employment opportunities while promoting inclusive employment practices.

• Significant experience supporting individuals with SEND, mental health challenges, complex needs, or other barriers to learning into work placements or employment.
• Proven experience supervising, line managing, coaching, or developing staff, including conducting appraisals and performance reviews.
• Demonstrable experience quality assuring employability delivery, work-based learning programmes, and compliance processes.
• Strong experience developing employer relationships, delivering training, and implementing the Supported Employment model to achieve positive learner outcomes.

Orchard Hill College is an exciting, forward-thinking organisation, and we offer many benefits to attract and keep our staff, contributing towards maintaining and improving wellbeing, and encouraging our required behaviours, achievements, values, and skills.

Below is just a selection of the benefits available to our employees:

• Pathways for progression within the trust, ensuring you can grow and thrive in a supportive and inclusive environment
• Pension Scheme - you will be enrolled in either the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), both offering life cover and financial protection for your family
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes (Cycle Scheme, Employee Car Lease Scheme and Home Electronics Scheme)
• Employee Wellbeing - We support employee wellbeing with access to counselling, mental health support, generous leave, flexible working, and enhanced parental leave including Employee Assistance Programme, MyGym Discounts, Corporate Eyecare Scheme and Free Virtual GP Appointments
• Employee Discounts (Blue Light Card, Costco Membership, Discounts for Teachers, and more)
• Other (Season Ticket Loan and Employee Referral Scheme)

The College is an Academy sponsor and established Orchard Hill College Academy Trust in 2013 which is home to 13 special schools. Together Orchard Hill College & Academy Trust provide for over 1500 pupils and students with SEN across London, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire. To find out more about us, and what makes us a special place to work please visit our vacancies page.

Working together to transform lives is what we do and across the whole organisation we have a range of experts and practitioners who advocate for children and young people with SEND to ensure they receive the best possible opportunities to achieve their full potential.

As a large specialist education provider we employ over 1500 people across our schools, college and central support team. There is a wide range of job roles…