Widening Participation & Social Mobility

Location:  Highfield Campus
Salary:   £25,627 to £30,497 Per annum
Full Time Fixed Term until 31/07/2023
Closing Date:  Friday 11 February 2022
Interview Date:   To be confirmed
Reference:  1661922HL

Widening Participation and Social Mobility are pleased to be recruiting for a new Student Success and Inclusion Coordinator to focus on coordinating the Ignite Your Success programme. This programme forms part of the University of Southampton’s flagship social mobility programme, Ignite, which aims to increase access, reduce non-continuation, and close the awarding gaps present for students from the most disadvantaged postcodes in the country. Ignite Your Success is a three-year, alumni-funded programme available to students from underrepresented backgrounds. The programme offers a blend of financial, academic, career, and personal opportunities to ensure students reach their full potential.

With Ignite Your Success having just entered its second year, this is an exciting time to join the team. This is a significant piece of work, with the awarding gap (the gap in the number of 1^sts and 2:1s awarded) between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged student groups standing at 10% across the whole sector. The University of Southampton is committed to reducing our awarding gap to 5% within the next five years, in line with our Access and Participation Plan.

You will be working closely with the Student Success Manager and the wider Student Inclusion team, who currently work on a range of projects to support student success and inclusion for mature, care experienced and minoritised students. Whilst the work on Ignite will be separate to these existing projects, we aim to promote intersectionality in all aspects of our work, with an understanding that no student experience adheres to a single characteristic.  

You would be joining the department at a key point of development following the creation of our Widening Participation and Social Mobility Directorate in the past year and the launch of our new Widening Participation Strategy. As Ignite is our flagship social mobility programme, you will have the opportunity to shape how our strategy is delivered and make a positive impact on the outcomes of our students.

The successful candidate will have experience of working with students as well as an in-depth knowledge of socioeconomic disadvantage in education.  You will be responsible for coordinating the Ignite Your Success programme, systematically embedding evaluation into all activities to assess for impact. You will be able to demonstrate good networking skills, maintaining good partnership working with a range of colleagues.

The University particularly welcomes applications from Widening Participation backgrounds for this role, especially those with lived experience in higher education. Please be assured that all applicants will be treated equally during the selection process.

If you would like to discuss the role in more detail please contact Roshana Wickremasinghe, Student Success Manager (R.Wickremasinghe@soton.ac.uk).

This role is being offered on a Full-Time, Fixed Term basis until 31 July 2023.

Application Procedure:

You should submit your completed online application form at https://jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. If you need any assistance, please call Jane Sturgeon (HR Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 23 8059 4043 or email recruitment@soton.ac.uk  Please quote reference 1661922HL on all correspondence.