Education Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION

Employed by: / Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA)
Responsible to: / Deputy Chief Executive
Salary and pension: / £22,434-£25,694 pro rata, depending on experience
You will be enrolled automatically into our pension scheme and the WCIA will match your contribution up to a maximum of 5% of your gross salary (minimum 1%)
Employment terms: / Initial 1-year contract on an annualised hours basis, equivalent to 2.5 days per week
This post has ‘peaks and troughs’ of activity over the course of the year: September-October 2017 will be a particularly busy period in which the post-holder may be required to work 3-5 days during some weeks; whereas in quieter periods such as July-August, only 1-2 days’ work may be available. The post-holder will be paid a fixed monthly salary based on 2.5 days per week.
Additional hours may be available where the post-holder organises a large number of paid workshops, or where the WCIA secures funding for new projects. The post-holder is responsible for keeping an accurate record of all hours worked.
Base: / Offices of the WCIA, Temple of Peace, Cardiff with options for home and remote working.
Hours: / Flexible working is expected, including evenings.
Leave allowance: / 18 days including bank holidays
Travel: / This role requires travel throughout Wales, including overnight stays. Expenses will be paid.

Summary of Role

The WCIA offers global education services, currently in the name of CEWC. We deliver paid workshops and talks that develop students’ knowledge and understanding of global issues, and skills such as critical thinking and communication. We also organise the annual Wales Schools Debating Championships and related Debate Training Days, and we offer teacher training in global education.

The main purpose of this role is to market and deliver the WCIA’s education services, providing a high-quality experience that offers value for money to schools and colleges. The post-holder will be expected to promote our services successfully, plan and deliver workshops, and organise all debating events to a high standard. They may commission others to deliver services if they cannot do so themselves. The Education Officer will also have the opportunity to expand the role’s scope by developing additional small projects, representing the WCIA at external events, and undertaking research that supports our work.

Specific responsibilities for this role include:

  1. Promote and deliver the WCIA’s educational services for schools and colleges:
  2. Promoting and selling the school services we offer through direct email/phone contact, social media, conferences/meetings and the WCIA website
  3. Planning and delivering workshops and talks on global issues, as required by secondary schools, colleges and occasionally primary schools
  4. Delivering teacher training on global issues where possible
  5. Administering and responding to all incoming enquiries, including discussing schools’ needs, quoting prices, collecting monitoring and evaluation data, keeping the contacts database up-to-date and arranging invoices
  6. Where you are not able to deliver a service yourself (e.g. due to specialised requirement, date clash, or requirement for Welsh speaker), arranging for this to be done through agreed WCIA partner contacts
  1. Organise and deliver the 2017 Wales Schools Debating Championships (October-December) and Debate Training Days (September):
  2. Securing venues for all debate events, arranging any necessary facilities/catering, and liaising regularly with venues prior to events
  3. Setting up and managing the event registration system using EventBrite
  4. Promoting the events through MailChimp, direct email/phone contact, website and social media – including to schools/colleges that have not previously participated
  5. Securing a minimum total of 100 participants in the Training Days and 60 schools/colleges in the Championships
  6. Ensuring that each debate event is organised and delivered to a professional standard; this includes ensuring that the Training Day content is developed in conjunction with experienced debaters
  7. Acting as a spokesperson for the debate events and being prepared to act as a debate adjudicator if needed
  8. Organising, promoting and drawing in a wider audience for the debate final
  9. Gathering data and media content for inclusion in a report to the funder
  10. All necessary post-event work, e.g. thanking those involved, recording names of winners, keeping in touch with them about future tournament stages and reporting to the funder/s
  11. Keeping participants informed about opportunities to represent Wales at the World Schools Debating Championships (not organised by WCIA)
  1. Deliver the WCIA’s part of the ChangeMakers global education project (Funding for this project to be confirmed):
  2. Delivering workshops on the topic of refugees and supporting peer education activities in 1-2 schools
  3. Liaising with project partners and project lead to coordinate activities
  4. Ensuring high quality monitoring and evaluation data is collected for the project lead and for WCIA’s use
  1. Deliver other educational work and events as time allows during quieter periods, for example:
  2. Undertaking basic research about teachers’ and students’ needs, to help inform future projects and funding proposals
  3. Representing the WCIA at educational conferences, meetings and forums
  4. Supporting the delivery of public events organised by the WCIA, and potentially organising your own public events
  5. Offering input and ideas to future projects
  6. Supporting the work of the Wales Alliance for Global Education, which is chaired by the WCIA’s Chief Executive
  7. Delivering relevant elements of other projects for which the WCIA may secure funding
  8. Working with volunteers and interns undertaking other relevant work
  1. To undertake other relevant duties as delegated by your line manager.

Person Specification

Applicants must demonstrate the following attributes by linking them with their skills and experiences in the job application statement.

Essential requirements

  • Significant experience of working with young people as a teacher, youth worker or another relevant role
  • Demonstrable understanding of effective teaching and learning approaches, especially in relation to global issues and thinking/communication skills development
  • Excellent spoken and written communication skills, including confident public speaking
  • Demonstrable ability and confidence to promote and sell services on the phone, in writing and face-to-face
  • Excellent organisational skills – able to manage detailed requirements of multiple workshops/events with a high degree of accuracy
  • Able to work positively and effectively with students of all ages, teachers and work colleagues
  • Good general understanding of current affairs, global citizenship and international issues
  • Confident about working in a bilingual (English/Welsh) environment and ensuring that schools/colleges receive services in the language of their choice
  • Good skills in Microsoft Office, email applications and social media
  • Able to increase working hours during the particularly busy months of September/October
  • Able to work flexibly, including travel throughout Wales and overnight stays away from home

Desirable attributes

  • Ability to communicate/deliver workshops in both Welsh and English

Application Process

  • All applicants must complete the official WCIA Application for Employment form, available at Please provide all relevant information on the application form as we will not consider CVs or cover letters as part of the application.
  • All applicants should complete the Equal Opportunities form. Please note, these are separated from your application form upon receipt and not shared with the shortlisting or interview panel.
  • Please submit your application by email to . If you do not have access to email you can send a paper application to the address given on the application form. Please get in touch if you have any other access requirements in order to submit an application.
  • The deadline for receipt of applications is 09.00 on Wednesday 12 July. We will send an email acknowledgement to all applicants. If you do not receive an acknowledgement before 12.00 on Wednesday 12 July please contact us. We cannot be held responsible for applications that do not reach us, or that arrive after the deadline.
  • If you are shortlisted for an interview, we will contact you directly. Interviews will take place in the week beginning 17 July at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff.
  • No references will be taken up until a provisional offer of employment has been made.
  • Unsuccessful applicants will be informed by email.