"Employability & Placement Adviser"

University of Kent - Student Life

Location: Canterbury, Hybrid

Salary: £32,080 to £35,608 Grade 6, per annum

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 20th March 2026

Closes: 30th March 2026

Job Ref: SL-041-26

Contract Type: Fixed-Term - Ends 28/05/2027

Interview Date: Tuesday 14 April 2026

Do you have experience of working in an employability, careers, student support, or skills development role? Are you able to build strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders? If so, we’d love an application from you.

The Student Life Directorate is looking for an Employability and Placements Adviser who is responsible for supporting students from all Academic Schools to gain experience, build confidence, and develop the skills needed for future employment. This role involves delivering and coordinating a range of projects, events, and initiatives that enable students to explore the graduate labour market, develop their employability, and gain valuable experience. You will also deliver a range of 1-2-1 interventions to support students in finding and applying for work, succeeding at interview, or planning skill development activities.

As Employability and Placements Adviser you can expect to be involved in:

• Planning, delivering and evaluating a broad programme of employability and skills-focused events and activities, including Careers Fairs, the Employability Festival, employer panels, workshops, and targeted student engagement campaigns.
• Providing one-to-one and small group employability support to students, helping them build confidence, develop skills, and access opportunities such as work experience, mentoring, placements, and volunteering.
• Collaborating with colleagues across Academic Schools, professional services and the Careers, Employability and Skills Team to embed employability-related activity into the curriculum and co-curricular space.
• Working closely with the Employer Engagement Team to source employers, alumni, and external partners to contribute to events, mentoring schemes, and skill development opportunities.

What will you bring to the role?

• Educated to A-Level or equivalent qualification/experience
• Experience of working in an employability, careers, student support, or skills development role
• Strong project management and organisational skills with experience of delivering large events or projects
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences

What we can offer in return:

As a member of our team, you can expect a friendly, open and collaborative working environment and support in your development and wellbeing. You'll enjoy a range of great staff benefits including:

• Hybrid working options allowing a flexible blend of office and home working (to be agreed in line with business needs)
• 43 days' leave per year (personal leave, bank holidays and additional days allocated for the Christmas period, pro-rata for part-time staff)
• Excellent pension scheme with generous employer contributions
• Corporate employee-funded healthcare plan, in partnership with Benenden Health

For more information about what you can look forward to if you join us, visit our dedicated webpage: Working at Kent

We are ambitious for our people, our communities and the region we serve – join us in making the world a better place.

Visit our website for more on who we are: http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/

Please see the links below to view the full job description and to apply for this post.

For further information regarding the application process, please contact peopleserviceshr@kent.ac.uk quoting reference number SL-041-26.

Further details:

Job Description
Additional Information