Employment Pathways Executive

Position Employment Pathways Executive

Location Flexible working - home based with regular travel across Jobs Guarantee delivery areas to meet colleagues, employers and partners (South & West Scotland)

Salary £27,250 + excellent benefits

Hours 35 hours per week (flexible working)

Status Fixed Term to November 2028

Closing date 11 October 2026

Please note: We are recruiting in anticipation of a decision on our Jobs Guarantee bid due to the short mobilisation period. Any appointment and confirmed start date will therefore be subject to successful contract award and mobilisation requirements.

A guaranteed job only works if we have the right jobs with the right employers.

That's where you come in.

We're looking for Employment Pathways colleagues who can build genuine relationships with employers and turn those relationships into meaningful employment opportunities for young people.

This isn't simply vacancy sourcing.

You'll understand employers – their organisation, workforce requirements, recruitment challenges and future plans.

You'll also understand the people we support – their strengths, aspirations, circumstances and the environments in which they are most likely to succeed.

Then you'll bring those things together. You will develop and maintain a strong pipeline of suitable employment opportunities, work alongside Mentors to create good matches and stay connected with employers once participants enter work.

The relationships you build are Wise Group relationships. You may develop them through Jobs Guarantee, but they should not sit within Jobs Guarantee alone.

We want you to understand what relationships already exist before approaching an employer, connect with colleagues who already know them and make sure new intelligence and opportunities are visible across the Wise Group.

Our ambition is to be seen as a trusted employment and community partner, not as a series of separate programmes approaching the same organisation.

What you'll do

1. Build trusted employer relationships

Develop strong and credible relationships with employers across the Jobs Guarantee delivery areas.

Understand their business, workforce challenges, recruitment needs and future opportunities.

Help employers understand Jobs Guarantee and the opportunity it creates to bring young people into their workforce.

Build relationships that extend beyond an individual vacancy.

Represent the wider Wise Group confidently.

Think Wise Group first when developing relationships.

Where an employer relationship could create wider employment, skills, progression or community opportunities, connect the right colleagues.

Treat employer knowledge and relationships as enterprise assets and share them.

2. Build the employment pipeline

Create and maintain a healthy pipeline of suitable Jobs Guarantee opportunities.

Use labour-market intelligence, existing relationships, employer networks and proactive engagement to identify opportunities.

Understand participant demand and make sure vacancy development responds to it.

Identify gaps by geography, sector or participant need and act early.

Maintain forward visibility of employment demand and likely future opportunities.

Work with the Operations Manager and Team Leads so employer activity is aligned to participant volumes and readiness.

3. Create the right matches

Work closely with Mentors and participants to understand individual strengths, ambitions, circumstances and support requirements.

Go beyond matching a vacancy title to a CV.

Understand the workplace, employer expectations and participant well enough to help everyone make an informed decision.

Create matches where both the young person and employer have a genuine opportunity to succeed.

Ensure opportunities provide meaningful employment and progression potential.

4. Support employers and sustainment

Stay connected after a young person starts work.

Develop positive relationships with employers and line managers so emerging challenges can be identified early.

Work alongside Mentors where additional support, mediation or problem-solving could prevent avoidable employment breakdown.

Understand both perspectives and help find practical solutions.

5. Support progression

A six-month funded job should be the beginning of something, not the end.

Before funded employment finishes, work with the employer, participant and Mentor to explore what happens next.

Where possible, support the move into continued unsubsidised employment.

Where this isn't possible, use employer relationships and labour-market knowledge to identify alternative employment, education or training opportunities.

6. Understand local labour markets and place

Develop a distinct understanding of each area in which you work.

Know who the major employers are, what sectors are growing, where recruitment pressure exists and where opportunities are emerging.

Recognise that Glasgow's labour market and employer ecosystem will not necessarily look like Inverclyde's or Argyll & Bute's.

Use local intelligence to inform your approach.

Share what you're learning with colleagues so employer insight helps shape operational decisions, partnership activity and our wider understanding of place.

7. Data and pipeline management

Maintain accurate, current information about employer relationships, vacancies, matches, starts and future opportunities.

Use pipeline information to anticipate pressure.

Share intelligence about recruitment trends, employer needs and emerging sectors.

Measure success not simply through the number of vacancies created, but by the quality of opportunities and what happens once young people enter them.

What you'll bring

You'll bring:

Strong employer engagement, recruitment, business-development or account-management skills.

The ability to build genuine and credible relationships with employers.

Confidence having commercially credible conversations with businesses.

An understanding of recruitment and the factors that help employment succeed.

The ability to create opportunities rather than waiting for vacancies to appear.

Strong influencing and negotiation skills.

The ability to balance employer requirements with participant strengths and needs.

Excellent organisation and pipeline-management skills.

Strong local knowledge or networks within one or more of our delivery areas would be particularly valuable.

A willingness to share contacts, relationships and intelligence.

The ability to see the wider strategic opportunity behind an individual vacancy.

Energy, persistence and curiosity.

Please note, a full driving licence and daily access to a car are essential requirements for this role.

View the Role Profile for full details about this opportunity.

This role forms part of a bigger opportunity, click here to find out more about Jobs Guarantee and see all open roles.