Description
St Helen and St Katharine is looking for an energetic, warm and genuinely student-centred professional to lead and deliver our Futures and careers programme from Year 5 to Upper Sixth.
This is a role for someone who can make young people excited about their futures, who can win the trust of a full year group, get students on board with opportunities they might otherwise overlook, and build the relationships with employers and alumnae that bring those opportunities to life.
You will inherit a well-established programme and a clear remit to make it more dynamic: lifting engagement with work experience, growing awareness of competitive degree apprenticeships and alternative routes and ensuring that every student – whatever her ambitions – feels informed, supported and inspired as she plans her next steps.
You do not need to be a qualified careers professional to apply. Whilst careers guidance is certainly a benefit, if you have the warmth, energy, organisational drive and credibility to engage our students, we will fund your training – including a Level 6 Careers Guidance qualification – and provide specialist cover for one-to-one guidance while you qualify. What matters most to us is the person.
The purpose of this role is to lead the delivery of an ambitious, inclusive and engaging Futures programme that develops students' self-awareness, career readiness and understanding of the full range of post-school options – and, above all, that makes planning for the future feel genuinely exciting.
Through high-quality careers education, impartial guidance, meaningful encounters with the world of work and strong relationships, the postholder helps ensure that students are exceptionally well prepared for life beyond school.
What we offer
- Competitive salaries with scope for pay progression
- Generous holiday entitlement
- 20% reduction in working hours during school holidays with no impact on pay
- Fee remission of up to 50% on tuition fees (pro-rated for part-time staff)
- Staff Pension Scheme with employer contribution of up to 10% (the School double matches employee contributions).
- Salary sacrifice for pension contributions is also available.
- Life assurance paying out three times annual salary in the event of death in service
- Diverse training and professional development programme
- A range of other staff benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, access to GP and dental advice lines amongst other services
- Free use of the Sports Centre facilities including a fitness suite, ergo suite and group cycle studio
- Free school lunch, plus refreshments available in the staff room during the day and after school
- On-site parking
- Cycle to work scheme
- Free eye tests and annual flu vaccination
- Access to well-stocked school library
- Access to wide range of school events
How to apply
To apply for this position, please visit our website for an application form and full candidate pack.
Closing date: Tuesday 16 June 2026 at 9.00am
Interviews: During the week commencing 22 June 2026
The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Requirements
We are far more interested in the right person than the perfect set of qualifications. Above all, we are looking for someone who is:
- Warm, kind and genuinely student-centred: someone young people trust quickly, who puts their interests first.
- A natural engager who can capture and hold the attention of students one-to-one and in large groups, make planning for the future feel exciting, and bring even initially reluctant students on board.
- Energetic, outgoing and full of initiative, someone who starts things, drives improvement and enjoys building relationships with students, families and external partners.
- Professionally mature, with a few years' experience in a graduate-level role and the credibility to represent the School well with students, families, colleagues and external partners.
- Honest and resourceful, comfortable saying "I don't know, but I'll find out," and quick to own and learn from mistakes.
- Highly organised, with experience of planning and delivering events to a high standard.
- A real understanding of, or a genuine appetite to learn, the full range of post-18 pathways: higher education, degree apprenticeships, apprenticeships, gap years and employment.
- A commitment to impartial guidance in which every route is valued and understood.
Desirable
- A Level 6 Careers Guidance qualification, or progress towards one (we will fund this for the right candidate).
- Familiarity with national expectations, including CEIAG and the Gatsby Benchmarks.
- Experience of employer or alumnae engagement, or of large-scale event planning.
