Work-Based Learning Onboarding & Compliance Lead

About the role

Work-Based Learning Onboarding & Compliance Lead

Permanent, Full Time

£36,948 to £43,468 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Closing date: Sunday 25th April 2026 at 11:59PM

Adult Community Learning (ACL) Essex is Essex County Council’s provider of lifelong learning experiences for Essex residents. ACL Essex offers qualifications to help people move nearer to, enter or progress within the workplace or gain skills to enhance life chances. The service focuses many of its programmes and activities on the hardest to reach communities within Essex. ACL Essex learners have access to a diverse range of accredited and non-accredited courses which encourage creativity, healthy lifestyles, social inclusion and engagement.

The Work Based Learning Onboarding and Compliance Lead informs the strategy and leads apprenticeship onboarding and its associated employer engagement across ACL Essex. The role ensures compliant, high-quality onboarding and a positive employer and learner experience, converting sales to timely starts to maximise income in line with council priorities and funding requirements.

The postholder uses customer relationship management (CRM) systems, management information systems (MIS) and labour market intelligence to target activity, manage the pipeline from first contact to start, and report impact, collaborating with curriculum and quality teams to align capacity and deliver strong outcomes.

The successful postholder should bring strong leadership, sound judgement, expert knowledge of compliant apprenticeship onboarding, and the ability to use data, relationships and insight to drive high‑quality, ethical and learner‑centred onboarding outcomes.

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Accountabilities

Lead apprenticeship & work-based learning admissions, onboarding strategies and associated employer engagement so that timely participation and income targets are achieved and sustained, with clear conversion goals at each stage of the pipeline.
Oversee compliant onboarding, including eligibility, prior learning assessment and off‑the‑job (OTJ) training requirements, in line with Department for Education (DfE), Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) rules and internal quality standards.
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs), dashboards and reporting cycles, taking an active role in the effective and efficient use CRM and MIS tools to monitor performance and act on insight.
Accountable for ensuring full compliance with all relevant funding rules, statutory requirements, and internal policies. This includes maintaining accurate and auditable data, monitoring compliance risks, providing clear guidance to colleagues, and taking proactive steps to identify and resolve issues
Collaborate with MIS, Performance Impact and quality team to identify, document, and mitigate risks of non-compliance, implementing corrective action plans and updating internal policies
Collaborate with sector and area leaders to align capacity, pricing, training offer and launch plans to labour market intelligence and employer need, ensuring timely starts and strong progression routes.
Provide confident people leadership for onboarding and engagement colleagues, setting objectives, coaching performance and promoting inclusive, ethical onboarding and safeguarding.
Liaise and resolve issues quickly for employers and learners ensuring continued compliance throughout a complex learner journey, breaks in learning, changes in employment.
Use feedback to improve processes and customer experience and contribute evidence to the Self‑Assessment Report (SAR) and Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).
Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

Educated to RQF Level 4 (or equivalent by experience) with evidence of continuing professional development in leadership, sales or employer engagement.
Significant experience leading apprenticeship onboarding, employer engagement and onboarding within adult learning, Further Education (FE) or training provider contexts, delivering measurable growth and high satisfaction.
Deep knowledge of apprenticeship funding rules, employer service processes and compliant onboarding, including off‑the‑job (OTJ) training requirements and breaks in learning.
The role requires sound judgement, ethical conduct, and continuous improvement of compliance processes to support organisational integrity and performance.
Experience of management of data and MIS systems and the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS).
Data‑literate and confident using CRM systems, MIS and dashboards to manage pipelines, forecast and evaluate return on investment.
Excellent people leadership, customer service and stakeholder management skills.
Commitment to inclusion, safeguarding and continuous improvement, with the ability to translate market insight into propositions and action plans.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email Sandra.middleton@essex.gov.uk

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