Job Title: Training and Consultancy Manager
Salary: £35,000 - £45,000 per annum depending on experience
Reports to: Head of Community Services
Manages: Trainers, Assessors (in staff & freelance)
Location: Hybrid - part-home and part-office based at any one of BDA’s five offices, including frequent travel across the UK
Contract: 35 hours per week, permanent. A willingness to work evenings and weekends as required.
Holidays: 25 days a year plus 8 Bank Holidays
Pension: BDA operates an auto-enrolled, contributory pension scheme in accordance with its auto-enrolment obligations

About the role

This is an exciting role for a Training & Consultancy Manager to join the BDA as we develop a Training & Consultancy service. This service will ensure the BDA’s work is rooted in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion principles and that it contributes to positive advancements for the equal realisation of human rights in Deaf people and for our National Sign Languages, British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) used in the UK.

The post will contribute towards the ‘Promote and ‘Protect’ elements of BDA strategy (bda.org.uk/strategic-vision pages 22-23), specifically:

• Promote increased awareness of BSL through training, consultancy and engagement with key stakeholders.
• Protect BSL for future generations through the development of an Action Plan to contribute to the creation of a nationwide BSL curriculum from early years to advanced levels.

With activities focusing on two sections of the BDA’s Operating Model Canvas (OMC) which will be shared during your induction:

• Training and Consultancy through the creation, coordination and delivery of BDA’s internal and external training portfolio including workshops on BSL/ISL awareness, BSL/ISL history, Sign Language rights, Capacity Building and more. A key part of the role will be the development, management and audit of the BSL Charter.
• Community, Sign Language, Deaf Culture & Identity by delivering activism coaching and capacity building to the Deaf Community to understand and advocate for their sign language rights.

Duties & Responsibilities

• As part of the BDA’s Leadership Team, the Training & Consultancy Manager will be responsible for leading the Training & Consultancy arm of the BDA’s value activities. This will ensure the BDA’s work is rooted in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion principles and that it contributes to positive advancements for the equal realisation of human rights in Deaf people.The successful candidate will have a proven track record in the Training or Business Development field and be passionate about equality, human rights and social justice to combat audism, enhance human rights throughout life, promote a thriving Deaf community, reduce inequalities and enable all Deaf people to live a full and dignified life.The BSL Act was passed by the UK Government on 28 April 2022, legally recognising BSL as a language of England, Scotland, and Wales. In Wales, the aim is to secure a BSL (Wales) Act and in Northern Ireland, a BSL & ISL Act. The BDA has a responsibility to work with the Deaf community, Government, Local Authorities, NHS, Public Services, Agencies, and hearing people to ensure the associated duties are adopted and designed by the Deaf community across the UK to support these changes.

  The focus of the role includes:

  • Developing, managing, and promoting the BSL Charter and securing contracts with public services signing them up to the BSL Charter in conjunction with local Deaf communities.
  • Developing, promoting, securing, coordinating, and delivering a BDA training portfolio of BSL related courses.

 
To be responsible for the following:

Training & Consultancy:

• Working with the Head of Community to develop an internal and external Training and Development strategy with a particular focus on Capacity Building.
• BSL Charter, our flagship product: Managing, reviewing, developing, promoting the Charter, and encouraging organisations, public bodies, and stakeholders to sign up, auditing their services and writing assessments/reports, including recommendations, carrying out benchmarking assessments, accreditation, and recertification of their services.
• Offer a professional consultancy service to a wide range of corporate clients.
• Expanding the signing community by collaborating with DfE, BSL teachers and other BSL training providers, awarding bodies and funding providers, to develop the projects.
• Engaging with professionals who work with Deaf children to promote the use of BSL equitably.
• Developing a comprehensive training portfolio (in-person and digital) integrated within our CRM.
• Managing quality assurance of programmes, including design of the training, observations with feedback, analysis of participant’s feedback and sharing of learning, innovation and good practice across the trainer pool.
• Undertaking a market analysis to identify growth opportunities, and to lead on the development of appropriate business products and services as agreed with the Head of Community.
• Delivering a range of courses as well as recruiting, training and inducting a pool of freelance trainers/teachers including members from our partners organisations to deliver BDA branded training.
• Coordinating and deploying trainers to deliver our courses to customers, although the postholder will be delivering most of the training directly.
• Building and developing relationships through our database of stakeholders in addition to new contacts, to market our training portfolio.
• Developing commercial opportunities to increase income.
• Work with the Head of Community to develop a training pathway/portfolio for internal staff at all levels, providing a structured progression route taking into account service needs, and prior qualifications/experience.
• Developing relationships with local Deaf communities and allies, creating, coordinating, and delivering presentations and roadshows
• Developing the monitoring, evaluation and learning framework for training courses & the BSL charter.
• Explore quality frameworks and accreditations.

General duties

• Act as a positive role model, consistently demonstrating the positive attitudes, values and behaviours expected of BDA employees.
• Support and supervise a network of freelance or sessional workers.
• Provide regular written progress/project reports, based on activities.
• Undertake monitoring and evaluation as required by the organisation.
• Update the organisation's CRM on a daily basis
• Undertake any other duties of a related nature, which might reasonably be required and allocated by the Senior Leadership Team.

Person Specification

Skills / Experience

You will have excellent communication skills, including the ability to adjust to the variety of communication methods used with our external clients and within the Deaf community. You will also have experience working with Deaf people in different settings and be able to work on your own initiative.

The successful candidate will have:

Essential

• Project Management or Training qualifications
• Experience of teaching in various settings
• An excellent understanding and knowledge surrounding Deaf culture and BSL Awareness
• Experience of working with Deaf people or involvement in the Deaf community
• Experience of working with teachers/tutors to deliver courses
• Track record in developing, creating, and managing a successful training portfolio.
• Ability to deliver and meet key business targets within the agreed project budgets and timescales.
• Experience of delivering presentations to the public, professional bodies, and the Deaf community.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and gathering feedback.
• Able to work independently and as part of a team to generate fresh and innovative ideas towards the overall work of the BDA.
• Excellent IT, organisational, report and presentation skills
• Good knowledge of access and inclusion issues and their impact on Deaf people
• Have knowledge and understanding of, and commitment to, equal opportunities and ‘safeguarding ‘.
• Native British Sign Language (BSL) signer or equivalent
• Commitment to, and understanding of, BDA’s broad campaigning objectives.
• Commitment to building a fair, compassionate and diverse working environment.

Desirable

• Good knowledge of BSL/Disability Rights and Equality issues, their relevance to Deaf people and how to access them.
• PGCE/equivalent or extensive teaching experience
• Experience of successful report writing and any evidence of the impact of the BDA’s work with Deaf communities
• Understanding of local access & inclusion issues for BSL users including the structures and working of the Government & devolved Parliaments
• Understanding of UK human rights law (in particular the ECHR, Human Rights Act 1998 and UNCRPD (WFD).

Other requirements

The successful candidate will be required to:

1. Drive their own car or able to use public transport easily.
2. Work flexible hours including evenings and weekends.

How to apply

Process

We hope that the information provided has enabled you to make an informed decision about your application. Before you apply, please ensure you have read the role profile and person specification in detail.

Please send your application including details of two referees and a supporting statement (no more than two sides of A4/BSL video no more than 10 minutes) to recruitment@bda.org.uk outlining the reasons behind your application. This should respond closely to the person specification, showing how you meet the requirements of the role.

Our diversity monitoring form should also be completed and returned.

We encourage applications from D/deaf people.

All documents should be emailed to recruitment@bda.org.uk Please include your name in the subject field.

Timetable

Closing date: Wednesday 10^th July at 9am
Preliminary interviews: Thursday 18^th July 2024 in person at the BDA London office.

Contact

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role or the process, please contact Jaz Mann on jaz.mann@bda.org.uk to arrange a video call in BSL or email conversation.