Engagement Manager

Job Introduction

We have an exciting brand-new opportunity for an Engagement Manager to join our Oasis Community Learning (OCL) Trust team. This is a great opportunity for an individual with a passion for health, wellbeing and community work to join a world leading food and facilities management company, which can offer unrivalled opportunities for career progression.

The successful candidate will work with our OCL management team to establish a comprehensive added value program across our food services and enhance engagement with our stakeholders such as parents, pupils, and the local communities within which we operate. Driving uptake of our school food services and generating social value through our engagement work are fundamental aspects of this role.  You must be passionate about making a difference, understand the importance of school meals in children’s lives and you should be digitally minded with good grasp of current trends. It is highly important for you to have effective communication skills and relationship building skills.

We offer a salary up to £35,000, a bonus, Sodexo employee benefits and great professional development and progression opportunities within Sodexo. Please note that this is a national role and will include significant national travel.

Role Responsibility

• Develop relationships with key stakeholders e.g. Oasis Hubs, Regional Academy Directors
• Develop approaches to support academies with healthy eating strategies across the school day
• Assist in developing and implement a plan of action to support academies to develop holistic, whole school approaches to healthy eating. 
• Supporting academies to develop a Packed Lunch policy.
• Influencing the improvement of school food culture by the provision of advice, support and guidance for our teams and academies.
• Create and support links between the school curriculum and our catering services, ensuring school food becomes a learning opportunity.
• Engage pupils in participatory activities to develop imaginative ways of changing and sustaining healthy eating behaviours (Agents for Change programme)
• Engage with relevant partners to develop creative work to involve parents in food education to support the sustainability of improved healthy eating amongst children.
• Embed our Project Cook programme across the contract, and continually develop new ways to integrate our services with academy life.               

The Ideal Candidate

Essential skills

• Experience and expertise in relation to quality provision and nutritional standards in meals services for children.
• Experience of training in the promotion of healthy eating.
• Energy, commitment and passion for the health of young people and healthy schools.
• Experience in engaging in healthy eating curriculum work with pupils in schools.
• The ability to work with parents and pupils catering teams and other stakeholders.
• Experience of working in schools, with government healthy eating initiatives –
• Good inter-personal skills with a wide range of stakeholders.
• The ability to work independently, on own initiative.be accountable and measure impact 
• Presentation and facilitation skills.
• The ability to demonstrate a commitment to Equal Opportunities.

Desirable skills

• Project Management experience.
• Experience of working with vulnerable people and or disadvantaged communities.
• Monitoring and evaluating skills.

Sodexo and our clients are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults within a regulated activity. This role will require applicants to undergo screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and/ or Disclosure Scotland.

About the Company

In the UK and Ireland, Sodexo employs around 30,000 people, and partners with clients in many sectors across business and industry; schools and universities; sports and leisure; energy and resources; government and agencies; healthcare; justice and defence.

Sodexo’s connected; people-centric approach brings together a diverse range of expertise. The breadth of services it offers ranges from food and hospitality; cleaning; reception; concierge (Circles); security; property management and technical services through to data driven workplace strategy and design (Wx); employee engagement and recognition services (Sodexo Engage) and personal home services through Prestige Nursing + Care and the Good Care Group.  

Vital Spaces is Sodexo’s value proposition that puts people at the heart of everything we do, bringing together services and solutions and focusing on the productivity and wellbeing of people wherever they are.

Sodexo is committed to being an inclusive employer; we welcome and encourage applications from people with a diverse variety of experiences, backgrounds and identities.

We’re a Disability Confident Leader employer. We’re committed to changing attitudes towards disability, and making sure disabled people have the chance to fulfil their aspirations. 

We are building on our support to the Armed Forces community through the development of specific pathways within our recruitment process to  support ex-forces personnel and reservists, those applying for jobs with us who meet the ideal candidate criteria for the role advertised are guaranteed to progress to the selection process