The Brilliant Club
Recruitment Pack

Programme Officer, The
Scholars Programme

October 2025

Registered Limited Company: 07986971

Registered Charity: 1147771 (England and Wales), SC048774 (Scotland)

Registered Office: Fivefields, 8-10 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH

Programme Officer, The Scholars Programme
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: £34,944 (plus £2,000 London weighting for those living in London and within the
M25)
Contract Type: Fixed-term contract until end of July 2026 (maternity cover)

About the role

We are excited to be recruiting a Programme Officer for The Scholars Programme to join the
Programme Management Team and support us to deliver the goals set out in Join the Club, our
ambitious strategy for 2021-2026.

The Programme Officer role is essential to the delivery of high-quality Scholars Programme
placements. Each Programme Officer in the team manages a cluster of placements, working with
teachers to arrange programme logistics and PhD tutors to deliver their courses in schools. Building
and maintaining excellent relationships with stakeholders and securing high data returns to help
track pupil outcomes are key priorities for this role. Programme Officers are also involved in the
direct delivery of aspects of the Programme (e.g. PhD tutor training and university events) and
oversee the renewal of school partnerships.

This role requires a driven and dynamic team player, with successful experience of school
teaching, academia or programme management. The postholder will be positive and proactive,
with a commitment to delivering excellent standards. They will be comfortable building
relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and managing logistics through our online CRM
system. They will champion the charity’s values and embody them in interactions with colleagues
and partners.

This role will involve some travel to deliver events at our different university partners. Some travel
will also be required (mainly to London) for events and to attend in-person meetings.

About you
The role will best suit someone who:

•  Has knowledge and experience of the school and university sectors, including the university

access agenda

•  Has knowledge of educational interventions, including impact management
•  Has secure stakeholder management skills that include selling programmes to school

leaders

•  Has strong teaching skills, including delivering training to adults
•  Has experience of designing and/or delivering education programmes
•

Is a qualified teacher (QTS or above) or has academic research experience or has
substantial experience of delivering a university access programme

•  Essential – adhere to information security policies included in the charity’s ISO 27001 manual

and complete information security training

•  Has a demonstrable passion for furthering The Brilliant Club’s mission

About The Brilliant Club
What we do
Access to higher education and the life-changing opportunities that come from attending the
most competitive universities is not equal. 28 in 100 of the most advantaged students progress to
the most competitive universities. In contrast, only 2 in 100 of the least advantaged young people
access these universities.

We think this is fundamentally unfair. We work across the UK to support less advantaged students
to access the most competitive universities, and to succeed when they get there.

Between 2021 and 2026, we will work with 100,000 students across the UK to help them to develop
the knowledge, skills and confidence to access the most competitive universities. We will also
support 10,000 students from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed once they enter
universities.

We hope that you’ll consider joining us, as we work to create a fairer society where no child’s
education is limited by their background.

Working for us

•  Hours: 37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday, flexible working with 10am – 3pm core hours,

some evenings and weekends required.

•  Benefits include: 36 days’ holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) increasing by 1 day per year
up to a maximum of 41 days, employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket
loan, five professional development day allowance, BUPA health cover cash plan.

•  We’re happy to talk flexible working. This role will be based in our London office.
•  After your first month in this role, we expect you to be connecting face-to-face with

colleagues on at least one day per week. In your first month, we’ll ask you to be in offices a
little more regularly than this to make sure you’re getting to know your key colleagues and
feeling connected to the organisation.

Our values
The Brilliant Club has three core values that underpin how we work. We look for people who share
these values:

•  We get to a solution
•  We seek and act on the best data available
•  We understand that little things go a long way

“As the first in my family to go to university and having worked as a teacher in a

state school, I applied to join The Brilliant Club with a real passion for the
charity’s mission. I am grateful every day that I work at a charity that is
supportive of both professional development and flexible working, as well as
being full of kind and passionate colleagues.”

   Leanne, Chief Operating Officer

Diversity at The Brilliant Club
We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most
competitive universities and succeed when they get there. We think it is important that our charity
reflects the lived experience of the communities we work with, and we want to be an
organisation where employees from any background can thrive. We particularly welcome
applications from disabled, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Non-binary
(LGBTQ+) candidates, and candidates from low-income families.

 “I am the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead at The
Brilliant Club. My role is to help make the charity an inclusive working
environment for all of our colleagues.  I work with our amazing Staff Networks
and colleagues in HR to ensure everyone at the charity has a sense of

belonging.”

Keasha – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead

Safeguarding
The Brilliant Club is committed to proactively safeguarding children, beneficiaries and staff and to
taking reasonable steps to protect all those who come into contact with the charity from harm.
The safety and welfare of everyone affected by the charity’s activities, especially children, is a key
governance priority.

As part of our recruitment and selection process and commitment to safeguarding, we will
undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check of all individuals in this role. Any offer of
employment will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure report.

Responsibilities

The following areas of responsibility are the core of the role. However, the role is flexible and will
vary according to the needs of the team, and the experience of the successful applicant.

Programme Delivery

•  Manage a cluster of ~40 school placements per term, ensuring high quality programme

delivery resulting in excellent pupil outcomes

•  Manage relationships with schools and PhD tutors, including dealing with and

escalating issues to ensure positive solutions are reached

•  Manage the school and tutor correspondence involved in programme delivery,

including responding to queries and supporting stakeholders to use our tech platforms

•  Ensure that the communication of university events is effective and timely
•  Staff and deliver a variety of sessions at university events

Data Management

•  Collect and track programme data for each termly cluster of school placements
•  Regularly evaluate patterns in data from school placement clusters to identify areas for

improvement, making changes as necessary

PhD Tutor Recruitment, Onboarding and Management

•  Support the delivery of assessment centres, including interviews and selection
•  Support the design and delivery of training and ongoing support for our PhD tutors,
including delivering training sessions, supporting course handbook design and
conducting regular quality assurance of tutors

•  Manage a termly cluster of PhD Tutors delivering The Scholars Programme in school,
including ensuring the best possible pupil outcomes, high data returns and high
professional standards.

•  As required, work with PhD Tutors to improve their programme delivery and professional

standards

School Partnership Management

•  Maintain relationships with school partners, including leading on renewal conversations

•

to meet revenue targets for school partnerships income
Identify opportunities to engage with school partners to promote The Scholars
Programme

Cross-Organisational Work

•  Across the charity we all pitch in to help different teams and areas of work. This may

mean you attend and support with the delivery of other teams’ activities and events.
From time to time, you may also work with another team for a fixed period of time, or
collaborate on a project to ensure we deliver for the young people we serve. We think
this is a good way to gain experiences in different areas of the organisation and
enhance your professional skills

Person specification

Time and Resource Management:

•  Excellent organisational skills, with an ability to prioritise and manage time effectively
•  Ability to be flexible and adapt to changing priorities
•  Ability to identify opportunities to save time/resource
•  Manages projects with appropriate levels of time and resource input

External Stakeholder Knowledge and Management:

•  Confidence handling enquiries from external stakeholders and adapting approach to

meet different needs

•  Actively shares useful information about stakeholders with internal colleagues at all levels

Communication:

•  Excellent written and verbal communication
•  Confidence presenting and delivering teaching to a range of audiences including school-

aged children and adults

Initiative and Problem-solving:

•  Proactive in seeking to enhance processes and identify emerging risks
•  Ability to spot inefficiencies in systems and suggest or implement improvements
•  Responds quickly to solve problems, seeking input from relevant internal stakeholders

Developing Self and Others:

•  Self-reflective and committed to own professional development

What comes next
To apply: Please submit your application by clicking here. As part of your application, you will be
asked to submit your CV and complete the answers to some application questions.
Deadline: 9am on Monday 20th October
Interviews: First Round: Monday 27th October; Second Round: Monday 3rd November. Interviews
will take place virtually on Microsoft Teams.
For more information: Visit our website or email recruitment@thebrilliantclub.org.