Engagement and Project Manager Review

Reporting to the Head of Administration and Finance, I am responsible for developing and implementing an engagement strategy at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. I coordinate the department's Athena Swan work and sit on the Self-Assessment Team and Better Workplace Groups to develop and help deliver the department's action plan. Working closely with the Head of HR and Head of Communications to create an inclusive work environment, I seek to enable two-way communication with staff and students across the department. This is done through organising the Department Open Meetings, listening and responding to staff and student feedback through surveys and focus groups as well as consulting on a variety of projects across the department.

Yes in the job I have developed my data analysis skills expanding beyond analysing survey data to staff and student data, retention data and turnover. I have learnt a lot in the field of EDI and also leadership and how to deliver training and collect training needs in an academic context.

I find the programme very useful for my work. It is stimulating and interesting. It's a lot to manage with my daily work but because I see the benefit of it it is worthwhile. It's great to be able to learn and implement it at the same time.

Overall it seems to be well organised and structured and the provider seems keen to respond to feedback. There wasn't much time to be inducted and get access to the systems I needed for study before the programme began fully. Also a lot of it is still online and I look forward to future in person aspects.

I feel really well supported by my manager and employer. They are keen to support me to get the most out of the apprenticeship and are working with me to find opportunities and make time for my study. I know there are other opportunities and support centrally such as mentoring.

Lots of support is available although I haven't made use of much to date. They check in with students individually and we have meetings between provider and manager throughout the year. There is support for study skills and academic writing as well, particularly useful if english is not your first language.

It really helps, it is early days but it is already helping me have conversations at work that link up study and projects. It makes my manager more aware of the ways I would like to progress which opens doors that may otherwise not have been possible for me previously.

The university is a large employer so there are lots of opportunities such as leisure facilities, Swimming pool, tennis court. It can be difficult to tell what is for students and what is for staff but there are some good networks and employee resource groups that you can connect with.

Yes

It's great to be part of such a large organisation. Yet the departments and colleges are quite devolved so you get the benefit of working with autonomy like for a smaller organisation but with the connections and growth opportunities of a large organisation. Also having a staff card gets you into the colleges for free which is fun!

It really depends on the department or division you are applying for as well as the job role. Try to have an understanding of how Oxford works e.g. these separations and where you will be working. Also take note of where your job will be based, some are further out of Oxford.