Careers at OCVC
Academic
We regularly recruit both qualified and unqualified lecturing staff to deliver a high quality learning experience to our students. All lecturing staff need a degree or equivalent qualification in their chosen subject and if not yet qualified must be willing to become qualified within two years.
- Are you qualified?
You will need an appropriate teaching qualification at secondary or FE level. The main current qualifications are the B ED and Cert Ed, however we also accept the equivalent former qualification where qualifications have changed over time and international qualifications validated as equivalent. Qualified lecturers must continuously update their skills and professional development record and maintain their membership of the IFL. If you are unsure whether you meet the requirements for the qualified pay scale please e-mail hr@ocvc.ac.uk for further advice.
- Are you unqualified but keen to teach?
Many of our successful staff joined the college as part or unqualified teachers with relevant professional experience and the desire and skills to become great teachers. The College is committed to lifelong learning for our staff, and unqualified teachers can be supported to achieve their Cert Ed or PGCE within two years of their appointment. Our successful Teacher Training programme is run at both Oxford and Banbury, and allows those with a passion for their subject to develop their skills teaching and gain the qualification which is mandatory requirement for teaching in the FE Sector.
Vocational
Vocational Trainers teach manual and practical skills, covering a wide range of subjects from Construction, Motor Vehicle and Engineering to Hairdressing and Hospitality. We recruit Vocational Trainers with contemporary knowledge and strong professional skills to teach on these “hands on” courses, giving our students the skills to be active learners, employees and citizens and build a career in their chosen industry. Contemporary vocational and industry experience inspires our students, and gives them an edge in our competitive world. Vocational staff are encouraged to maintain and update their professional vocational skills, to lead by example and to encourage and support participation in competitions at regional and national level in the pursuit of excellence.
Business Support
Our Business Support staff are responsible for the efficiency and productivity of the College and for much of the work beyond the classroom, which is so essential to delivering outstanding customer service. Areas such as Finance, IT, Customer Services, Student Services, Property and Environment, Quality, Marketing, Human Resources and MIS all work together to support students and staff across the College. To continue to develop the quality of our business support services while reducing costs many of our business support services are being developed on a group basis to support the Oxford and Cherwell Valley Campuses and Reading College which has recently joined the OCVC partnership.
Management
The College benefits from strong and improving leadership and management including Governors drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds in industry (link), breadth and depth of professional and management experience within the senior management team (link) and strong current practitioners with management training and experience at local level.
Whatever role you are considering at OCVC it is the line manager’s role to ensure that the college attracts, selects and retains and develops staff with the talents, motivation and values to thrive at OCVC and contribute to its continued success.
Managers help our staff to be professional and proactive in their pursuit of current knowledge and skills and to demonstrate their commitment to embodying our values and responding innovatively to challenges. In addition to training covering their statutory and procedural responsibilities all managers receive training in solutions focussed coaching and in 1:1 and team meeting skills which are designed to ensure that staff at all levels are able to contribute effectively to improvement at the college and to develop to their full potential. They are encouraged to involve staff actively in the college and individual self assessment review processes and, in planning for the future and in working in partnership with internal and external partners.
As a new joiner you can expect to receive college induction and familiarisation, induction to your department and role, clear goals for your probation period and beyond and performance reviews and development planning meetings. You should receive feedback which celebrates your successes and helps you to focus on areas for improvement so that you can continue to raise standards and to embrace new approaches and challenges.
Observation, assessment and constructive feedback is a routine and important aspect of our commitment to deliver inspirational teaching based on well-researched and clear models of pedagogy and great customer service and lesson and tutorial observations help to inform review meetings. You can expect to be treated as an individual, giving and receiving respect in equal measure and receiving support to help you to achieve the high standards of performance we need to succeed in our journey from good to great.
We actively promote equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination on the grounds of age, cultural background, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion and belief or sexual orientation, transgender status, marital status or civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity. All our managers receive training in the new equality and diversity legislation and best practice so that they can ensure that all staff understand and fulfil their responsibilites.
Managers play an important role in ensuring the safeguarding of students and staff in all areas including child protestion, the protection of vulnerable adults, safety on campus, internet safety, working practices and heath and safety. They ensure that all employees and students are aware of their responsibilities and that students feel safe in college.
