Degree Apprenticeship Workplace Reviewer: Built Environment

Here at the University of Derby, the College of Science and Engineering is the home of STEM: the skills that are essential to the UK’s Industrial Strategy. From digitisation to decarbonisation, we have an important role to play in shaping the future. And by researching or collaborating with us, you can too.

The College brings together a powerful combination of scientific expertise, technological innovation, and creative practice. With disciplines spanning computing, AI, data science, engineering, environmental sciences, built environments and psychology - we are uniquely positioned to solve real-world challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Our courses are designed with employability and future industry needs in mind, supported by cutting-edge facilities, strong employer partnerships, and a commitment to sustainability. Through applied research and hands-on learning, we equip students and staff to drive progress in areas that matter most; from smart technology to clean energy, advanced manufacturing to immersive design.

School of Engineering and Built Environment 

The School of Engineering and Built Environment at the University of Derby is a dynamic and future-focused academic community that blends technical excellence with creative innovation. It offers a wide range of programmes across engineering, architecture, construction, and design, preparing students to tackle global challenges in sustainability, infrastructure, and the built environment.

The School is home to research-active academics with backgrounds in engineering, architecture, interior design, and construction. Our staff bring real-world experience and academic rigour to the classroom, supporting students in developing both creative portfolios and technical competencies.

The discipline area is located in the University’s STEM annex in Markeaton Street, where staff offices and lab facilities are co-located. Key investments in the last few years include dedicated intelligent instrumentation and smart sensor technologies, robotics, renewable energy, power engineering and advanced materials and manufacturing. The discipline area is actively engaged in knowledge exchange projects and has an active applied research agenda. 

The University of Derby has been at the forefront of vocational and work-based learning for over 10 years delivering industry responsive courses and higher-level skills to local and national businesses and their employees. Building on this success and in light of the creation of new degree Apprenticeship Standards the University has developed and introduced a number of new degree higher Apprenticeships across a range of sectors.

As an Apprenticeship Workplace Reviewer, you will work with the programme team to lead on facilitating reviews between apprentices, employers and liaising with relevant academic staff. Your engagement with employers and their apprentices is foremost to ensuring our existing and future apprenticeship programmes provide an excellent learning experience, meeting employers and apprentice expectations, in line with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) and Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) governance requirements for apprenticeship provision.

You will work collaboratively with both academic staff and apprenticeship account managers to ensure systems and process are adhered to and that both quality and compliance is maintained to the highest standard in line with service level agreements. You will organise visits with external clients, apprentices and internal staff to ensure the implementation of quality reviews and assessment of evidence for audit using an e-portfolio. You will act as a personal professional academic tutor for learners and will need to engage actively on working with employers to support learners who have disclosed a need for additional support.

The role will include travelling to a variety of employer premises in the UK.

The successful candidate will possess a strong educational background in the built environment, with an honours degree or higher in Civil Engineering, or a closely related discipline.

You will demonstrate substantial professional experience across the built environment sector, potentially spanning areas such as civil engineering, construction management, quantity surveying, transport and infrastructure projects, structural works, site-based operations, geotechnics, fluid engineering, or surveying practice.

You should have previous management or supervisory experience, with the proven ability to coordinate activities, support teams, and manage professional relationships effectively. A good working knowledge of higher education and apprenticeship provision is essential, including understanding degree and apprenticeship programmes, funding arrangements, and quality assurance and compliance processes.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required, alongside the ability to motivate, engage, and mobilise learners, employers, and academic colleagues.

1. Lead on liaising with apprentices, external clients and internal academic operations teams to ensure that communication between all parties is recorded in the review process, ensuring the process is managed and completed efficiently and effectively and in line with our service level agreements.
2. Accountable for managing visits with employers to carry out health and safety checks, assessment of evidence, tripartite reviews. Support the employers to actively participate in the review process offering mentoring support to young learners and small organisations, with a focus on young apprentices as well as those who have declared the need for additional support.
3. Act as a personal professional academic tutor, supporting and mentoring students as appropriate.
4. Provide pastoral care to students, referring when necessary to services that provide further support.
5. Work with the Apprenticeships Hub and Heads of School to facilitate duties that support the achievement of outstanding communication to employers and the learner and client experience.
6. Provide expert operational advice to Apprenticeship Hub Team to ensure duties that support the achievement of Funding Compliance, whilst enhancing the learner and client experience.
7. Take a lead role to ensure that appropriate records of reviews are kept and stored securely in accordance with University and external bodies’ audit requirements.
8. Work collaboratively with the apprenticeship hub team alongside academic staff to support learner engagement and update the employer either face to face or via our e-portfolio system.
9. Lead responsibility to work with employers and external professional bodies to ensure that there is a process by which suitable evidence is available on the professional body’s career development portal to enable the student to progress and apply for the end point assessment.
10. Take a lead on collating the Employer and Apprentice review comments to inform programme committees and the University continual monitoring process for quality enhancement.
11. Lead on producing monthly reports to show compliance, retention and success against given targets.
12. Ensure that the Intent, Implementation and Impact of the apprenticeship programme is explored in each review and that academic teams are aware of any concerns by the apprentice and/or employer.
13. Ensure that the apprentice is building a complete portfolio of experience in order to attempt their End Point Assessment (EPA) with apprenticeship guidelines.
14. Work with the academic team and End-Point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs) to ensure that the apprentice is prepared for their EPA within the apprenticeship guidelines.
15. Build successful working relationships with key stakeholders across the University, relevant colleagues across the sector and external agencies to ensure expectations are effectively managed. 
16. Contribute to the work of the College team and Apprenticeship Hub team (where appropriate), taking on such duties and responsibilities as delegated by the line manager.