Jobs at Valenture Institute

Description

Valenture Institute partners with the world’s leading education institutions to evolve what it means to ‘go’ to school, by transforming physical limitations into digital possibilities. Our mission is to create new opportunities for students to choose an aspirational online learning experience by offering fully-supported online high school programmes.

As a social enterprise, Valenture Institute is also committed to levelling the playing field and increasing access for all students through free curriculum offerings, extensive scholarship programs and blended learning micro schools in underprivileged communities.

Valenture Institute’s Chief People Officer is the top people strategist at the organisation, and is responsible for all Talent Management functions, including HR Business Partners, Diversity and Inclusion, Learning and Development, Compensation and Benefits as well as Talent Acquisition (Recruitment). The Chief Talent Officer is accountable for supporting Valenture Institute’s scaling up through the full employee lifecycle.

The Chief People Officer also plays an important role in supporting and building the culture of the organisation in close partnership with the CEO and COO.

This role reports directly into the COO.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Leadership and Management:

• Set strategic priorities for the Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Corporate Real Estate and Events, as well as Learning and Development functions, and managing the outputs of these teams against key KPIs.

• Recruit, retain and develop exceptional leaders within the Talent Division.

• Manage and grow the Talent Division in line with business requirements.

• Lead and enable company culture together with the CEO and the rest of the executive team.

Talent Management (HR):

• Lead strategically on the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment to onboarding, retention and offboarding.

• Take responsibility for the drafting and management of employee-related policies, harnessing the unique culture already built at Valenture Institute and ensuring that our policies support reflect the cultural direction that we wish to take in the future.

• Oversee the HR functions, and advise the executive team on relevant compliance and labour law, ensuring alignment with best practice to protect the organisation.

• Lead strategy and oversee the management of compensation frameworks, benefits and the optimal use of Valenture Institute’s HRIS.

• Oversee Valenture Institute’s performance management framework and ensure that it is adopted throughout the organisation.

• Lead Valenture Institute’s employment equity plan.

• Work closely with Valenture Institute’s General Counsel on all legal matters relating to employment, and advise the executive team on matters relating to South African labour law.

• Oversee contracting of employees and employee contract management, and ensure that employee files are maintained in line with best practice.

• Collaborate with Valenture Institute’s Chief Financial Officer on all Talent related matters that have an overlap with the Finance team, including contract management, onboarding & offboarding and payroll.

Talent Acquisition (Recruitment):

• Build a recruitment function that supports the strategic imperative to scale rapidly.

• Ensure that the recruitment function is able to strategically manage the recruitment funnel by way of effective employer brand building, marketing, applicant nurturing and conversion.

• Work closely with the Operations team on all resource planning, ensuring effective forecasting of hires and placements.

• Position Valenture Institute as the employer of choice through effective employer brand building activities.

• Lead strategically on the optimisation of Valenture Institute’s chosen Applicant Tracking System, focussing on automation for an effective applicant experience through the recruitment funnel.

Learning and Development

• Oversee the development of an effective learning and development strategy for Valenture Institute, ensuring that all roles have associated competencies and training interventions.

• Ensure that learning and development is linked to career path mapping.

• Measure and report on the effectiveness of training interventions.

• Ensure that all synchronous training opportunities are high impact.

Corporate Real Estate and Events

• Oversee the management of Valenture Institute office space.

• Oversee the compliance related elements of occupational health & safety.

• Oversee the planning of all major company events with a focus on reinforcing company culture with a remote team.

• Ensure that all Valenture employee touch points have been viewed through the lens of the employee experience and how to optimise this.

Budget Management:

• With sign off from the COO and CFO, plan and manage the People Division’s overall budget and hold budget owners within the division accountable for their expenditure.

• Improve the efficacy and efficiency of the core People functions over time.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience in an executive or senior HR role, with at least three levels reporting up (Directors or Heads, Managers, Individual Contributors) and having managed multiple functional areas.

• Relevant Honours or Masters level qualification in HR or organisational psychology

• A deep understanding of South African labour law and its application in a rapidly scaling environment. Some experience with international labour law would be beneficial.

• Demonstrated experience leading in complex organisations and effecting change.

• Demonstrated ability to build and execute on a hiring plan.

• Demonstrated experience working in a rapidly scaling environment, i.e. where the workforce had doubled year on year.

• Deep experience working with and reporting on HR, Recruitment and L&D metrics. You are methodical and analytical in your approach.

• Core attributes: charisma, honesty, transparency and an internal drive for change. You’ll respond to company criticism quickly, effectively and visibly. You’ll also support and drive an inclusive culture in the People Division, and foster culture within the People Division that values making an impact.

• Valenture Institute operates as a remote first company, so you should feel comfortable driving culture, change and communication through a lens that focuses on remote team collaboration.

Benefits

Remote work

Voluntary savings Programme

Valenture Institute is an equal opportunity employer. Appointments will be in accordance to our Employment Equity Plan.

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Description

Our Student Success Support Coaches are passionate individuals who are deeply committed to helping our students succeed during their high school journey , and are the frontline custodians of the students’ learning experience. They are the custodians of pastoral care - overseeing the holistic well being of our students. Dedicated Student Success Coaches are responsible for providing premium, personalised support and solutions to students and their parents and building meaningful one-to-one relationships with students, with a primary focus on exceptional coaching strategies, customer experience and retention. Every high school student needs a champion, and this is where our Support Coaches come in.

Student Coaching & Support

• Support the social and emotional wellbeing of our students by fostering student’s personal development.

• Offer high-quality and consistent coaching and mentoring support to students in accordance with the strategies defined by the Student Success team.

• Work closely with the Student Success Lead, Student Success team and Faculty to ensure delivery of a holistic, high-quality learning experience.

• Take ownership of the role as the primary point of contact for students and their parents during the learning experience.

• Be deeply committed to the responsibility for duty of care related to the role, and strictly uphold and abide by all policies and procedures.

• Conduct student and parent onboarding.

• Support students in mapping out their individualised High School progression plan.

• Be committed to providing excellent support to both students and their parents at all times.

• Provide prompt, effective support and personalised communication to student and parent queries via email, phone, and on the Online Campus.

• Utilise an in-depth understanding of the technical functions of the Online Campus to guide a student in navigating their learning path and, where necessary, have basic knowledge on how to troubleshoot technical problems.

• Provide an assessment of critical situations and determine when escalation is required to internal teams via pre-defined channels and follow up to ensure resolution.

• Monitor and update data reports and student tracking sheets.

• Host group sessions with students (this includes weekly Home Room and Learning Compass Sessions).

• Develop and update individual student growth plans on a weekly basis.

• Proactively alert the School Counsellor to potential psychological issues/barriers (referrals process).

Qualification Delivery

• Employ creative thinking and problem solving techniques to provide quality administrative support. Which includes, but is not limited to: suspension, deferral, and cancellation requests as well as queries related to fees, student records, examinations and recognition.

• Collaborate regularly with team members of the Faculty and Product divisions to ensure the optimal delivery of the learning experience for students and their parents.

• Self-manage workload through the use of data and metrics to drive efficiency in order to meet defined KPIs and participate in regular qualitative coaching and development feedback.

• Remain up-to-date on departmental processes and resolution procedures through ongoing training and development

Retention

A key success metric for the Student Success team is the successful retention of students. This is achieved through the delivery of an exceptional learning experience underpinned by quality coaching. Where students are encountering challenges in this regard the Student Success Support Coach is required to work with students, and their parents, to create personalised remediation and support plans in collaboration with the relevant Faculty team members.

Realities of the role

• Valenture Institute is a fast-paced startup. We are not a traditional school! We are reimagining schooling and precedent needs to be adopted only where it has proven to have great results. If you think that traditional schools have it all figured out, this is probably not the right role for you.

• Collaboration is the name of the game. We operate in highly specialised teams, and our ability to deliver an excellent student experience is premised on our team’s ability to collaborate, value the contributions of their teammates (including those in other teams) and see the value in the “rubbing of minds”. If you do not find value in having your ideas interrogated or others weighing in on how things could foreseeably be done, you are unlikely to enjoy the role. Similarly, if you are not comfortable with other teams being accountable for different parts of the learning experience, you are unlikely to find this environment to be a good fit for you.

• The Student Success team are master multitaskers. They enjoy the pace and variety of parent and student engagements, coaching groups, monitoring multiple data points, updating student progress monitoring resources, collaborating with teams, dealing with special cases, and working on multiple systems — all in a day’s work! If you prefer long periods of deep, uninterrupted time, you are unlikely to enjoy this role.

• Providing a seamless learning experience for students and parents often involves a lot of backend admin. The ideal candidate would have a pragmatic understanding of the value that administrative tasks bring to bear on the experience of an end user.

• As a new brand of schooling operating at the forefront of digital disruption, technical challenges do arise. The ideal candidate will have an appreciation for how necessary it is to fail fast and fail forward, learn through iterative feedback loops, and embrace the process of continuous learning.

• Change is constant as a result of rapid learning cycles. If consistent change gives you energy rather than drains your energy, you are likely to thrive in this environment. Similarly, if you are adept at managing yourself in a demanding environment and understand the importance of self awareness and boundaries in your work, you are likely to do very well.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree preferred, preferably in psychology, counselling, teaching, communications, social sciences or equivalent;

• A minimum of 2 years experience in a service-oriented, customer support, student support or related role

• Passion for education and working with students

• Demonstrated passion for coaching, mentoring and customer service in the interests of the business and customer

• Excellent command of the English language, verbal and written communication skills and demonstrated proficiency in telephonic engagement

• Excellent interpersonal skills, consistently amicable and responsive in dealing with all people, both externally and internally;

• Ability to simply convey concepts, principles and procedures via multiple channels such as email, phone and chat;

• Understanding of technical and business process at a high level;

• Minimum technical proficiency in working on different systems (training will be provided);

• Questioning, taking ownership of and simplifying the tasks to improve process efficiencies and achieve business outcomes.

• Availability during standard working hours.

• Must be comfortable working remotely and independently.

• Stable internet connection and UPS for load shedding

• Police clearance

Benefits

Family member discount for Valenture Institute

Remote work

Voluntary savings Programme

Please note that if you do not hear from us within 3 weeks, your application is considered unsuccessful at this time.