Training and Development Officer

UK Council for International Student Affairs

Length of contract
24 month

About the Organisation

UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) is the UK’s national advisory body providing support to students and those who work with them. We work tirelessly to raise awareness of the benefits of international education, promote greater student mobility, and encourage best practice, professional development, and highest quality institutional support for international students throughout the education sector. Our members include every university in the UK, further education colleges that are active internationally, independent schools and private colleges, as well as a range of specialist representative bodies.

About the role

This new role within the Advice & Training team will support the development, coordination, and growth of the organisation’s training provision. We are proud to be a respected and trusted source of information for our members and international students, and the work undertaken by this role will seek to strengthen these relationships.

You will be responsible for the recruitment and administration of freelance trainers to work alongside the Advice & Training team in developing and delivering world-class training. You will play a key role in identifying trends in the needs of our membership and international students, contributing to the direction and growth of our training output. You should be able to convey UKCISA’s values and methods to potential freelance trainers and embed processes to ensure quality assurance of any training output.

Engaging with diverse stakeholders, negotiation, and being able to represent UKCISA with integrity and passion should be in your repertoire of excellent communication skills. You are confident in your administrative skills and will lead on writing and standardising contracts for and establishing workflows for new freelance trainers.

The role will involve different strands of work, and so you will be required to balance concurrent tasks confidently, seeking advice and guidance where needed. You will work towards and seek to surpass targets and be willing to proactively assess and review those targets as you progress in the role. You will have an initiative-taking approach and make recommendations for the direction of targets and key performance indicators to the Advice Officer and Training Lead as you progress in the role.

In your first few months, you will have:

• Developed good working relationships with UKCISA’s wider team.
• Analysed our current training offer and began to identify opportunities for growth.
• Begun to identify and recruit freelance trainers.
• Scoped out how quality assurance processes between freelance trainers and the Advice & Training team can be implemented.

Responsibilities

Training Recruitment & Administration:

• Recruitment of freelance trainers to broaden the capacity of UKCISA’s training provision.
• Writing, standardising, and administering standardised contracts for freelance training staff in conjunction with Finance and HR.
• Liaison with the Finance team to standardise invoicing procedures for freelance training staff.
• Key liaison point between existing and new freelance trainers and UKCISA staff.

Analysis & Trend Mapping:

• Seek to identify gaps in UKCISA’s training offer and the delivery of new services to meet those unmet needs.
• Expanding UKCISA’s offer of new training opportunities, including those relating to Student Sponsor compliance, to ensure members have the technical knowledge and support needed to carry out their roles and responsibilities towards international students.
• Collaborate with freelancers and in-house staff to develop training content, in line with UKCISA quality and expectations, as the UK’s main provider of training relating to supporting international students.
• Gain a deep understanding of current core training to ensure seamless integration of new courses to support the learning journey of members.
• Support the Advice Officer and Training Lead in responding to trends, identifying potential improvements to the training workflow, and supporting UKCISA trainers.

Quality Assurance:

• Working with UKCISA’s in-house trainers to establish and embed processes to ensure quality assurance of freelance delivery and the delivery of course aims and objectives.
• Collaborate with current freelance trainers and newly recruited trainers to establish robust quality assurance processes with the Advice & Training team.
• Facilitate and monitor quality assurance of UKCISA training output.
• Coordinate the production of resources to inform and support UKCISA trainers to ensure consistent delivery in line with UKCISA values and expectations.
• Monitor the effectiveness of new training and adapt as appropriate.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Essential:

• Excellent communication skills with a focus on negotiation, interpersonal skills, and clarity.
• Ability to form excellent relationships with diverse groups.
• Ability to plan, strategise, and deliver against key performance indicators.
• A proactive approach to seeking improvements in workflows and identifying opportunities to broaden our training output.
• Highly organised and able to work independently, while knowing when to seek guidance and support
• Confidence to lead on contract administration for freelance trainers.
• Ability to collate, analyse, and present data clearly and confidently.
• Proficient in SharePoint and other cloud-based Microsoft apps
• Experience supporting the delivery or coordination of training and/or events.
• A commitment to UKCISA’s vision and mission; representing and communicating these to external stakeholders.

Desirable:

• Project management experience or qualifications.
• Student route Tier 4 compliance experience.
• Previous experience working in a charity and a membership organisation
• Previous experience working with international students in the UK.
• Experience working with CRM systems (ideally MS Dynamics).

Compensation & Benefits

• Pension: Participates in a defined benefit pension scheme (USS)
• Training & development: In addition to maintaining a budget for relevant professional development, UKCISA also offers 3 days of personal development leave
• Additional leave: Employees are entitled to 25 days of annual leave + bank holidays. In addition to this, there are concessionary days between Christmas and New Year's. Staff also receive an extra day of leave for every year of service, up to a maximum of 5 days. 
• Flexible working: We operate as a remote office, and there is currently no mandate on the minimum number of days in the office. We do maintain a small office in Woburn House, allowing for vital collaborative working. 
• Health & wellbeing: Offer an Employee Assistance Programme to support health and wellbeing, as well as a My Healthy Advantage app to access a wide range of tools to support wellbeing.

Conditions of employment

• You must have the right to work in the UK. We are unable to sponsor visas for this role.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely.
• We welcome applications from throughout the UK, as long as you are able to join us in London for one day every month. Travel to member and student events across the UK, including overnight travel, is occasionally required and can be expensed. 

How to apply

• To apply, please submit a copy of your CV and a covering letter (maximum two pages) to [email protected] by 9 am (UK time) on Monday, 18th May 2026. Your cover letter should focus on evidencing how you meet the first six essential criteria in particular.
• For any queries about the role, including questions about reasonable adjustments, please email: [email protected]. 

Interviews

• The interview will be online on Tuesday, 2nd June and Thursday, 4th June 2026

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