Job Title: Training Manager

Organisation: Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)

Duration: Permanent

Location: Hybrid / London 

Reports to: Chief Executive

Responsible for: Administration Officer

Annual leave: 25 days per annum plus bank holidays and Christmas closure period

Salary: £34,000 – £37,000 depending on experience

Working Hours: 35 hours per week. Applications for flexible working will be considered, however working a minimum 4 days a week will be required to fulfil this role.

Start date: As soon as possible

Application deadline: 9am on Wednesday 01 March 2023

Interviews will be held on Monday 13^th March 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be notified by Tuesday 7^th March 2023.

Applications from individuals only – no agencies.

Please submit a completed ILPA application form and equal opportunities monitoring form to recruitment@ilpa.org.uk as a Word document or in another editable format.

About this role:

ILPA is a leading provider of training in all areas of immigration, asylum and nationality law and ensures that our members have access to the highest quality and up-to-date training. The Training Officer/Training Manager is responsible for curating a curriculum that reflects the latest developments in law and policy, and planning new training in collaboration with leading practitioners.

ILPA training is delivered by our members, for our members, and our tutors are known for their experience, for keeping up to date with the continuing developments in immigration legislation and case law, and for their involvement in landmark cases. With the support of our tutors we hope to make our webinars interactive, engaging and a vital tool for practitioners to remain connected with their peers.

ILPA plays a vital and ever growing role within the legal and charitable sector and strives to secure a non-racist, non-sexist, just and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law practice.  

As the Training Manager you will play a key role in delivering a quality training and conference programme and ensuring that ILPA members keep abreast with the latest development in immigration, asylum and nationality law in this ever-changing area of law.

About you:

The position would suit a self-motivated individual who is passionate about the sector and is looking to pursue a career in learning and development, training or event management. You will have an interest in the refugee and migration sector and a passion for improving the quality of immigration advice. You will be confident communicating with a wide range of stakeholders, representing ILPA at member events and take pride in delivery an excellent service to members.

Main responsibilities:

1. Leading on the development of ILPA’s training and conference programme.
2. Leading on the monitoring and evaluation of training, communicate feedback with tutors, reflect and respond accordingly to feedback and suggestions to ensure we maintain a high quality service.
3. Leading on the facilitation of online and in-person training and conferences.
4. Facilitating the delivery of online and in-person training and conferences, providing technical and logistical support to attendees and tutors/speakers as needed.
5. Working collaboratively with the Content and Digital Channels Manager to communicate and promote the training programme with members effectively through our CRM and social media (Twitter and LinkedIn).
6. Managing the administration of the training programme, including: bookings and reminders, disseminating course materials, processing and disseminating webinar recordings.
7. Managing the financial administration of the training programme, including: developing budgets and income projections with the Finance and Office Manager and Chief Executive, sending invoices, receiving training income, processing tutor fees and other admin relating to QuickBooks.
8. Booking appropriate venues for ILPA training, maintain relationships, agree contracts for facilities and services provided, liaise with them and oversee use of venues by ILPA.
9. Responding to, and actively pursuing enquiries regarding training, conferences and events.
10. Working collaboratively with the Membership Manager to develop a series of membership engagement events at pivotal moments throughout the year, for example during Refugee Week
11. Maintaining and develop training pages on the ILPA website.
12. Proof reading and editing training materials in-line with ILPA’s editorial guide.
13. Leading on the delivery of training for MP caseworkers and researchers in collaboration with Parliament UK.
14. Leading on the organisation and management of the annual general meeting.
15. Contributing input to the annual report and quarterly reports for the committee of trustees.
16. Lead on the coordination and planning of the ILPA Well-being Working Group, maintain the well-being resources hub, and promote activities amongst the ILPA membership
17. Leading on the coordination of events, training and conferences in collaboration with the well-being working group e.g. organising training on vicarious trauma, mental health first aid, themed member events

*This list is not exhaustive and you may be required to undertake additional responsibilities as requested by the Chief Executive.*

Person Specification

Essential skills, experience, and qualities:

1. Experience of managing online and in-person training, conferences, and/or events;
2. Some experience, work experience and/or lived experience, of immigration, asylum and nationality law in the UK;
3. Experience of using a CRM management system, preferably Salesforce;
4. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to positively communicate with a wide range of people in a professional setting, with demonstrable ability to communicate effectively in challenging situations;
5. Excellent IT proficiency and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office, WordPress (or a similar website management system) and QuickBooks (or a similar financial administration system) and the ability to support others to use software and programmes;
6. Experience of using Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and administration relating to these;
7. Excellent planning, coordination, organisational and time management skills;
8. Experience of managing sensitive data and information in a GDPR compliant manner
9. Experience of building and managing effective professional relationships with a range of people, with demonstrable ability to communicate effectively in challenging situations;
10. Excellent planning, coordination, organisational and time management skills;
11. Ability to work to tight deadlines;
12. Ability to take a proactive approach to independent working within the ILPA team, managing workstreams effectively, and the confidence to take responsibility for tasks and decisions;
13. Ability to think strategically and take a calm and diligent approach to problem-solving;
14. Commitment to the principles of a non-racist, non-sexist, just, and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law;
15. Commitment to the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion, and taking a proactive approach to espousing these principles;
16. Commitment to be a champion of ILPA by positively encouraging your team, identifying and encouraging opportunities for growth.

Job Title: Legal Officer

Organisation: Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)

Duration: 12 months, with the possibility of extension subject to funding

Location: Hybrid / London 

Reports to: Senior Legal Officer and Senior Legal Projects Manager

Annual leave: 25 days per annum

Salary: £32,000 to £35,000 

Working Hours: 35 hours per week, plus a lunch break (NB evening working is required to attend any scheduled evening meetings, which ordinarily finish no later than 7pm).  Applications for flexible working/part time working will be considered.

Start date: As soon as possible

Application deadline: 9am on 28 February 2023

Interviews will be held on 7 and 8 March 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 3 March 2023.

Applications from individuals only – no agencies.

Please submit a completed ILPA application form and equal opportunities monitoring form to recruitment@ilpa.org.uk as a Word document or in another editable format.

About this role:

The Legal Officer will work with the Legal Team (Legal Director and Senior Legal Officer), and the Senior Legal Projects Manager, Chief Executive, trustees and ILPA members to support our immigration policy and advocacy work, our Working Groups, as well as strategic litigation coordination.

In this role, you will work with the Legal Team to support ILPA’s advocacy work to influence immigration, asylum and nationality law, policy and practice, and to ensure effective communication of legal and policy developments. 

You will regularly disseminate information orally and in writing. You will assist with answering ILPA members’ legal, policy and practice-based queries, raising issues with government departments as appropriate, and provide flexible, tailored technical and practical support for practitioners and non-practitioners, who include public bodies, professional organisations and non-governmental organisations. You will also support the organisation and running of ILPA’s thematic and regional Working Groups, which provide a valuable forum for ILPA members to share best practice and discuss issues.

You will work with the Strategic Legal Fund Manager to develop partnerships with NGOs and legal professionals around the UK to set up regional Strategic Legal Advice Committee (SLAC) meetings. You will coordinate the regional SLAC meetings. These meetings will be held online, across the UK. Each regional SLAC group will hold four meetings a year as well as emergency meetings where necessary. You will be responsible for the minute taking of the London SLAC meeting and the Strategic Legal Fund Expert Panel meetings which take place online up to six times a year.

About you:

The position would suit a self-motivated individual who is passionate about the sector and is looking to pursue a career in immigration policy or advocacy, including by making the transition from immigration practice or taking a break from practice to work on immigration policy and strategic litigation coordination.

You may be keen to be working at the heart of the systemic changes following Brexit, the Government’s New Plan for Immigration agenda, including the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 provisions, and removal of people seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda.

You will have an interest in strategic litigation and how it can be used to protect and promote the rights of those discriminated against on the basis of their migration status. You will be passionate about being involved in the coordination of a unique and exciting project that brings the NGO and legal sector together in developing strategic litigation.

This post will give you exposure to firms, chambers and NGOs across the spectrum of immigration, asylum and nationality law as well as those shaping policy in the UK and beyond. In this role, you will stay close enough to practice to return to it if that is what you want to do, or have the opportunity to build or develop a successful career in influencing work.

Given the complexity of immigration, asylum and nationality law, we do not expect applicants to have expertise in every area, but an understanding of it and excellent critical analysis skills are key. Any successful applicant will be able to attend ILPA training, subject to capacity, to further their knowledge.

Main responsibilities:

• To liaise, work with, and gather evidence from members to support ILPA’s influencing work and to assist with knowledge-sharing in the sector;
• To assist the Legal Team to influence law and policies through written and oral advocacy;
• To coordinate and contribute to internal and external SLAC, SLF, and Legal Team meetings, which may have a range of attendees including ILPA members, SLAC and SLF Expert Panel members, government officials, parliamentarians, experts, lawyers, and other external organisations and individuals;
• To provide support to ILPA’s thematic and regional working groups, SLF Expert Panel Meetings, and SLAC meetings, including by attending evening meetings, drafting minutes, and working with the Secretariat to take forward agreed actions;
• To handle queries related to the Legal Team, SLF and SLAC work sent by members and others where appropriate, such as by forwarding these on to relevant individuals and drafting responses;
• To monitor, identify, store, organise, interrogate, retrieve and disseminate information, including legal and policy developments, relevant to ILPA’s work;
• To support ILPA’s external communications.

Person Specification

Essential skills, experience, and qualities:

1. A law degree, postgraduate qualification in law, or other relevant qualification in law, or currently studying for such a degree or qualification;
2. Good legal knowledge, skills and judgment and an ability to communicate these clearly;
3. Some experience, work experience and/or lived experience, of immigration, asylum and nationality law in the UK
4. Excellent attention to detail and ability to communicate legal and technical information orally and in writing;
5. Experience of building and managing effective professional relationships with a range of people, with demonstrable ability to communicate effectively in challenging situations;
6. Excellent planning, coordination, organisational and time management skills;
7. Ability to work to tight deadlines;
8. Ability to take a proactive approach to independent working within the ILPA team, managing workstreams effectively, and the confidence to take responsibility for tasks and decisions;
9. Ability to think strategically and take a calm and diligent approach to problem-solving;
10. Commitment to the principles of a non-racist, non-sexist, just, and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law;
11. Commitment to the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion, and taking a proactive approach to espousing these principles;
12. Commitment to be a champion of ILPA by positively encouraging your team, identifying and encouraging opportunities for growth, and celebrating success.

About the team:

We are a small team of six full-time and two part-time staff. We all work partly from our office near Old Street and partly from home, with two of the team based outside of London.

About the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association:

The Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) is a professional association the majority of whose members are barristers, solicitors, advocates and OISC regulated advisers practising in all aspects of immigration, asylum and nationality law. Academics, non-governmental organisations and individuals with a substantial interest in the law are also members.

Founded in 1984 by leading practitioners in the field, ILPA exists to promote and improve advice and representation in immigration, asylum and nationality law, through an extensive programme of training and disseminating information and by providing research and opinion that draw on the experiences of members. ILPA is represented on numerous government, official and non-governmental advisory groups and regularly provides evidence to parliamentary and official inquiries.

ILPA plays a vital and ever-growing role within the legal and charitable sector and strives to secure a non-racist, non-sexist, just and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law practice. There has never been a more exciting and challenging time to be working within the immigration sector, with significant levels of change.

The Secretariat does not give advice to members of the public on individual cases but works closely with members to ensure that they are enabled to do their best for their clients. It runs ILPA’s busy training programme and produces a wide range of information for members and non-members.

The objectives of ILPA are:

• To promote the advising and representation of immigrants;
• To provide information to members and others on domestic and European immigration, asylum and nationality law; and
• To secure a non-racist, non-sexist, just and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law practice.

The Strategic Legal Fund (SLF) provides funding to NGOs, law firms and law centres for the research and development of strategic litigation cases, and third party interventions, in any area of law where people experience discrimination as a result of their migration status.

The Strategic Legal Advice Committee (SLAC) is a new project to connect NGOs with legal specialists to deepen their knowledge of strategic litigation and explore ideas for potential legal challenges. This project has initially run in London during a pilot phase. Following funding being awarded which will allow the project to run for three years, it will expand throughout the UK in 2023 through the development of regional SLAC groups.

ILPA is an equal opportunities employer. We acknowledge that the legal and charitable sector can be less accessible to people from minoritised or racialised communities and lower socio-economic backgrounds, and we are committed to unsettling the status quo. In this role you will wear many hats and we recognise that the successful candidate may not have all the skills and experience listed in the personal specification. We welcome an application from you if you can see yourself in this role and have an appetite to gain new skills, knowledge and experience. We encourage applications from individuals who have lived experience of the UK immigration or asylum systems, or the hostile environment.