Provider Performance Manager

Job summary

About Us

We are an arm’s length body of the Welsh Government, responsible for the strategy, funding and oversight of:

• further education
• higher education including research and innovation;
• apprenticeships
• adult community learning; and local authority maintained school sixth forms.

We work in close collaboration with our partners to enable a tertiary education and research system which is centred around the needs of learners; society; and economy with excellence, equality and engagement at its heart.

Our values really matter to us, they help shape the culture of our organisation:

• Dysgu (to learn; to teach; to educate) - learning is at the heart of everything we do. We believe curiosity fuels innovation and helps expand our horizons.
• Cydweithio (to work together; to collaborate; to co-operate) - we can achieve far more together than we ever could alone.
• Cynnwys Pawb (to include everyone; to involve everyone) - we are passionate about inclusion, seeking to create the right conditions for everyone to achieve their full potential.
• Rhagori (to exceed; to excel) - we have high aspirations for tertiary education and research in Wales and always set high standards for ourselves to be the best we can be.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and accredited as a Living Wage employer.

Location

Our headquarters is in 2, Capital Quarter, Cardiff. This is where most colleagues will meet to collaborate.

As we operate across Wales, we also have limited office and collaboration space in Welsh Government offices in Llandudno Junction, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil.

Main Purpose of the Job

You will work alongside the Senior Manager to improve the performance of tertiary education providers by ensuring their provision aligns with Medr’s strategy and Welsh Government priorities, while encouraging collaboration and continuous improvement.

Medr produces an overview of tertiary provision to build a clear picture of qualification delivery, demand, and curriculum coherence across sixth forms, Further Education, apprenticeships, Higher Education, and Adult Community Learning, ensuring pathways reflect Wales’ priority sectors and future labour‑market needs.

By bringing together data from multiple sources, Medr informs national skills planning, supports Welsh Government decision making, and helps create a responsive, efficient, learner‑centred system.

This work identifies gaps, duplication, and opportunities for stronger coherence so provision meets learner aspirations and economic priorities.

If you thrive in collaborative, change‑focused environments and bring strategic thinking with a passion for education, this role offers a meaningful opportunity.

Job description

What you’ll be doing

Provider Performance

• Monitor provider delivery against agreed targets, Medr’s Strategic Plan, and Welsh Government priorities.
• Review performance against contracts, funding, and policy requirements using data to spot trends and areas for improvement.
• Help build a clear picture of sector performance, identifying gaps, strengths, and best practices.
• Analyse provider performance data and flag concerns.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain strong relationships with providers as a key point of contact.
• Balance provider needs with strategic priorities using performance data and policy insights.
• Share and promote effective practices to support collaboration.
• Work with providers to co-design solutions and provision analysis.

Policy and Data Analysis

• Analyse policy documents and data to guide performance management.
• Identify emerging trends and effective practices.
• Provide input into policy development and implementation.

Collaboration and Reporting

• Work with internal teams, including quality and policy, to share information and ensure alignment.
• Prepare clear reports and presentations on provider performance with key findings and recommendations.

Support Tertiary Provision Analysis

• Assist in developing and monitoring Tertiary Provision Analysis.
• Collect data to measure the performance of tertiary provision.

Risk Management

• Gather data for provider risk assessments.
• Support intervention and mitigation strategies.

Key challenges

1. Strategic Support & Performance Analysis

Work with senior managers to balance provider needs with policy and budget limits. Support strategic alignment and continuous improvement across tertiary education. Use data analysis to provide actionable insights and identify performance gaps.

2. Change Implementation & Collaboration

Help put new strategies into practice with education providers. Communicate changes clearly and offer practical support. Build strong relationships by facilitating effective communication with stakeholders.

3. Performance Monitoring & Reporting

Collect and analyse data to track provider performance. Prepare clear, concise reports that inform decision-making and highlight key findings.

4. Policy Awareness & Resource Efficiency

Stay up to date with policy changes and adjust performance strategies as needed. Ensure resources are used efficiently and avoid duplication, especially in data collection and reporting.

About your team

The Coordination & Performance Team is responsible for ensuring tertiary education providers deliver provision aligned with Medr's strategic plan and Welsh Government priorities.

This involves driving performance improvement, fostering collaboration, and managing the development, and monitoring of Tertiary Provision Analysis to inform Medr funding and policy drivers.

We are recruiting two managers to manage and deliver key aspects of these important priority areas:

1. Manager (Local Authority- school 6th forms, local curriculum development)
2. Manager Part Time Provision (FEI part time, Adult Community Learning)

Your line Manager

Together, Darren and Catherine bring combined experience from Government Policy and Planning, complemented by senior Local Authority roles spanning strategic partnerships across Education, Economic Development, Further Education, and Work‑Based Learning.

Person specification

What you will bring

Attributes

1. Drive - You demonstrate strategic thinking and a results-oriented approach.
2. Agile - You drive forward improvements, through collaboration, embracing new technologies and nurturing a culture of continuous learning.
3. Resilient - You lead with resilience in times of uncertainty and change, inspiring your team to persevere despite obstacles.
4. Inspire People – You lead by example, demonstrating dedication and perseverance in nurturing a motivated and high-performing team.

Experience

1. Your experience of working in Local Authority and/or Further Education post-16 planning and provision.
2. Your ability to engage multiple stakeholders and deliver complex projects or programmes that improve learner outcomes.

Welsh language requirements

Desirable

Welsh desirable means that while having Welsh language skills is useful for the role, it is not an assessment criterion, so it won’t disadvantage you during recruitment if you don’t currently possess these skills.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,457, Medr contributes £11,430 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Your Perks and Benefits

We recognise the importance of looking after ourselves in work and in life, so in recognition of this we provide:

• 34 days annual leave a year
• An environment that embraces work life balance.
• A culture that celebrates diversity and welcomes everyone.
• Dedicated well-being time to all our people each week.
• A Cycle to Work Scheme to make owning a bicycle more affordable.

Additional Support when you need it

We know that sometimes you may face challenges or life events that mean you need additional support.

• We provide a comprehensive employee assistance programme with remote access to resources and in person support whenever required.
• We have a special leave policy ensuring everyone in the organisation receives the support they need during difficult times.

More than just a workplace

• You will be entitled to take 5 days paid leave per year to undertake voluntary work to support the communities we serve.
• We will encourage you to grow your networks across Wales, the UK and internationally.
• We have an active social committee who offer a range of activities for our people to come together outside the work setting. You can participate as much or as little as you want.

Personal and professional development

• Once you’re offered a post, we will get to know you and work with you to develop a personalised onboarding plan which considers your experience, skills, learning style and knowledge.
• We’ll help you shape your development plans with personalised career conversations and objectives, taking account of delivery goals alongside your career aspirations and helping you own your career.
• We support all our staff to learn or improve their Welsh language skills.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

We are really interested in you as an individual and what you will bring to our organisation.

Our assessment process is designed to help us get to know you better enabling us to appoint someone who will thrive in the role and who shares our organisational values.

If you are interested in working with us, please send us your application and personal statement through Civil Service Jobs.

The following attributes/experience will be assessed at sift stage:

Attributes:

1. Drive - You demonstrate strategic thinking and a results oriented approach.
2. Agile - You drive forward improvements, through collaboration, embracing new technologies and nurturing a culture of continuous learning.
3. Resilient - You lead with resilience in times of uncertainty and change, inspiring your team to persevere despite obstacles.

Experience

1. Your experience of working in Local Authority and/or Further Education post-16 planning and provision.
2. Your ability to engage multiple stakeholders and deliver complex projects or programmes that improve learner outcomes.

To be fair to everyone who applies, we won’t accept:

• Late applications
• Applications with missing or incomplete information
• Personal statements over 1,250 words

The deadline for application submission is Sunday 1 March.

Applications are welcome in Welsh and will not be treated less favourably than those submitted in English.

All applications will be notified of their outcomes via Civil Service Jobs at sift and interview stage.

Candidates who successfully navigate the sift stage will be required to complete an online exercise to enable us to determine their behavioural and personality preferences. Immediately on completion you will be given a report which highlights your strengths plus some development tips to help you prepare for interview. Candidates should note that the online exercise is not intended to eliminate anyone from consideration. Instead, it serves as a tool to aid in the decision-making process.

Following this, you will be required to participate in an interview which will be conducted on Wednesday 1 April.

In addition to the attributes assessed at sift stage, the remaining attributes will also be assessed at interview:

1. Inspire People - You lead by example, demonstrating dedication and perseverance in nurturing a motivated and high-performing team.

We strive for a diverse and inclusive workplace and we want to help you demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. We are happy to discuss any person-centred adjustments required to the recruitment process. Please contact swyddi@medr.cymru

We're looking forward to meeting everyone invited to interview at our headquarters in 2, Capital Quarter, Cardiff. We don’t usually pay travel expenses, but if this presents a real barrier to your attendance in person or if you require a reasonable adjustment, please let us know in advance by emailing swyddi@medr.cymru so we can discuss and agree arrangements prior to your interview.

Following interview we are committed to offering constructive and actionable feedback to support you on your future career journey.

Next Steps

Interested…? Want to find out more?

We know how important it is for you to find out more about us so we will be holding a virtual information session for candidates on Thursday 19 February at 13:00 on Microsoft Teams. This session will not be recorded.

This will be an opportunity for you to hear more about our organisation; the role and how we invest in our people.

If you would like to attend, register by emailing swyddi@medr.cymru.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : People and Culture Team
• Email : swyddi@medr.cymru

Recruitment team

• Email : swyddi@medr.cymru

Attachments

Canllaw i Ymgeiswyr ar Lunio Datganiad Personol Opens in new window (pdf, 112kB)A Candidate's guide to crafting a personal statement Opens in new window (pdf, 113kB)Swydd Ddisgrifiad- Rheolwr Perfformiad Darparwyr x2 Opens in new window (pdf, 259kB)Job description - Provider Perfomrance Manager x2 Opens in new window (pdf, 256kB)