Career Guidance Advisor

Job Description

We are seeking a motivated and experienced university and careers counselling professional with strong knowledge of the UK, North American, and European systems. The ideal candidate demonstrates excellent problem-solving, organisational, and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively under pressure.

Fluency in English is essential, and familiarity with counselling platforms such as Unifrog, ISAMS, or Naviance is an advantage. The successful candidate will have strong interpersonal and ICT skills, along with the energy, resilience, and professionalism required to support students in a dynamic international environment.

Key Responsabilities

• Manage the university applications and post-school pathways of all allocated Grade 11 /DP1 and Grade 12 /DP2, assisting them with university and apprenticeship applications as well as gap year plans, as required;

• Run small and large group workshops on university and career-specific topics (such as writing personal statements & college essay, applying to the Netherlands and Medicine in the UK and Europe);

• Proactively work with Grade 10/M5 students to Grade 12/DP2 through confidential one-to-one meetings as well as through small and large group workshops and information sessions;

• Support Grade 10/M5 students and families during the IB Diploma subject selection process through workshops and individual meetings; work closely with the Head of MYP and Head of DP to coordinate transition sessions

• Hold online and in-person information sessions and coffee mornings for Grade 10/M5 to Grade 12/ DP2 parents throughout the year; 

• Hold private online or in-person meetings with students and parents Grade 9-12  when required

• Provide university application and matriculation data and statistics for management and NAE headquarters/governing board when requested;

• Facilitate and host visits from universities to give workshops and information sessions regularly throughout the school year; organise University Fairs, Career Fairs, Careers sessions as per internal planning.

• Regularly keep up-to-date with an ever-changing university application landscape through personal research and departmental meetings, as well as visiting universities and attending conferences both online and in-person (such as CIS and International ACAC). Some of these events can occur during the school holidays; 

• Ensure that all public-facing Guidance Department information and documentation (such as the school profile, counselling site, Guidance & School weekly newsletter) is kept up-to-date;

• Write references and letters of recommendation for your allocated caseload students, when required;

• Ensure that all necessary supporting documents (transcripts, predicted grades, references etc) for the applications of your allocated student cohort have been sent and received by universities in a timely manner;

• Actively support Grade 12/DP2 students over the summer holidays, as needed, when IB Diploma results are released; 

• Be student-centred in a way that promotes student agency so that students feel empowered to identify appropriate universities that are the right fit for them;

• Run careers education and skills training workshops for Grade 10/M5 to Grade12/DP2 students via small and large group sessions;

• Provide individual feedback on multiple drafts of students’ personal statements/college essay/application essays and other application documents (such as CV, supplemental essay for the US);

• Cultivate and maintain dynamic working relationships with the University & Guidance Team, as well as the members of the Senior Leadership Team, in addition to the faculty and staff at large;

• Proactively work with teachers and mentors to support reference writing for students and ensure accurate information is shared about university requirements and the application process.

• Serves as the School Registrar for the assigned caseload students, taking full ownership of the student record lifecycle, including the generation, verification, and official signing of all school transcripts and expected graduation certificates during the application process.

Required Skills/Abilities

• Familiar with platforms such as Unifrog, ISAMS, IBO UCC resources, MyEdu, U-Explore, or Naviance;

• Problem Solver;

• Perseverance and motivation;

• Ability to work under pressure;

• Extensive experience of university and careers counselling processes in the main geographies UK, North American and European systems; ideally good working knowledge on emerging geographies like Australia and Asia

• Strong interpersonal and ICT skills;

• Fluent in English with a good knowledge of Italian (or willingness to learn);

• Ability to effectively prioritise work and manage competing deadlines;

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including public speaking and formal letter writing;

• Energy, patience, a sense of humour and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations.