Senior Investment and Monitoring Manager (Monitoring)

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, which has been specifically designed to meet our needs. This is where most colleagues will meet to collaborate, both with each other and with stakeholders.

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

The Investment and Monitoring team is responsible for the investment and monitoring of a budget in excess of £1bn, allocated for the provision of education at FE colleges, Local Authority Sixth Form and Community Learning and Apprenticeship providers as well as funding and monitoring of other higher education funding streams for teaching, research and innovation.

The team will ensure funding recipients are accountable for the use of any funding and that public investment in post-16 education presents the best value for money. This role will coordinate the monitoring processes for the investment and monitoring team and will have responsibility for project managing of the funding methodology review.

What you'll be doing

Key tasks

• The post holder will conduct investigation and analysis of extensive and complex datasets to inform policy decision related to the funding review.
• Coordination of the monitoring and evaluation of how providers utilise investments in relation to agreed targets and the stipulations of funding.
• Establish and sustain effective relationship management with tertiary education providers, local authorities, and third-sector organisations, which includes overseeing monitoring arrangements and conducting regular regional and individual meetings.Coordinate the design and consultation of funding methodologies for tertiary education.Manage the governance processes of the investment and monitoring team to include audit processes and annual updates of key documentation including any Terms of Conditions of Grant.
• Collaborate with internal teams (quality, policy, performance and coordination) to exchange information and ensure consistency in monitoring, governance and funding methodology review.

Key challenges

• Establishing credibility and trust with diverse partners.
• Ensuring that public funds are utilised in a proper and efficient manner.
• Working with internal and external stakeholders on funding methodology reviews.
• Guaranteeing funding compliance through robust monitoring practices.
• Ensuring robust governance and compliance structures within the work of the team.
• Balancing various demands and priorities within the post-16 sector.

About your team

The Investment and Monitoring team plays a pivotal role in ensuring the compliant and effective use of the budget made available to Medr. The team is responsible for deriving, allocating and monitoring funding across the entire tertiary education sector. They work across Medr with policy, data and analysis, finance and performance teams to ensure our strategic priorities are funded and offer the very best values for money. They have developed credible and strong working relationships with partners and keep abreast of emerging priorities such as net zero and Welsh language provision. The team will work with both internal and external stakeholders using a co-production approach to refine existing funding methodologies and to design and implement new funding approaches to achieve policy priorities.

The team includes 13 people who are geographically dispersed within the Development, Investment and Performance Directorate. This team is made up of some experienced people and with additional team members to be appointed.

About your line manager

Gareth is the Head of Tertiary Investment and Monitoring having started in August 2025.

Prior to joining Medr, Gareth jointly led the school improvement team in Ceredigion Council. Prior to this he was a Programme Area Manager for General Education within the Further education sector. He was a lecturer at both further education and higher education in Mathematics.

Gareth received a doctorate, master’s and undergraduate degrees in Mathematics from Aberystwyth University.

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)

The above statement and link do not apply to Medr, this is only for Civil Service vacancies.

We are really interested in you as an individual and what you will bring to our organisation. We are happy for you to make use of AI tools, but please do not overly rely on AI so that we can get to know the real you.

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 will be assessed at sift stage:

Attributes

• Agile: You drive forward improvements, through collaboration, embracing new technologies and nurturing a culture of continuous learning.
• Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback: You address conflicts and challenges in a constructive manner, seeking to find mutually beneficial solutions.

Experience

• Experience of managing projects or coordination of large piece of work within the tertiary sector.
• Current knowledge of the post 16 funding landscape in Wales and how it currently operates.

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 15 November.

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 and a presentation, both of which will be conducted on Monday 7 December.

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

• Inspire People: You set ambitious goals and inspire others to strive for excellence, driving a culture of continuous improvement.
• Humility: You listen to diverse perspectives and incorporate feedback into decision-making.

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 5 November at 1pm on Microsoft Teams.

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.