Janie Angell – Head of Employability Services (she/her)
Janie heads the Employability Services team which comprises the Centre for Workplace Learning (CWL), the Careers Service, and the Placements Team, as well as marketing and student facing activities, employer engagement, and graduate outcomes.
An experienced and qualified careers practitioner in higher education as well as a published researcher, her previous career experience includes the Civil Service.
Janie works at St Mary's Monday to Friday.
Vincent Potter – Careers Consultant Team Leader (he/him)
Vinny is the careers consultant for the School of Education. He has worked as a careers consultant for over 10 years after a career spanning three continents in the Education and Health and Charity sectors, including working as an occupational therapist in the NHS, disaster relief in Pakistan after the 2008 earthquake, a teacher for the British Council, and as a volunteer at an orphanage in Cameroon.
Vinny is available on campus Tuesday to Thursday and remotely Monday and Friday.
Helen Pople – Careers Consultant (she/her)
Helen is the careers consultant for the Faculty of Business and Law. She has spent the past 11 years working in a large Sixth Form college, organising careers and progression events for students alongside her role as a careers adviser. For the last two years she has also worked with Year 9-11 pupils as a careers adviser in a local school for one day per week. Previous roles include working as a charity fundraiser, a communications manager, and running her own business.
Helen is available on campus on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and works remotely every Tuesday and Thursday.
Pinar Mehmet - Careers Consultant (she/her)
Pinar is the careers consultant for the Faculty of Sport, Technology, and Health. She has previously worked in higher education in various of roles including student engagement and marketing.
Pinar is available on campus on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and works remotely Wednesday and Friday.
Nadège René (she/her)
Nadège is the careers consultant for the School of Theology and the School of Liberal and Creative Arts. She has previously worked in arts and education as a facilitator, educator, and writer for nearly 10 years. Having worked for RADA, Young Vic Theatre, and Baseless Fabric Opera. She is passionate about supporting people to nurture and develop their unique skills and talents to flourish in a career that feels right for them.
Nadège is available on campus Thursday and Friday and works remotely every Tuesday.
Amanda Jackson - CWL Course Lead/Senior Lecturer (she/her)
Amanda is the course lead for the Centre for Workplace Learning and a Senior Lecturer. She has been with St Mary's for over 16 years and teaches on a range of modules including Experience & Employment in Business, Contributing to the Community, and Building a Start Up Business.
Amanda is a qualified HR professional with extensive experience of working in senior HR roles within the airline industry as well as an entrepreneur who has successfully set up and run several businesses. Amanda enjoys using her experience of working in industry and within the charitable sector to enrich her academic teaching and is passionate about enhancing the employability of students at St Mary's.
Amanda works at St Mary's Monday to Friday.
Bob Hope - Senior Lecturer (he/him)
Bob Hope is a senior lecturer within the Centre for Workplace Learning academic team. He is a Fellow of the HEA. With over 30 years experience within the education sector, including senior leadership roles. He leads on a range of modules from Level Three through to master's level. Bob’s areas of interest include leadership within organisations, education policy and practice, and the future of work. Bob has also operated at senior level within the European travel industry and this experience supports the development of high-quality content within CWL modules.
Bob works at St Mary's Monday to Friday.
Lucy Steptoe - Lecturer (she/her)
Lucy is a Centre for Workplace Learning lecturer. She previously spent seven years as a Primary School teacher before making the transition to Higher Education when she started her St Mary’s journey back in January 2020.
She is passionate about education and has worked in international schools in both Bahrain and China, where she enjoyed immersing herself in the local culture and completing her Master’s in Education. She works within the CWL team but also teaches on the Foundation Year Programme.
Lucy’s lectures ensure her students are given ample opportunities to develop key employability skills as they work towards achieving their full potential and future career.
Lucy works at St Mary’s most Mondays and remotely every Tuesday to Friday.
Aysha Mirza – Data Analyst (she/her)
Aysha is the Data Analyst for Employability Services. Aysha works closely with Janie our Head of Employability, linking analyses of different datasets creatively and innovatively to inform on key areas of activity including student engagement, graduate outcomes, and careers readiness.
Her background is from the software industry in database and business analytics technology. Aysha has spent many years working for several large corporates, including a global software vendor and an IBM software partner, specialising in business analytics.
Aysha works Monday, Wednesday and Thursday on campus.
Josie Borchardt – Placement Officer (she/her)
Josie is one of the Placement Officers, who works with students that are registered on a Workplace Learning Module. Currently, Josie works with students both at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. As a recent St Mary's graduate, Josie has completed various work placement modules at St. Mary’s herself, which has sparked her passion for working within the Employability Services and Placement Team. Josie is a qualified mental health first aider and always happy to have a chat.
Josie works at St Mary’s Mondays to Thursdays. She is available remotely on Fridays.
Emma Brown – Placement Year Project Lead (she/her)
Emma is the Project Lead for the Placement Year currently running on a number of courses. Her role is to support students enrolled on a course with a Placement Year to search, apply, and secure a year long industry placement.
Emma has over 20 years experience in careers. Prior to SMU, Emma worked in a range of schools, colleges, community, and outreach settings supporting young people into employment and training.
Jillian Jacobs – Employer Engagement Lead (she/her)
Jillian is the employer engagement lead for St Mary's. Her role involves supporting the University's employer engagement strategy through developing partnerships and relationships with the business community on behalf of St. Mary's University students and graduates. Jillian has over 15 years experience in a university environment, working in placements, partnerships, research, and international opportunities.
Jillian is on campus Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She works remotely on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Matthew Dennis – Employability Services Coordinator (he/him)
Matt joined the Employability Services team in January 2017 and is the first point of contact for students, graduates, and staff who wish to visit the service. He is also responsible for marketing and resources within the Services and is the main administrator for the Centre for Workplace Learning. Matt graduated from St Mary’s with a degree in Media Arts. Should you wish to use the service, access any of our careers resources, or simply drop in for a friendly chat, do feel free to drop by.
Matt works at St Mary's Monday to Tuesday and Thursday to Friday. He is available remotely on Wednesdays.
Zoe Gilks - Student Information and Engagement Officer (she/her)
Zoe works across all of the employability services to give students the information they need and to raise awareness. She has over 17 years experience working in Financial Services in various managerial roles and more recently as a communication lead at Kingston University supporting SME leaders.
Zoe works Monday to Thursday during term time.