The Student Loans Company (SLC) has launched a campaign to recruit more than 100 permanent employees at its office in Darlington.
Based at Lingfield Point, the Student Finance Officer (SFO) roles are vital to the smooth running of the organisation. SLC processes up to two million student finance applications each year and in the last academic year (21/22) paid £9.2 billion in loans and grants to new and existing students, as well as £12.6 billion in tuition fees to higher and further education providers.
SLC's mission is to enable people to invest in their futures through access to further and higher education. The SFO role is vital as it includes supporting customers at the various stages of their student finance journeys, including processing applications, case managing applications and answering questions from across a number of channels including inbound and outbound calls, email, webchat and by post.
Chris Larmer, Executive Director of Operations at SLC, hosted a launch event in Darlington on Friday (18 November), welcoming local stakeholders into the office to learn more about what the organisation has to offer and to speak to staff about their roles.
Rianna Craggs, SFO, joined SLC at the start of 2022. She said: "Working at SLC has been really rewarding. I'm learning and gaining confidence every day. I love being part of an inclusive organisation as there are people from all walks of life and age groups working together, striving for the same aim - providing excellent service for our customers."
Chris said: "As a big employer, we take our responsibility to the local area seriously. We know how much talent there is in Darlington and the North East, and we want people to consider a career with us.
"We have been speaking to a range of stakeholders from across the region to promote our recruitment campaign and I'm looking forward to welcoming our new recruits in the new year. The importance of our SFO roles cannot be understated - we simply couldn't do our job without them."
Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington, also attended the event. He said: "I warmly welcome the Student Loans Company's announcement that they are now recruiting for over 100 new permanent Student Finance Officer roles based in Darlington. These new roles offer a fantastic new opportunity for local people and offer a fantastic rewards and benefits package.
"These are exciting times to live and work in Darlington, with huge Government investments and the Darlington Economic Campus bringing more jobs and opportunities to the town. I know that these new roles with the Student Loans Company will offer more local people the chance to stay local but go far."
Successful candidates will receive a reward and benefits package, which includes access to the civil service pension scheme, generous holiday entitlement, options to buy and sell holidays and access to a range of lifestyle benefits. They will also benefit from SLC's routes for progression, with opportunities to learn, develop and upskill. SLC has a blended approach to work, with colleagues spending time in the office and at home, so applications are being encouraged from across the North East.
