I am an experienced and internationally recognised practitioner and thought and practice leader in careers and employability, with expertise in learning design, training and development. I have worked in education for over 30 years and careers and employability education since 2002.

After 7 years as a published academic in film musicology, I moved from university teaching and research into training, development and careers guidance, initially with mid-career professionals. In 2008 I became the PhD and Postdoctoral Careers Advisor at the London School of Economics and later worked as a freelance careers adviser at Imperial College Business School. I became Director of Careers & Employability at the University of Chester in 2015, and Head of King’s Careers & Employabiity at King’s College London in 2017. From 2020-2023, I was Director of The Careers Group, the federation of careers services of many of the colleges of the University of London federation including UCL, King’s College London and City.

Over the last 8 years I have developed a consultancy practice, advising and creating work for universities and other educational organisations and suppliers around the world on careers education and employability strategy, and how they intersect with education strategy. In particular, I work with academics, careers professionals and senior managers on approaches to employability in curriculum, and have designed bespoke strategies and approaches for several universities around the world. Since 2024 I have been working full time as a freelance consultant to universities, schools and colleges, and other organisations on diverse aspects of careers, employability and education strategy.

I have created two significant innovations in higher education careers and employability: a new approach to embedding employability in the curriculum which surfaces the existing innate value of academic curriculum in terms which employers value (Daubney 2021); and a structured framework for careers learning gain (in Cobb, ed. 2019, p.17). I redeveloped both of these approaches for pre-18 learners, publishing Careers Education to Demystify Employability (2021) to help careers professionals and teachers get more impact from their existing careers delivery. I am a passionate advocate for changing the conversation about how pre-18 education enables employability development (Daubney 2021), so that all learners will understand better the value of their learning and qualifications for their future employability. You can find out more about my research and publications here.

I also work closely with careers professionals in pre-18 and higher education on strategy, delivery and team-building, and deliver INSET and other training and workshops to pre-18 teachers and careers professionals. I am a sought-after speaker and have given the opening keynote speeches at both the AGCAS and NAGCAS conferences, as well as keynotes for the South African Graduate Employers Assocation and for UCAS.

From 2020-2023 I was a Quality Standard reviewer for the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, and I continue to act as an independent careers service reviewer of higher education careers services in the UK and internationally. I am also an External Expert for OfQual.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am also a qualified teacher in higher education and have a postgraduate certificate in digital education. I am a Registered Professional with the Career Development Institute.

In December 2022, I was honoured and privileged to be appointed as a non-executive Board Member for Gyrfa Cymru Careers Wales, the all age careers service for Wales. In 2023, I became an Advisory Board Member for Practera.