Location: MSSC NSC, 200B Lambeth Road, London, SE1 7JY (Hybrid Working)
Contract: Full time, permanent
Salary: £40,000 to £42,000 gross per annum, depending on experience
Closing Date: 8 February 2026
Assessment Day: 16 February 2026
Are you looking for a new opportunity supporting volunteers to give their best?
The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is a vibrant and growing charity delivering life changing nautical adventure for young people through the Sea Cadets to give them the best possible head start in life. We also provide personal and professional development opportunities for seafarers with the Marine Society. Working with our staff, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a vision and five-year strategy to take us forward and further improve the astounding contribution already made through our work to the lives of thousands of young people and seafarers, while fully supporting our volunteers who are vital to our success.
About the role
We are currently looking for a Volunteer Support Manager to join our innovative Young People, Volunteer and Business Support Directorate. You will manage the Volunteer Support Team and develop and maintain efficient volunteering systems used by our volunteers. This is a key role focussed on supporting the charity’s volunteering strategy and championing best practice in volunteering.
This is an exciting time to join the Sea Cadets with the opportunity to make a real difference to the way volunteers are supported and recognised. The Volunteer Support Manager will be responsible for the effective and efficient administration of the volunteer processes via Microsoft Forms and Power Automate, as well as reviewing existing and implementing new systems to make them as effective and as volunteer friendly as possible.
Responsibilities
- To maintain, review and update volunteering systems, processes and approaches ensuring that they are efficient, up-to-date and as volunteer friendly as possible
- To line manage and support the Volunteer Support Team based at the MSSC Support Centre to ensure the delivery of effective and timely support to the volunteers
- To functionally manage and support the Area Volunteer Support Team based across the 6 Area Offices to deliver effective and consistent support to the volunteers
- To work with the Head of Volunteering to review MSSC volunteering policies, monitoring their appropriateness and effectiveness, making recommendations for changes as necessary
- To work with Volunteer Support Officers to develop systems and processes for managing the volunteer support workload and monitoring delivery standards
- To develop guidance and associated resources for the support of volunteers
- To manage the Volunteer Support elements of the Training and Admin website ensuring that the information is relevant, accurate and up to date
Requirements
- Experience of managing and motivating a large team
- Experience of managing, reviewing and refining complex administrative processes
- Experience of running effective CRM systems including the use of Microsoft Forms and Power Automate or similar products
- Experience developing processes which are targeted at both internal and external audiences
- Experience of delivering a first-class service to clients or customers
- An understanding of the voluntary and community sector, ideally within the youth field
Desirable
- Experience of managing or supervising a team based remotely
- Experience of being a volunteer
- Experience of managing an onboarding process with the understanding of the importance of safer recruitment
- Experience of empowering a team to deliver a first class customer service
- Experience of leading projects manging change with various stakeholders
- Experience of working with volunteers and the knowledge of how to ensure they are supported
Benefits
- 25 days annual leave per annum, increasing with length of service
- Hybrid working for many roles
- Volunteering Leave
- Life assurance (4x salary)
- Private medical insurance
- Generous pension (employer contribution up to 10%)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Access to the Marine Society Digital Library
- Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling
- Employee development: We are investing in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.
Additional Information
MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.
We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire.
All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo pre-employment checks including a criminal record check.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Job title: Employment Advisor
Reports to: Client Services Manager
Line reports: None
Location:London
Salary: £29,000 - £32,000 (London)
Hours: Full-time (37.5 hours per week), with occasional evening or weekend work (TOIL provided). Open to flexible working.
Contract: Permanent
Overall purpose
The Employment Advisor (EA) plays a key role in supporting refugees and people from refugee backgrounds to progress towards and secure sustainable employment. The EA provides tailored employment advice and guidance, helping clients build the knowledge, confidence, and skills needed to navigate the UK job market. This role will work with clients at various stages of their employment journey, with a particular focus on those in the earlier stages of understanding career options, developing employability skills, and exploring education, training, and volunteering opportunities.
The EA will deliver one-to-one and group-based employability support, collaborate with employers and volunteers to source opportunities for clients, and maintain strong relationships with referral and support partners to ensure a holistic approach to employment support.
Key Responsibilities
We are a fast-paced charity that prides itself on its flexibility and responsiveness so your responsibilities may change, develop and grow according to the needs and development of our programmes.
1) Client Support
- Provide tailored one-to-one support to clients, helping them understand the UK labour market, define career goals, and develop employability skills. This could be in-person or online depending on client needs.
- Support clients with CV and cover letter writing, job applications, interview preparation, and job searching.
- Guide clients in identifying appropriate employment, education, training, and volunteering opportunities that align with their career aspirations.
- Deliver group sessions to help clients build knowledge and skills in a supportive peer-learning environment.
- Manage a caseload of clients with varying needs, adjusting frequency and intensity of support based on individual requirements.
2) Employer, Volunteer and Referral Partner Engagement
- Engage with employers to build networks and identify job, training, and work experience opportunities for clients.
- Attend job fairs and community events to connect clients with employers and recruitment opportunities.
- Support outreach initiatives by building and maintaining relationships with local referral partners, including Jobcentres, community organisations, and other support services.
- Liaise with volunteers to source additional expertise and mentoring opportunities for clients.
- Establish and maintain relationships with referral partners and support agencies to signpost clients to additional services, including welfare, housing, and mental health support.
3) Service Delivery and Administration
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of client interactions, progress, and outcomes in the CRM system.
- Implement and adhere to monitoring and evaluation processes to track client outcomes and inform service improvements.
- Identify and escalate safeguarding concerns, making appropriate referrals and ensuring clients receive the support they need.
- Support managers with additional projects, such as research, resource development, and service improvements.
To view the full job description and person specification, as well as details on our accessible recruitment process, please view the attached recruitment pack when you click 'Apply'.
Other considerations
- As part of our safeguarding commitment to our clients, we carry out pre-employment checks to ensure that successful applicants are suitable to work with adults at risk. These include basic DBS checks, obtaining references and verifying a candidate’s identity and right to work in the UK.
- We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity status, race, religion or belief.
Breaking Barriers is committed to protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect and for their views, wishes and beliefs to be fully considered when deciding action.
How to apply
If you are looking for a role where you can make a real difference, we want to hear from you. To apply, please submit a statement of interest (up to approximately 500 words/1 A4 page) outlining:
- Why you are interested in the role
- What skills you would bring to be successful in this role
- Any experience you would like to highlight
- Any reasonable adjustments you require for the interview process
- Disclosure of disabilities if you wish to do so (as a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role).
Closing date for applications is Tuesday 30 December at 11:30pm.
We belong to the Experts by Experience Employment Network, which advocates and supports organisations to employ more people from a refugee background. With this in mind, we particularly welcome applicants with experience of seeking asylum and /or are from a refugee background. Please feel free to use information and resources found here, which may help in preparing your job application.
If you are an expert by experience (a refugee or migrant with direct, first-hand experience of issues and challenges of the UK asylum or immigration system), you can ask for independent and confidential support with your job application from the Experts by Experience Employment Network. Please reach out to HR Manager, Andleeb Khan for further details. You can find contact details on the final page of this recruitment pack.
We are open to flexible working arrangements and alternative working patterns.
Registered Charity
51 - 100
Breaking Barriers exists so that every refugee can access meaningful employment and build a new life.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.