Communication officer jobs in birmingham, west midlands

We are a small but mighty team, with huge ambitions to transform more lives of those who live with an intellectual disability, through the power of sport.

If you are just looking for a job, then we are probably not for you. However, if you are an experienced finance and business operations professional able to demonstrate strategic and operational ability around financial planning and processes as well as delivering cost effective, efficient and fit-for-purpose business services, then we would like to hear from you.  Charity finance experience and experience in a similarly broad role covering other areas of business operations including IT, risk management, data protection & data management and health & safety is a must.

We continue to be focused on our vision to create an inclusive world for all, driven by the power of sport, through which people with intellectual disabilities live active, healthy and fulfilling lives. We are a small, but growing, team with huge ambitions, and applicants must be comfortable operating in an environment where working under your own initiative is expected and encouraged.

We are looking for people who are passionate about Special Olympics and are completely aligned with our values. We are authentic. We act with honesty, integrity and respect. We are creative and innovative. We love to embrace difference and doing things differently. We are brave, courageous, resilient and determined. We listen and are led by the voice of our athletes. We are always kind. We are Inclusion in Action.

We are continuing to build a high-performing team who care for each other and care about our cause. Our athletes are incredibly inspirational, courageous and insightful people, and they deserve a team who are equally committed and passionate about our mission.

This is a permanent, home-based role. There will be the requirement to attend internal and external meetings or events which will involve travel away from home and working outside of normal hours.     

The role is both strategic and operational in nature and represents a fantastic chance to join an amazing charity at an exciting time of growth.

For job role specifics please see the Job Description.

What We Can Offer 

· Competitive salary circa £33,000 (£55K FTE) per annum depending on experience. 

· 15 days holiday on appointment plus pro rata bank holidays and one extra day for your Birthday. 

· Stakeholder Pension Scheme from appointment. 

· Time off in Lieu (TOIL) for out of hours work. 

· Flexible working. 

· Health Cash Plan

How to Apply

To apply, please send a covering letter (maximum 2 pages) explaining why you wish to work for Special Olympics GB. It is important that all prospective employees understand our mission and are driven by our cause. Please be specific about how your skills and experience will help you undertake this role and how they match the requirements of the Job Description and Person Specification. Generic letters and agency approaches will not be considered. Please also include your CV.

First stage interviews will be held week commencing 28th July 2025.

Safer Recruitment 

Special Olympics Great Britain is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees or volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process. The successful candidate will be required to complete regular safeguarding training and undertake a DBS/PVG check relevant to the requirements of the role. For this role that will involve a Basic Disclosure. 

Equal Opportunities

Special Olympics GB is committed to equality and diversity and encourages all sections of the community, particularly those living with a disability, who meet the job requirements to apply.

Other

The job holder will need to provide evidence of their ability to live and work in the UK and will be required to undertake a basic DBS check.

We will only contact those who have been selected for interview.

We request no contact from agencies.

A truly rewarding role…supporting local people facing food insecurity

Job Title: Culinary Chef and Trainer

Location: Birmingham

Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £34540 per annum

About FareShare Midlands

FareShare Midlands is the region’s largest food redistribution charity, tackling inequality, transforming lives and ensuring no good food goes to waste. We rescue surplus food and redistribute it to 650 local charities and community organisations, feeding 60,000 people every week. We also invest in communities, providing education, training and volunteering opportunities, helping over 700 individuals to date to build a better future. Together, we’re fighting hunger, reducing food waste and creating opportunities across the Midlands. Learn more here or read our latest Annual Report Snapshot here.

The Role

We’re looking for a Culinary Chef Trainer for our brand-new purpose built Commercial and Training Kitchen in The Coronation Food Project Hub, Birmingham, helping combat food insecurity by providing affordable, nutritious surplus food in a dignified and supportive environment for underserved communities. In addition to catering skills, you will need to demonstrate a passion for reducing food waste through innovation and creativity. 

Working closely with FareShare Midlands Head of Operations you will develop and mobilise the kitchen and catering service(s) for The Coronation Food Project, enabling significant increase in FSM’s reach, support and impact in tackling food insecurity. You will play a lead part in managing our flagship Kitchen, producing high quality meals from surplus food as well as catering for large corporate events. We are keen to grow a Catering skills programme in line with our Employability strategy and you will need to play a key role in informing and shaping the training programmes.  Like most charity roles, this is as much a “hands on” as well as management role.

Key Responsibilities
Food Preparation and Cooking

• Plan, prepare and cook high quality, innovative meals in a timely manner for staff, volunteers, visitors and the public as well as larger catering events, ensuring variety, nutritional balance, and high standards of taste and presentation.
• Ensure all food is made according to the recipe and portion control standards
• Adapt menus based on seasonality and availability of surplus food
• Address any feedback or special dietary requirements to ensure a high level of satisfaction, improving offerings

Menu Planning and Development

• Develop and create new recipes in collaboration with the staff, volunteers and local organisations
• Innovate dishes that align with the organisations concept and demand
• Monitor food trends and implement them in the menu, while maintaining FareShare’s brand and ethos
• Create and deliver menus for corporate events

Training

• Develop and coordinate the delivery of catering skills and cookery courses to individuals of all ages and abilities within The Coronation Food Project Hub Kitchen, ensuring equipment, resources and ingredients are appropriate to each class
• Supervise members of staff & volunteers supporting the delivery of cookery classes
• Participate in staff reviews, appraisal and personal development scheme
• Undertake further training as required

Kitchen Management

• Oversee kitchen team, including training, scheduling, and managing their daily tasks.
• Ensure proper stock control, including the procurement of ingredients, maintaining inventory, and minimising food waste. 
• Manage food costs, portion control, and kitchen meeting budgetary requirements.
• Work to guidelines from key stakeholders such funders, Public Health etc. keeping up to date with changes in food policy, strategy and dietary advice. 

Health, Safety, and Compliance

• Implement, manage and monitor all food safety standards, policies and protocols including sanitation, food safety, storage and food handling and distribution.
• Oversee the cleanliness, organisation, and hygiene standards of the kitchen, ensuring compliance with HACCP, COSHH and food safety regulations, ensuring effective and timely liaison with Environmental Health Officers.
• Compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act, with specific responsibility for the health safety and welfare of all personnel within their control.  
• Reports all accidents and/or incidents and near misses in accordance with the organisations’ procedures.

People Management

•  Working closely with the Head of Operations and Food, provide effective leadership, management and supervision to kitchen staff, volunteers, setting clear priorities and targets.
• Ensuring that staff and volunteers understand their role responsibilities in line with FSM overall mission and have the resources, capacity and capability to effectively undertake their duties.
• Ensure and support adequate training and development of staff and volunteers within the team.
• Participate positively in FSM people management processes ensuring organisation and team development, undertaking all aspects of line management responsibility including supervision, development and appraisals for teams.
• Ensure the service is delivered by teams in accordance with FareShare Midlands Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Staff Wellbeing Policies and maintain the values and culture of the FSM.
• Recruit, support and manage volunteers and staff teams.

Person Specification

Essential Experience, Skills & Competencies

• Minimum of 3 -5 years in a Chef/Kitchen Manager/ CDP or similar role.
• Expertise in various cooking techniques and styles.
• Ability to engage with a diverse range of people including corporate guests with strong customer service skills.
• Strong leadership, time management, and organisational skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and handle multiple tasks.
• Knowledge of kitchen safety, food hygiene, and sanitation regulations.
• Intermediate food hygiene level 3.
• First Aid Certificate.
• Able to travel and work weekends.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working in a charitable organisation
• Experience of working with volunteers in a charitable setting
• Experience of working with surplus food
• Culinary degree
• Mentoring/ Coaching experience

Competencies and behaviours

• Creativity and passion for food.
• Attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Team-oriented and a strong leader.
• An understanding of, and sympathy with FareShare’s mission.
• Flexibility of approach and ability to work in a team and across other internal teams.

 How to Apply

 To apply, please submit:

• A supporting statement demonstrating your suitability for the role and explaining your interest in FareShare Midlands.
• Your CV.

We continue to strive to ensure that the profile of our staff and volunteers reflects the diverse communities we serve across the Midlands. As such we encourage and welcome applications from all our communities. We particularly welcome applications from people from ethnically diverse backgrounds as they are currently under-represented within FareShare Midlands. 

“Right to Work” in the UK status is required.

Closing date: Monday 14th July 2025, 9 am
Interviews: As soon as possible and during week commencing 14th July 20

Location: Home based

Contract: Fixed term until 31 March 2026 – Full time 35hrs per week

Salary: £27,250 gross per annum

Closing Date: 21 July 2025

Assessment Day: 5 August 2025

Are you looking for a new opportunity?

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.

We are currently looking for a Growth and Development Worker based in England to join our team. This is an externally funded post which will be focused on opening new provision and supporting existing provision in order to reduce waiting lists within specific funding areas. This is a very varied and rewarding role that requires someone who is self-motivated, organised, creative, tenacious, positive, IT competent and with a real interest in people. You need to be able to coach, empower and inspire our volunteers and cadets, both in person and remotely, to grow the Sea Cadets.

Responsibilities

• Delivering a variety of training sessions on, for example, recruitment of cadets and volunteers
• Developing new growth and recruitment tools and ideas
• Promoting flexible volunteering and the volunteer strategy
• Assisting with running our social media accounts
• Working with and empowering our volunteers to develop plans for growth
• Planning and setting up Juniors Sections in new and existing locations/units
• Delivering assemblies in schools
• Forming part of various working groups with colleagues to develop the tools, resources and processes needed to increase the positive impact of the Growth and Development team.
• Supporting the delivery of funded outreach projects

Requirements

• Previous experience of working with volunteers
• Experience delivering on multiple project plans simultaneously
• Ability to build and maintain excellent relationships with a variety of stakeholders remotely and face-to-face
• Experience delivering workshops and/or training
• Self-motivated and able to manage your time and workload effectively
• Flexible and enthusiastic
• Able to work as a team player with creative ideas and solutions who will empower our volunteers to make a difference to the lives of even more young people across the UK

For further information, please download the attached Recruitment Pack.

Benefits

• Flexible Working hours and a hybrid culture
• Cycle to work scheme and Season Ticket Loan
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Life assurance (4x salary) for those that join the pension
• Private medical insurance
• Pension (employer contribution up to 10%)
• 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.
• National staff conference: All employees come together once a year to reflect on the past year and celebrate success at our offsite staff conference. This is a great opportunity to listen to employees' views, and for employees to network, share information and socialise.

If you are interested in this Growth and Development vacancy, please apply now!

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 a criminal record check.

The Research Manager will work in a small team that is responsible for commissioning and managing high quality, robust social research, and for synthesising and disseminating evidence of what works to support the most disadvantaged young people into good jobs.

About the role:

The Research Manager will support all aspects of Youth Futures research, from project development to impact.

This will include:

• helping to develop our research strategy
• identifying research questions alongside colleagues in Youth Futures
• working closely with our research partners and suppliers so that projects are delivered on time and to budget; and ensuring that all research outputs are consistently high quality and make clear, practical and impactful recommendations for practice and policy.

This role can be based at any of our hubs located in Birmingham, Leeds or London.  We currently operate a hybrid model of two-days per week in the office and three-days from home.

How to apply:

Apply via our website. A full job description and person spec can be found in the job recruitment pack. 

Due to receiving high volumes of interest in our opportunities, this vacancy may close earlier than the advertised deadline. To ensure your application is considered, please submit it as soon as possible.

Job Title: Floating Support Worker

Location: Warwickshire
Salary: £25,857.12 per annum
Contract type: Full Time, Permanent

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

This is an opportunity to join Refuge as a Floating Support Worker to provide high quality practical and emotional support to survivors of domestic abuse and their children living in our dispersed refuge accommodation in Warwickshire. This service will provide emergency accommodation across Warwickshire with high-quality domestic abuse support, ‘by-and-for’ services for survivors of domestic abuse and their children. 

The post holder will provide high quality support and safety planning to survivors and their children who are fleeing domestic abuse. This includes enabling survivors to access housing, welfare, benefits and legal advice.  A key requirement is to provide personal welfare support and to ensure that survivors are provided with a safe, supportive and welcoming environment in accordance with Refuge’s philosophical principles.

The Floating Support Worker (FSW) will carry a caseload of survivors of domestic abuse to enable them to provide a more holistic and intensive support package. They will work closely with survivors from the point of crisis through to move on from the emergency accommodation. FSWs will work in partnership with both statutory and voluntary sector partners to ensure that the whole range of survivors’ needs are met.

As part of this role, you will be required to participate in an out-of-hours on call rota.

This post is restricted to women due to the nature of the role. The Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (part 1) of the Equality Act 2010 applies.

Closing Date: 09:00am 14 July 2025

Interview Date: 23 July 2025

Refuge is the UK’s largest provider of specialist services, and we are proud to be a leader in our field and an employer of choice, with leading edge systems for supervision, quality management and development. 

Refuge offers a variety of exciting opportunities to learn, develop and grow in your career. We recognise the value everyone brings to the organisation to achieve our aims and are dedicated to developing and rewarding our staff. More details of our benefits can be found in Job Information Pack.