Community Manager Jobs in Southwark, Greater London

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a real difference, every day, to people from all walks of life? This is an exciting opportunity for someone already working in an advice role and looking to take the next step in their career to join the Brent Irish Advisory Service (BIAS) as Advice Manager.

The Advice Manager will take the lead on BIAS’s day-to-day advice services, managing a small team of advice specialists to ensure that we provide the highest-quality service to our clients. You will need to have strong people skills and the ability to build good working relationships with staff and clients, along with excellent organisational abilities to ensure that projects are delivered on time.

This role will also involve working with the leadership team to help identify areas for future development and support grant applications and reporting, which will give you the opportunity to have a direct impact on shaping the organisation’s future strategy and direction.

If you are an experienced advice specialist and are looking to step up but don’t have all the skills required, please consider applying as we are willing to consider appointing the right candidate as a training and development role.

KEY WORK AREAS AND MAIN DUTIES

Staff management

• Managing a small advice team, ensuring the quality of the advice provided.
• Providing support and supervision to staff on the delivery of advice services, ensuring that appropriate advice is provided and casework deadlines are met.
• Ensuring good teamwork and lines of communication between staff, volunteers and partner agencies.
• Creating a positive working environment in which equality and diversity are promoted and staff can do their best.

Quality and service delivery

• Leading the welfare advice services, including contributing to possible future expansion.
• Maintaining a small personal caseload (approximately one day’s work per week).
• Working with the Operations Manager to ensure that BIAS maintains the Advice Quality Standard (AQS) and is successful in AQS renewal.
• Leading on monitoring service delivery, recording outcomes and ensuring efficient allocation of resources.
• Managing all aspects of risk relating to advice delivery, complaints handling, safeguarding and GDPR.

Operational support

• Working with the leadership team as required on operational matters, including planning, strategy for future development and grant applications and reporting.

For more information about the role and who we are looking for, please see the attached job pack.

Candidates must be eligible to work in the UK. This role will be based in our advice offices but there may be some options for flexible working (i.e. one or two days per week).

WHAT DOES BIAS DO?

BIAS is a local charity which has supported England’s largest Irish community in Brent for over forty-five years. We deliver our support through our welfare advice drop-in service, our Active Ageing Clubs and our Be-a-friend volunteer scheme. We raise over £1 million in extra income for the most vulnerable every year and have over 3000 attendances at our club services. BIAS has exciting plans for possible further expansion in 2024 and has a range of medium- to long-term grant funding, including from Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Retail Sales Manager to join our Retail Fundraising Team. This role will require the successful candidate to work with the Head of Retail, the Retail Sales Manager and be responsible for supporting the development and delivery of a retail strategy, as well as agreed income and expenditure budgets for the charity’s retail operations.

Staff benefits include, shuttle bus, and more… Read more below

Role Requirements

The post holder will line manage the charity’s Shop Managers, supporting them to achieve agreed income targets. Working with colleagues, this role will also be responsible for proposing and then implementing new business initiatives, such as pop-up opportunities, niche offers and promoting online sales within the team as well as monitoring expenditure in line with budget expectations.

With experience of working in a complex environment, across a large and diverse workforce, you will be exceptionally organised with a high-level of attention to detail. You will naturally possess excellent inter-personal skills, and an ability to consult and positively engage with key stakeholders across the organisation.

Interview Date:  To be confirmed.

Strictly no agencies, please.

About Us

The Children’s Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, providing expert rehabilitation, education, therapy, and care at our national specialist centre in Tadworth, and to children and their families across the UK, via our Brain Injury Community Service.

Boasting a beautiful 24-acre site in Surrey, we are located just outside of London, close to the M25 (accessible via Junction 8, A217 to Tadworth) and easily accessible via National Rail, by way of: Clapham Junction, Sutton, and Epsom.

Staff Benefits

The work we do is highly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuable range of benefits, including, Zest; our staff flexible benefits platform, on-site nursery, free eye tests, enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay, time out days for those experiencing menopause symptoms and time off for gender reassignment.

We also offer additional annual leave days for those with long service, with entitlements ranging from 35 to 41 days (including bank holidays) depending on your length of service.

Other benefits include free on-site parking; a staff shuttle service from Epsom and Sutton train stations to Tadworth Court, subsidised cafeteria, on-site staff accommodation (subject to availability), the ability to retain your NHS pension (where applicable), Teacher’s pension (where applicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme, and the opportunity to develop your career in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Rehabilitation of Offenders

Many roles at The Children’s Trust are exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020) and as such, are subject to an Enhanced DBS check.  Successful applicants will be required to complete an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, which will disclose all unspent convictions and adult cautions and any spent convictions or adult cautions that would not be protected.  The exceptions to this are our retail roles within The Children’s Trust shops, which are subject to Basic DBS checks which will disclose unspent convictions or adult cautions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

To help us achieve our ambition to give children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability the opportunity to live the best life possible, we want to accurately reflect the UK’s diverse population. We want equity, diversity, and inclusion to be at the heart of everything we do, and our people, services, and culture to reflect the diverse needs of all. Through our diversity and inclusion strategy, we have made a commitment to increase the diversity of our charity and create an inclusive culture. We have networks across the organisation working to ensure that these aims are met - including an LGBTQIA2S+ group, Ethnic Diversity Group, and Spark – our broad EDI group. Read more about our EDI work here. We welcome applications from all who share our ambition regardless of background. We will strive to ensure that any reasonable adjustments are made in respect of interview and working arrangements.

Online Searches

In accordance with statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance, online searches will be conducted for shortlisted candidates before interview. The online searches will be conducted by a person who is independent of the interview and selection process and will focus on relevant information returned via searches of the candidate’s name (and variations thereof). Social media searches will be limited to professional platforms such as LinkedIn. Any concerns relating to suitability for work with children and young people will be forwarded to the interview panel, for discussion during the interview.

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Events team at The Not Forgotten as a hands-on operational Events Manager. We are looking for a professional events coordinator who seeks greater autonomy and managerial responsibility, while still being an expert at and willing to deliver the nuts and bolts of a wide variety of events within a very small team. This is all about exceptional people skills, pragmatic event delivery and ensuring maximum impact for our beneficiaries/benefactors/supporters in support of the Head of Events (Delivery) and Head of Fundraising. 

Overall responsibility of the job: Working in support of Head of Events (Delivery) and Head of Fundraising, to be TNF Events Manager; coordinating events as part of a small team. The position supports the delivery of a diverse national events programme and some international activities.

Your Role: As an event professional, ideally you will have a minimum of 3 years’ experience gained in an event coordination role and be ready to grow into a role with greater responsibility and autonomy. This is a hands-on event coordination role in a small team. Having a diplomatic and friendly manner with strong verbal and written communication skills, will be essential towards building relationships both internally and externally and while communicating with volunteers and beneficiaries. Event management/coordination skills are a key priority within this position, (especially delegate/beneficiary and event administration), combined with a meticulous, accurate and disciplined approach to work with strong IT and data management skills. Being able to prioritise a varied and busy workload and deliver to deadlines. Due to the nature of this exciting position within the charity, there is a requirement to attend events and meetings outside of normal working hours (including weekends) and travel as necessary, along with a relationship with beneficiaries, supporters, and gatekeepers. 

London Community Land Trust: Communities Manager

Do you share our passion and commitment to empowering communities to create permanently affordable homes? Would you welcome the opportunity to join a not-for-profit developer of community-led affordable homes working to ensure that people are no longer priced out of the neighbourhood they grew up in? Do you have the necessary experience, expertise and tenacity to successfully deliver community-led campaigns?

If the answer to these questions is YES, we would love to hear from you.

Decent, secure, and affordable homes are getting harder to come by, and there is widespread recognition and acceptance that London needs more affordable homes.

What remains is a gulf between those who are attempting to deliver affordable housing and the communities that need these homes. This is the gap that London CLT successfully bridges, working with local communities to create truly affordable homes that are owned by local people, and which puts Londoners in charge of how their neighbourhoods develop.

Proud to be at the forefront of developments in this space, we were the first to develop and sell homes, starting with our flagship project at St Clement’s in Mile End. You will be joining London CLT at a particularly exciting time as we enter a period of significant growth. We have several other projects under development and have the potential to do so much more.

Communities Manager

£35,000 to £40,000 per annum, Spitalfields, London

Hybrid, Part-time or Full-time

Our expectations for our new Communities Manager are high. Reporting to our Executive Director and part of a small, friendly, and growing team. You will be responsible for supporting communities in London to develop new genuinely and permanently affordable community-led housing; the development and implementation of our approach to the residents we serve, including allocations, management, resale, and stewardship; supporting local community steering groups building relationships, supporting groups and local leaders, and coordinating the implementation of our social impact strategy.

This position also offers a real opportunity to contribute to the future direction of London CLT. Requiring an exceptional individual with a deeply held conviction for and in support of participation and grassroots-led ideas for change, a successful track record of leading or participating in successful community-led campaigns, and excellent interpersonal and project management skills, with the ability to build relationships and exert influence over a diverse range of stakeholders and deliver results.

If this appeals to you and you would welcome the opportunity to play your part in the achievement of our future ambitions, we look forward to hearing from you.

Closing Date: Sunday, 12th May at 12 Noon

Final Panel Interviews: Wednesday, 15th May

Click on how to apply for more information.

The Winch is a dynamic children and young persons’ charity in north Camden which delivers a cradle to community pipeline of opportunity, through family support, play, youth-led, sports and social action programmes, working alongside children, young people and parents to develop their strengths, skills and sense of belonging of purpose. We want to appoint a dynamic Community Library Manager to run the library and grow our provision, based on the three key themes that reflect our aspirations; Belsize Reads, Belsize Creates and Belsize Connects. They will be a friendly and welcoming face to a wide range of library visitors, be opportunity-focussed and keen to take the initiative. They will champion the power of reading and creative arts for all

Hours: Part-time, 3 days per week (8 hours within the hours of 9 am to 6 pm with 1 hour’s lunch break) + one day of weekend support hub per month

Working days: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (and one weekend day a month)

Reporting to: CEO 

Location: Mostly office-based with once-a-month offsite location (office, occasional home and offsite) Office is based in the City of London near Bank station

Salary: £18,000 per annum for 3 days a week (Pro-rata of £30k)

*Overtime is compensated either by pay or time off in lieu 

Holiday: Pro-rata of 30 days a year excluding bank holidays plus holiday office closure (before New Year’s holidays) and 1 day of annual mental health leave

Contract: 18 months temporary contract, 6 months probationary period

Start date: 1st July 2024 (Notice period will be considered with those who have notice periods) The first round of interviews will be scheduled for the week of 5th June 2024.

Occupational Requirement: The Vavengers is an equal opportunities employer. In line with legal requirements and the nature of the work required for this role, we are seeking women-only applications as an occupational requirement under Schedule 9 Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

The Vavengers is a proud Living Wage Employer, Certified Halo Workplace and member of the Sunflower Network for Hidden Disabilities, also member of Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse. 

We are The Vavengers. We listen, we support and we take action. We educate, collaborate, aid and empower. We are a survivor, migrant and female-led organisation, standing with and for every woman affected by Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and all other forms of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) - let’s help end it together.

Key Responsibilities

Community mobilisation, organisation, fundraising, case management, survivor support

Overall Responsibilities

• Facilitate educational and direct support programs, through data-driven research and community engagement

• Create a stable foundation for projects, events, and development

• Organise, run and develop The Vavengers award-winning support & wellness hubs for women and girls

• Manage referral process connecting women and girls with other organisations and local authorities

• Develop bids and secure grants to cover core and project costs

• Manage the nationwide expansion of the support hub model 

• Build and maintain partnerships with aligned stakeholders

• Lead and improve community projects through concept development, fundraising and relationship management

• Support the C-suite with business development in line with the business plan

• Support the wider team on events & campaign management 

Day-to-day tasks

• Organise, run and report on support & wellness hubs for women and girls, and be the face of the support hub programme 

• Support the community through referrals to local authorities and partner organisations on housing, immigration, food security and access to other essential services. Following up and communicating with beneficiaries throughout the process 

• Identify and eliminate safeguarding risks

• Identify need gaps within communities and fulfil crisis and emergency management plans, help prepare the organisation for unexpected urgent response work

• Amplify the voice of the communities we support 

• Identify and highlight the ongoing issues faced by the women and girls we support with the team and external stakeholders

• Organise and manage programme facilitators and role-related volunteers

• Map out fundraising opportunities and secure funding through written grant applications and manage funding processes from start to end including mid and end-journey reports 

• Develop and maintain the existing community ambassadorship programme by listening to community needs and helping to implement solutions

• Maintain strong relationships. Including with Community Ambassadors, Wellness Ambassadors, programme facilitators, existing or potential partners and funders, and be a reliable point of contact for seamless communication

• Expand community engagement through offsite outreach and partnerships with local councils, grassroots organisations, healthcare professionals, community leaders and sector partners (*The Vavengers works with over 150 partnerships across the UK)

• Work collaboratively to ensure that new programs align with the charity’s mission, vision and purpose

• Be an active advocate for The Vavengers mission and community

Additional Responsibilities

• Oversee governance activities of volunteers (volunteer contracts, reports and management)

• Managing DBS clearances and background checks for the required board, staff and volunteers and acting as one of the safeguarding officers of the organisation

• Assist with and contribute to offsite educational workshops where appropriate

• Organising the sourcing and delivery of essential items from partners

• Managing project budgets and an expense account

Desirable skills and attributes:

• Strong emotional intelligence

• Innovative thinking

• Fundraising and grant management

• Clear communication

• Process management & improvement

• Digital literacy

• Referral & case management

• Business development

• Solution-focused approach

• Data-driven

• Proactive

• Start-up development

• Project management

• Community leadership

• NGO financial literacy

• Trauma-informed

• Public speaking

• Workshop facilitation

• Understanding of NGO structures & processes

• Growth mindset

Essential software use: Salesforce, Google Workspace, Eventbrite, Adobe, Squarespace, Brevo, Survey Monkey 

*The Vavengers promotes the use of technology to reduce the pressure of administrative tasks and to make our work more efficient, there might be more digital developments as the organisation grows. 

Checks and training: Please note, that this role will be subject to a clear DBS check. The Vavengers will also provide mandatory training required by the role including Safeguarding for Children and Vulnerable Adults Level 3, Gender-Based Violence training, language and terminology and necessary software training.

In return for your dedication, The Vavengers will offer you

• In-house and external mentoring & meaningful career development opportunities

• The opportunity to work on ending Gender-Based Violence and creating a just society

• Inclusive, bold and creative culture

• The opportunity to be part of a start-up development

• Flexible working opportunities

• Pro-rata 30 days of annual leave (excluding bank holidays), plus holiday closures and mental health day

• A prestigious headquarters near the Bank station

• Employee counselling programme and other well-being perks

By submitting an application to The Vavengers, you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy and for The Vavengers to use your personal data for the purposes of processing your job application.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about this role please get in touch with us,

We are looking for an experienced Operations Manager to cover parental leave. 

The successful candidate will have accountability for several key areas of operational delivery of BITC’s programmes across England, Scotland and Wales. This role will ensure the high quality and consistency of performance through these aspects of operational delivery and development, working closely with businesses, internal stakeholders and external partners. This role is responsible for leading and managing a high-performing team, delivering programmes and contractual obligations across their patch. The post holder will lead on driving programme/contractual performance (both KPI’s and financial) motivating and inspiring the team.  They will also have responsibility for ensuring continued funding from key partners and securing new income; monitoring and reporting on this important activity as it contributes to BITC's vision within a set geographical area or programme/project areas.

The successful candidate will have knowledge and experience of:

· Managing the delivery of contract and programmes to meet contractual obligations

· Working with business, schools and/or community organisations to create beneficial relationships

· Providing leadership, motivation and development for a dispersed team to achieve excellent results for businesses and beneficiaries

· Securing funding for impact programmes

This is a fixed term contract for approximately 10 months to cover parental leave. 

The location is flexible - candidates can be based at home or at their nearest BITC office.

The salary level for this role reflects the contractual location and the programme funding.  The salary range is £33,120 to 41,000 per annum (regional) and £36,225 to £44,000 London office based. 

The role is full-time - 35 hours per week.

Closing date: 26 May 2024 at midnight

Interview date: w/c 3 June 2024 

Do you have experience connecting university students and non-profits for mutual gain? Are you a storyteller and collaborator?

We are looking for a Community Research Initiative Manager to lead the innovation, delivery, and evaluation of a range of community-based student opportunities at UCL. This currently includes: collaborative PGT dissertations; research skills volunteering; our new Pro bono Community Research Service; and developing community-based class projects for university colleagues. We are seeking an innovative, creative, and passionate person to fill the role of Community Research Initiative manager.

This is an exciting role in a unique organisation.  Our vision is of an outstanding experience for all UCL students and to be one of the best students’ unions in the UK and the world.  We aim to build a vibrant and empowered student community with real influence in UCL and beyond, that enables students to enjoy their time at university; pursue their interests and passions; see the world in new ways; and develop the skills and experience to change the world for the better.

We are a registered charity employing over 100 career staff and 300 student staff, delivering a wide range of services and representative functions for UCL students. We have the widest portfolio of services of any student organisation in the country, managing UCL’s extracurricular programmes for sport, music, drama, dance, media, volunteering, academic societies and intercultural engagement; providing a wide range of fantastic social spaces; leading on student democracy and representation across UCL; and offering excellent student support services.

It's an exciting time our growing organisation as we lead the delivery of UCL’s groundbreaking new Student Life Strategy. This is enabling us to build more programmes to improve students’ mental and physical wellbeing, promote genuine equity for all, build students’ skills and confidence, develop their international connections and intercultural skills, and make a real contribution to our local community.

We support hybrid working. Excellent benefits including defined benefit pension scheme and generous holiday entitlement. We are proud of high levels of staff engagement and pride ourselves on being a great place to work.

We are looking for someone to manage our most precious asset, our Lived Experts Research Community, helping us to develop and grow the Community further to have an even bigger social impact in businesses.

This is an ideal role for someone with an interest in qualitative insight, lived experience and social impact. You will manage the community, be the main point of contact for community members, help develop the community, work with clients and take part in insight-gathering projects.

Our purpose at Three Hands is to create business value and social value, hand in hand. Three Hands Insight is the Social Insight arm of Three Hands, focused on enabling businesses to gain insight from charities and ‘lived experts’ in a wide variety of societal issues and vulnerability circumstances. 

Current and recent projects and clients include the Inclusive Design Panel for NatWest, a series of vulnerability insight sessions for Lloyds Banking Group and testing back-up power solutions for vulnerable people for energy companies.

Please see the attached job description for more information on Three Hands Insight, the areas of responsibility for the role and the skills and interests were are looking for...

The Ripple Pond is a charity that supports adult family members of physically and/or psychologically injured British Armed Forces personnel and veterans. Many of these individuals and family members are hard to reach and often isolated.

Your role will be to ensure that more and more of the military community, professionals and other interested parties know who we are and how to access our support.

You will also help to organise our exciting programme of online talks and activities for our Members (service-users) to help ensure they are well-informed, involved and feel part of a supportive community. Making sure that Members are always involved in generating ideas and production.

We are looking for someone who is dynamic and determined, but you also need to be invested in our mission as a charity and care about people.

This role is about;

• working with a wide range of groups and individuals to help raise awareness of the charity and to create opportunities to identify new Members (service users);

• being responsible for networking, identifying, and establishing partnerships with key individuals and organisations and nurturing existing relationships;

• developing and rolling out strategies to engage with hard-to-reach and isolated military carers and families;

• coordinating a range of activities (mainly online) to deliver information to Members, potential Members, referrers, and other stakeholders. These will include online talks from staff, Members and other “subject matter experts”; and

• helping to ensure the charity continues to understand the developing needs of its Members.

Although the role is home-based, you will not be working in isolation; you will be supported by the managers and workforce.

All our staff are home-based, and we maintain a strong caring culture of teamwork, mutual support and promoting wellbeing at work.

You may be exposed to traumatic narratives from our Membership, for many this is a reality in their lives. We do provide an extensive framework of clinical and managerial support but you do need to be an emotionally and psychologically resilient individual.

The selection process:

• Applications close: Sunday 19th May 2024

• Long-listing:

• Selection Task sent to Long-Listed candidates: Wednesday 22nd May

• Deadline for return of Selection Task: Sunday 29th May

• Short-Listing

• Online Interviews (via MS Teams): Friday 7th June

As you can see above, if you are shortlisted, you will be sent a selection task.

This task will involve you preparing a plan to engage with a hard-to-reach sector of the UK Military Communities. The identity of this community will be provided with the tasking briefing.

The Intention of engaging with this community will be to:

• Raise awareness of The Ripple Pond and its services with this community.

• Increase our understanding of this community’s needs.

• Increase the charity's Membership (service users) from this community.

We wish you luck in your application

Are you looking for a role which gives you purpose?We are looking for an ambitious candidate who will have several years fundraising’ experience, particularly of increasing income and cultivating supporters.  We need you to develop and implement our fundraising strategy by contributing to agreed objectives, income targets and other key performance indicators within the timeframe and budget specified while contributing to our purpose of helping vulnerable people to live in dignity and to achieve their potential. 

Anna Freud is a world-leading mental health charity for children, young people and their families. Our mission is to close the gap in wellbeing and mental health by advancing, translating, delivering, and sharing the best science and practice with everyone who impacts the lives of children, young people and their families. More information about Anna Freud is available on our website.

We value diversity and aim to have diverse workforce that reflects the community and our service users, in line with our vision, values and inclusion commitments. We encourage applications from all sections of the community.

Anna Freud have formed the first pan-London Alliance with Safer London, St Giles Trust, New Horizon Youth Centre, and The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to deliver the Children and Young People’s Violence and Exploitation Support Service (CYP-V&ESS). Please view the Job Pack for more information about the Alliance.

The Alliance Manager is pivotal in realising the Alliance vision of a future where all young Londoners, their families and communities – regardless of background – can thrive, live safely, and fulfil their potential, free from violence and exploitation. Through compassionate leadership, the Alliance Manager will establish and nurture a collegiate environment and integrated, single Alliance culture across the provider charities. Please view the Job Profile for the experience, knowledge and skillset required for this role.

Please email Recruitment with any job enquiries, or if you require assistance or experience difficulties when applying. Please note that successful candidate(s) will be asked to evidence their Right to Work in the UK post-job offer – we do not hold a sponsor licence therefore we are unable to provide Visa sponsorship.

Location

Hybrid working (a mixture of onsite and home/remote working). Staff are working onsite for at least 20% of their working hours at our London site (4-8 Rodney Street, London N1 9JH). There will be a requirement to visit other Alliance sites, as and when required. Please view the Job Profile for locations.

Contract duration

Permanent.

Closing date for applications

Midday (12pm), Monday 20 May 2024.

Notification of interview

Shortlisted applicants will be notified no later than Tuesday 28 May 2024. During shortlisting, applicants are anonymously assessed using the criteria visible in the Job Profile. Please note: due to the high volume of applications received, we will not be able to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Interviews

Interviews will be held in June 2024 (exact dates to be confirmed).

How to apply

Please visitour Careers page to register and apply online. We are unable to accept CVs and kindly request no contact from agencies.

Role:  Communities Coordinator

Hours:    37.5 per week Monday to Friday

Contract:  Permanent

Salary:    £25,000-£33,000

Holiday:  25 days per year plus Bank Holidays 

Based:    Home Based with travel to London and across the UK

Probationary Period:  3 months

Reports to:  Head of Campaigns

Benefits:  An additional 3 days holiday between Christmas and New Year / Flexitime policy / 5% pension contribution

We are River Action

We are a small and agile campaigning organisation on a mission to rescue Britain’s rivers from a toxic cocktail of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution. We support community action, galvanise and mobilise public opinion, influence government policy, and call out destructive industrial practices to incentivise changes that end pollution. 

We are building a talented team of positive disrupters and community mobilisers to deliver our strategy to urgently protect and restore our rivers for the benefit of community and wildlife.

Britain’s rivers are our life support system and they are dying. We need urgent action to bring them back to life.

Who we are looking for:

We are looking for highly engaged people who share our passion for rivers, wildlife and people who bring a creative, collaborative and investigative approach to campaigning. For this role we are looking for a confident and resilient community organiser who can build strong relationships to support communities to create change locally.

What you’ll be doing:

The Communities Coordinator will support community groups to campaign for clean rivers at a local level. By facilitating grass roots action you’ll be galvanising a strong and powerful network of community activists that have the power to create change both locally and nationally. You’ll be responsible for taking River Action’s national campaign strategy to a local level. You’ll work closely with the Campaigns Manager and the wider team to develop a Community Toolkit (including advice for activists, and guidance and services for communications, fundraising, legal support and citizen science projects) to support communities as well as provide strategic support to empower community activists to campaign for clean rivers. You’ll work closely with the Campaigns Manager and wider team to amplify the stories of those taking action at a local level and connect campaign groups to the wider national agenda. You’ll be working collaboratively with the River Action team to devise, develop and deliver our strategy ensuring our programme of community engagement is equitable, diverse and inclusive. You’ll be working closely with other organisations to ensure our community support compliments the work of others and meets the needs of community groups we work with. 

Main Duties 

• Contribute to the development and implementation of River Action’s campaign strategy.

• Develop River Action’s Community Toolkit as a package of support for local campaign groups. 

• Identify community groups within river catchments areas River Action is working and build positive and impactful relationships..

• Organise site visits to develop good relationships and in-depth understanding of local issues impacting river health.

• Convene and align local stakeholders around river catchment and regional campaigns.

• Facilitate local community groups’ campaigns and provide support in line with our toolkit’s support package.

• Facilitate the creation of community group citizen science projects, integrated within a national system for gathering and sharing evidence of pollution.

• Organise community crowdfunding for citizen science and communications.

• Plan and host webinars, training sessions and online and in person events.

• Develop good working relationships with regulators including Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Scottish Environment and Protection Agency. 

• Support the CEO and Campaigns Manager to identify and deliver legal challenges at a local level.

• Maintain and develop partnerships and working relationships with other key groups and stakeholders working in similar areas of work to River Action.

• Identify opportunities to engage, empower and expand River Action’s network of supporters. 

• Support the Communications Coordinator to create inspiring and engaging digital media content and news stories, including taking photographs and videos and conducting interviews.

• Support the Campaigns Manager and Communication Coordinator in responding to the reactive news agenda.

• Contribute to the Monitoring and Evaluation system for demonstrating impact of River Action’s community engagement work, reporting against KPIs. 

• Contribute to fundraising efforts particularly crowdfunding and drafting of funding proposals to support Campaigns and Fundraising Teams and the charity’s mission.

• Work as a motivated and collaborative team player within a fast-paced team.

• Carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the post as requested by your line manager or any other member of the River Action team.

Other Duties & Responsibilities 

• Adopt a positive approach to personal and professional development; engaging in one to one meetings and relevant training.

• Be aware of, and act on, relevant health and safety responsibilities as an employee of River Action and adhere to these wherever you are working.

• To maintain confidentiality in all areas of work at River Action.

• UK travel will be required. Training & operational activities may require overnight stays away from home, in which case standard River Action procedures apply.

• Demonstrate a strong commitment to creating an inclusive, equal and diverse workplace.

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across River Action to collectively deliver our ethos and mission.

What you’ll bring

The position will suit an energetic, collaborative, resilient community organiser with a passion for aligning and mobilising communities to drive environmental change. The ideal person will be an excellent communicator, a natural convener, well-organised, and thrive within a dynamic and fast-paced environment. The person will have a passion to protect and renew our waterways and hold those responsible for environmental destruction to account.

• Experience in working with and supporting community groups.

• Experience in developing guidance documents and toolkits.

• Expertise in convening and galvanising people around a common cause, using a diplomatic and sympathetic approach combined with urgency.

• A head for organisation and excellent time management working in a calm and logical way.

• An understanding of the issues that are impacting our rivers.

• The ability to establish and maintain effective contacts and relationships with senior and influential external individuals and bodies.

• The ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with a wide range of people both verbally and in writing including the media, community groups, other NGO representatives, supporters and followers on social media.

• Great IT literacy.

• Ability to work independently and take initiative to solve problems.

• Ability to work flexible hours as necessary.

• Ability to travel to remote locations not necessarily well-served by public transport.

• A good team player with a willingness to muck in as and where required.

• Ability to think clearly even when working under pressure.

• A passion for River Action’s mission and vision.

Diversity and Inclusion

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies show that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single criteria. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace. So if you like the look of this role but your past experience does not align perfectly with everything in the job description, we would still like to hear from you. You may be just the right person for this or other roles. 

How to apply

To apply, please submit your CV, a cover letter explaining how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role and a written submission as described below  to jobs at riveractionuk dot com. Only applications including all three documents will be accepted.

Written Submission:

This year, River Action will be developing its Communities Toolkit aimed at local campaign groups and activists seeking to develop their own local campaigns to rescue their rivers locally. As part of your application, we would like you to put together a one page document outlining a plan for the toolkit, mapping out the main structure and content of the toolkit and how you would deliver it to communities. We will particularly be looking at your style of communication and creative skills. Should you be successful in being invited to interview, you may be asked to present this idea.

Closing Date: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until 23:00 Friday 24 May. Screening calls and first-round interviews may be conducted with short-listed candidates before the application deadline. The deadline may be closed early if the right candidate is found. 

Interview Date: Interviews expected to be held from 24 May via video conference.

Citizens UK 

Citizens UK is a people power alliance of diverse local communities working together for the common good. Our mission is to develop leaders, strengthen civic organisations and make change. Our 550 member communities are deeply rooted in their local areas and connect every day to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Through the method of community organising we enable people experiencing powerlessness to develop their leadership and come together with the power and strategy to make change.  

This leads to hundreds of neighbourhood improvements - from zebra crossings outside primary schools to renovated public toilets in cemeteries. And it leads to some of the biggest campaign impacts in the UK, such as winning over £2 billion of wages through the UK Living Wage campaign, securing a legal cap on the cost of credit to control exploitative lending, and ending the detention of children for immigration purposes. We enable local campaigns to grow into large-scale social change projects such as the Living Wage Foundation, Parents and Communities Together (PACT), Sponsor Refugees, and Refugees for Justice, that form an integral part of our theory of change. The most prominent of these is the rapidly growing Living Wage Foundation with a network of over 14,000 accredited Living Wage Employers across the UK. 

South London Citizens 

South London Citizens is a thriving chapter with a growing team of ~18 organisers and project staff. We are building the power of communities in South London through borough alliances (in Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth, Wandsworth, Merton, Croydon) and the wider region by developing community leadership and supporting people to take action on what matters most to them. Over the past three years, we have worked in partnership with mental health trusts to deliver a pioneering organising project, South London Listens (SLL), to prevent mental ill-health, and more recently with wider South London NHS leaders to take action on a range of issues (from low wages to housing conditions) that impact our communities’ health.

Purpose 

We are looking for two Associate Organisers to join our thriving and dynamic team in South London building the power of local communities. These roles will support local organising, and have a specific focus on health and living wage organising.

In this exciting and innovative role, you will work with community organisations, including faith institutions, schools, universities, and community groups. Your primary responsibility will be to

1. build ‘Be Well’ teams to support the wellbeing of their communities, as part of the South London Listens partnership; 

2. find and develop new community leaders within their organisations; and 

3. take action to tackle the social determinants of health inequality (e.g. lack of migration status, racism, housing conditions, low wages and precarious work).

One or both of the roles will also include specific organising with low paid workers to lead the fight for a real living wage and living hours. 

With your passion, energy, and commitment to democracy, you will support communities to build the power they need to win justice and make a real and lasting impact. Join us in the fight for a healthier and more equitable future for South London.

A central focus of an Associate Organiser is their own development: learning the craft of Community Organising under the guidance of an experienced Community Organiser. An Associate Organiser is working towards becoming a competent practitioner of the craft of broad-based community organising methodology, and focuses on the building of relational power, the recruitment and retention of dues-paying institutions, the development of leaders, the strengthening of member institutions, leader-led public actions, and the winning of systemic change. Your learning and development will be paramount in the first few months as the responsibilities given to your experience and skills develop.

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t feel like you fit all the criteria. We are particularly interested in people who are angry at issues of injustice, who have demonstrated taking action on that in some way, who can communicate effectively, who can build relationships of trust with a diverse range of people, and who believe in the capacity of ordinary people to make extraordinary change! We are less interested in whether you understand every word in the responsibility list below or whether you have worked as a professional organiser before. You are also encouraged to reach out if you have any questions about whether you might be suitable for the role. 

Main Responsibilities 

Working as an Associate Organiser in South London for Citizens UK your main responsibilities will be to:

Grow and deliver on the priorities of South London Listens and our broader Health organising 

• Build and support new Be Well Hubs in a range of institutions in your allocated boroughs. Including identifying new institutions, delivering training, and supporting them once they are established.

• Work with other organisers to deliver on the priorities identified by communities that are part of the South London Listens project

• Ensure reporting and capturing of stories of the South London Listens project are captured and shared to celebrate and grow the project.

At least one of the roles includes supporting our organising efforts for more just work and wages 

• Identify and develop worker leaders

• Take action with South London Citizens leaders to increase the number of living wage and living hours employers in London 

• Develop and deliver community organising training for worker leaders 

Build relational power to further the goals of CUK 

• Actively participate in the development of a comprehensive power analysis appropriate to the desired sphere of influence for each project/assignment

• Establish working relationships with identified leaders and demonstrate ability to move them into action, including as part of the wider alliance; taking the initiative to establish new relationships as required

• Conduct one-to-ones to develop relationships with leaders and understand their concerns.

• Tell a wide range of Community Organising stories effectively to influence others and achieve CUK’s goals

Identify and develop relational leaders prepared to act with others for the common good 

• Identify and discern actual and potential leaders with the passion and ability to drive change in their borough alliance and through South London Listens.

• Proactively create opportunities for leaders to develop, in particular tertiary or new leaders; nominate for training on the core taster curriculum and Be Well Hubs training.

• Successfully deliver workshops in local institutions, South London Citizens community organising introductions and Be Well training.

Strengthen institutions and develop Broad Based Organisations 

• Ensure good understanding of the basic interests and traditions of typical member institutions

• Organise a small cluster of up to 5 standard member institutions or 1 strategic partner to work together for the achievement of common goals

• Support pre-existing core teams and create/develop new core teams to provide leadership at local level and in South London Listens

Support leaders through the Cycle of Action in order to create change  

• Support member institutions and Be Well Hubs in running listening campaigns

• Organise neighbourhood actions; demonstrating increasing independence in working without the need for close supervision

• Take the lead in supporting groups of leaders through the cycle of action on neighbourhood issues; aiming to achieve neighbourhood and health wins

• Evaluate the effectiveness of actions; demonstrating ability to incorporate lessons learned into future actions

Contribute to CUK’s financial viability through effective fundraising & financial management  

• Contribute to fundraising to the value of at least £20,000 per annum through one or some of the following: 

• WWritinge regular updates on the work to be shared with the funders and maintain a healthy relationship with them

• Recruit new dues paying institutions; work together with a more senior Organiser to negotiate annual membership fees and letters of understanding

• Liaise with the Finance & Operations team to update the membership database and ensure timely invoicing and fee collection

Contribute to effective teamwork and live out our ‘Inclusion’ value 

• Be proactive concerning personal professional development and wellbeing: i.e. by reading widely, developing a healthy work-life balance and demonstrating ability to reflect on own organising craft & improve on self-identified weaknesses

• Demonstrate ability to work effectively with colleagues and participate in a team

• Produce all required reports and follow CUK’s procedures on time and to the required standards

• Contribute towards an inclusive environment for all colleagues and community leaders, so that our spaces are a place where all are able to participate 

Participate in the development of the craft of Community Organising and play a role in the Guild of COs  

• Schedule an average of at least three 1-2-1 relational meetings into your daily schedule as a core part of your professional practice

• Commit 10 working days per annum (pro rata) to the preparation, delivery, and evaluation of Citizens UK National Community Leadership Training or other local or regional trainings or other activities organised by the Learning and Innovation team.

• Participate in a Guild Team and help it develop as a Community of Practice that enables Organisers across the UK to develop their skills and experience.

Personal Specification 

(D) Desirable, (E) Essential 

EXPERIENCE 

• Previous campaign experience (D) 

• Evidence of having acted in a leadership role with peers or in local community activities (e.g. within a faith institution or clubs/societies) (E) 

• Experience of project management; evidence of having delivered work on time and to standard (E) 

• Able to demonstrate previous experience of ‘learning by doing’ in a work or project environment; evidence of being open to feedback and comfortably coachable (E) 

KEY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE 

• Ability to speak additional languages, especially Spanish for one of the roles (D) 

• Excellent interpersonal awareness – ability to listen well and appreciate a viewpoint or opinion that is different from one’s own (E) 

• Excellent concern for impact – ability to adapt own behaviour to address the needs or concerns of someone else (E)

• Good communication skills – able to speak with conviction and passion; and to make a logical argument (E)

• PERSONAL QUALITIES & VALUES 

• A self-starter with ability to take initiative and work independently (E) 

• A passion for justice (E) 

• A positive enthusiasm for working with faith congregations, trade unions, schools, and other community organisations (E) 

• An interest in and experience of politics and public life (E) 

• Able to work in a team (E) 

• Willingness to work within accountable relationships (E) 

• Self-motivated and adaptable (E 

The successful applicant will be required to undertake a satisfactory Enhanced DBS check. DBS checks are renewed on a 3-year cycle. 

Interviews are planned to take place on Wednesday, 12th June (subject to change).

Please note this is a 12-month fix term contract with a possibility to extend, funding permitting.