Information and advice volunteers jobs

Education & Development Manager
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 35 hours per week Monday to Friday
Location: SIA House, Milton Keynes, MK6. We offer hybrid working with the expectation of three days per week in the office.
Salary: £41,911 per annum

Thank you for your interest in joining our special charity!

About Us

The Spinal Injuries Association is committed to a singular vision: a fulfilled life for everyone affected by spinal cord injury.

Everyone has a right to live a fulfilled life and that means the life they choose, a life that has the same opportunities as everyone else. We are the expert guiding voice for life after spinal cord injury.

About the Role

This role leads the development and delivery of the Spinal Injuries Association’s (SIA) training, learning and professional development offer. The successful candidate will manage the delivery of high‑quality programmes that strengthen the knowledge, skills and confidence of professionals supporting people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Key responsibilities include expanding SIA’s existing training offer, creating advanced and tailored learning packages for a range of audiences across health, social care, education, the voluntary sector and wider community partners. Programmes are delivered through flexible formats — online, in‑person and hybrid — and adaptable to different organisations’ CPD requirements.

A core part of the role will be to manage the ongoing development and improvement of SIA’s Knowledge Hub, ensuring it remains current, accessible and aligned with best practice. This includes enhancing content quality, identifying gaps, and ensuring the platform supports both SIA’s training programmes and the wider SCI community.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with Spinal Cord Injury Centres, major trauma centres, district general hospitals and external providers to maintain strong sector relationships and uphold SIA’s reputation as a trusted source of expertise. Strong organisational, creative and project management skills are essential to coordinate complex schedules and drive forward SIA’s learning and knowledge offer.

Benefits:

• Annual leave: 28 days per holiday year plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days after two years of service (pro-rated for part time employees)
• Access to Group pension scheme (6% employer contribution)
• Access to Group life assurance scheme
• Access to Healthcare cash plan
• Access to discounted gym membership
• Access to Employee assistance programme (EAP)
• Employee volunteer days
• Free car parking at SIA House
• Investing in our people – all members of staff are encouraged to discuss their development plans and aspirations with their line manager. A budget is available for talent development

This post will play a critical role in achieving our ambitions. We hope that the role inspires you and we look forward to receiving your application.

Closing date: Tuesday 7 April 2026, 9am
First round Interviews: 22 April 2026, at SIA House, Milton Keynes
Second round interviews: 29 April 2026, at SIA House, Milton Keynes.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

At SIA, we value diversity. We are committed to providing an inclusive and supportive environment as we believe diversity fosters a more innovative, creative, and caring culture.

We are striving to create a culture that fully represents all the communities we serve. We are an equal opportunity employer, and all applicants will be considered for employment regardless of race, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, family or parental status, or disability status.

Disabled candidates who meet the standard job criteria will be offered a guaranteed interview. Fully remote working considered for the right candidate.

No agencies please.

About The Connection at St Martin’s

We believe that no one should have to sleep rough on London’s streets, and that everyone should get the support they need to find a place to call home. We get to know every person we work with, understanding what they need to recover, helping them build on their strengths, and supporting them to find their own way home. Help us make London a city where no one sleeps rough on our streets.

London’s diversity is its biggest asset and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London’s diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability.

We particularly encourage applications from candidates with lived experience of homelessness who we believe are an essential asset in our sector.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and welcome the opportunity to consider flexible working arrangements.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and creative communications generalist who enjoys working across a wide range of activities and can bring our mission to life through powerful storytelling and effective communications.

In this role, you will ensure that the charity’s mission, values and key messages are reflected clearly and consistently across all communications. You will be confident working with the press and welcoming high-profile visitors, helping to raise the profile of our work and the people we support.

As a small charity, we value creativity and initiative. You will enjoy finding innovative ways to maximise impact, using a mix of media, digital channels and partnerships to share our story and reach new audiences.

Working closely with colleagues across the organisation – including the people who use our services – you will help ensure our communications are authentic, inclusive and grounded in real experiences.

You will also collaborate closely with colleagues in the Fundraising team to develop and deliver a series of innovative fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns, helping to engage supporters, grow income and increase understanding of our work.

Our strategy focuses on developing services in new ways, involving clients in every aspect of our work and strengthening collaboration across the sector. The Communications Manager will play a key role in helping the organisation communicate more effectively, building communications confidence across the team, and supporting the growth of our fundraising activity.

This role is a 12 month FTC.

Salary: £44,181 - £50,461 (scale points 29 – 35)
Closing Date: Sunday 19th April
Interview Date: Tuesday 28th April

Our Benefits

· 30 days holiday plus bank holidays

· Generous training budget, plus an annual personal training budget

· Enhanced Sick Pay Policy

· Enhanced family friendly policies

· Day off for moving house

· Hybrid working (depending on role requirements)

· Pension – 5% Employer, 3% Employee

· Cycle to Work Scheme

· Season Ticket Loan

· Employee Assistance Programme

· Reward Gateway (access to discount vouchers and cashback at the UK’s favourite retailers)

We are a London Living Wage employer

The Woodland Trust is looking for a Project Manager (Mourne Park) to undertake the successful delivery of The National Lottery Heritage Fund project, Mourne Park - 500 years of undiscovered natural heritage. 

The Role:

• Achieve the targets agreed with the Estate and Projects Manager, based on the programme of works, and provide monthly progress updates.
• Maintain full project management control and budget responsibility across the programme, ensuring all Heritage Fund/WTNI reporting and recording systems are kept up to date, work programmes are delivered on time, and confidentiality is always maintained.
• Direct the project team delivering all access projects and on site interpretation, ensuring alignment with the Access & Interpretation Plans and the Diversity & Inclusion report.
• Oversee all procurement undertaken by the project team for access, interpretation, woodland creation and related projects, ensuring compliance with Heritage Fund/WTNI requirements and agreement from the Site Manager. Provide effective management and supervision of contractors and support the project team in doing the same.
• Coordinate and provide leadership to the project team, overseeing implementation of heritage conservation projects identified by the wider programme, including writing management plans when required. Promote good practice in landscape design and the conservation of landscape features.
• Liaise closely with partners, interested organisations, local communities, visitors and the media, fostering strong working relationships. Identify, review and meet with potential partners whose objectives align with the project, and attend meetings, forums and events to promote the project, the Woodland Trust and funders.
• Carry out data collection, surveys, research, appraisals and information gathering, producing monitoring reports as required.
• Support the Conservation Officer with practical “on the ground" work and assist the Community Development Officer with engagement activities such as events and volunteer tasks. Additionally, supporting the Community Development Officer in their work with children, young people and vulnerable adults across local community and educational settings.
• Develop an exit strategy for the project programme to enable the Trust to continue delivering at Mourne Park following the end of National Lottery Heritage Fund support.
• This is a homebased role, requiring regular travel to Mourne Park and around Northern Ireland, sometimes to remote locations. Occasional travel to regional offices and overnight stays will be required. You would be expected to live within reasonable travelling distance of your area of responsibility.
• This is a fixed term contract until December 2029. 

The Candidate:

• You’ll have proven programme and project delivery experience across complex, multi disciplinary workstreams, coordinating internal and external expertise to deliver on time and within budget.
• You’ll be experienced in forestry or conservation land management, including volunteer coordination and community engagement.
• You’ll have a strong track record in land management and partnership projects, with strategic planning, long-term visioning and budget forecasting skills.
• You’ll be an experienced, motivating leader who is able to inspire, develop and hold accountable multi disciplinary teams while fostering collaboration across dispersed colleagues.
• You’ll be skilled in public facing communications, including consultations, media engagement, lobbying and event management.
• You’ll have demonstrated success delivering access infrastructure and interpretation projects on public and private land to enhance visitor experience.
• You’ll be commercially aware and opportunity focused, able to balance organisational benefit with cost, deliver value for money, and identify cost-effective ways to advance partnership aims.
• You’ll be innovative, collaborative and professionally qualified, preferably educated to HND/degree level in a relevant field, able to work across diverse teams. You will also hold a full driving licence for necessary travel across a wide area.
• The successful candidate will be required to undertake an Enhanced Background Check, as part of our pre-employment screening.

Benefits and Wellbeing:
Joining our team means you’ll be a big part of tackling environmental and climate issues. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:

• Enhanced Employer Pension
• Life Assurance
• Flexible & Hybrid Working Options
• Generous Annual Leave - 25 Days Plus Bank Holidays (pro rata’d for part-time)
• Buy and Sell Holiday Scheme
• Enhanced Parental Pay
• Employee Assistance Programme

About Us:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity.  We want to see a world where trees and woods thrive for people and nature. The Trust engages and inspires people to make their difference tackling the nature and climate crisis helping protect, restore and create our vital woods and trees.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:
To achieve our vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. All people, no matter their background, identity, ability, or circumstance, should benefit from trees.  
People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply. 
Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.

Application Advice:
For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, and we do not ask for your CV at application. Make sure that your Personal Statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role. Even if you don't meet every requirement of the role, we would encourage you to apply.

Acceptable Use - Artificial Intelligence (AI):
We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications-for example, to help structure or edit written responses. We welcome the use of AI in this way, particularly where it helps improve accessibility, such as for neurodivergent applicants. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools. 

Apply Now:
If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, send in your application today. We might close the job opening early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in process, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams May 5th and May 6th. 

Deputy Manager - Step Forward Fostering

When registering to this job board you will be redirected to the online application form. Please ensure that this is completed in full in order that your application can be reviewed.

Salary: £50,723 per annum + £750 per annum Homeworking Allowance

Hours:  35 Hours per week 

Contract: Permanent 

Location: Home-based - Applicants should live in or be close to Leeds & Bradford as they will be required to travel across these areas for home visits to support carers and children. Travel also requires the post holder to attend staff meetings in Yorkshire.

As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, TACT puts the needs of our children and carers first and looks to appoint individuals who are as passionate about fostering as we are. We are a homeworking organisation, and we pride ourselves on our flexible working opportunities, available from day one, an extensive wellbeing programme and our benefits package, all curated to nurture a healthy work-life balance for all our employees so they can give an excellent service to our carers and the young people and children we care for.

As a foster care charity, TACT invests all surplus income into services, staff, carers, and child development. This means we have been able to invest in unique projects like TACT Connect, our ground-breaking scheme for TACT care-experienced young people and adults, as well as our expanding Education and Health services. All our activities are built on our commitment to becoming a fully trauma-informed organisation, in line with our key values and ethos.

In 2024, TACT became one of the top 5 charities to work for in the UK, placing 5th in the UK Best Companies Work For survey results, and a top 25 mid-sized company to work with across the whole of the UK.   97% of our people feel proud to work with TACT and think that TACT cares about their wellbeing, while 92% of our people would say they “ love working for TACT”.

As the Deputy Manager (Step Forward Fostering), you will be responsible for the development, expansion, carer recruitment and operational management of Step Forward fostering hubs across the regional area. Which will involve engaging with and working in partnership with others to deliver a network of hubs across the region that meet children and young people’s needs as well as the Local Authority's needs

If you want to be valued as a professional, be appreciated at work and contribute to better outcomes for the children and young people connected with TACT, apply now.

 Overall Duties of the Deputy Manager (Step Forward Fostering) will include:

• Promote the development of Step Forward fostering across the UK.
• Engage with potential funding partners to promote business growth.
• Support the establishment of new operational local Step Forward hubs in other regions.
• Sharing learning, offering advice with others to support business development across TACT.
• Be member of project groups to develop other types of fostering for children with highest need.
• To be a member of the regional/nations management team and deputise for the Area Manager/Services Manager in their absence.
• Responsible for the regions/nations specialist Step Forward fostering service including management of team members.

 TACT offer an excellent employee benefits package, including:

• 31 days paid holiday plus 8 annual bank holidays.
• Progression to salary target rate upon completion of 18 months of service.
• 45p per mile for business travel.
• Flexible working arrangements (including compressed hours, flexibility around core hours, volunteer days policy).
• Family-friendly policies.
• Homeworking ‘bundle’ including annual allowance, IT equipment and a loan for home office set up.
• HelpHand Employee Assistance Programme (including CBT counselling, 24/7 remote GP appointments, physiotherapy, mental health support and second opinions on serious diagnoses).
• An hour a week of live, expert-led activities through the Annual Employee Wellbeing Programme.
• Menopause Policy and free Menopause Clinician Appointments.
• Stakeholder Pension Scheme (salary sacrifice).
• Fantastic learning and development opportunities for all roles.

TheDeputy Manager (Step Forward Fostering) will be based in Leeds and Bradford, as travel across the region will be required. The successful candidate will also be required to travel to face-to-face meetings in Yorkshire at least once a month, as well as for other occasions, such as training and team wellbeing events.

An Enhanced DBS clearance is required for this role and will be processed by TACT on your behalf.

• Closing date: Sunday, 12th April 2026
• Interview date: Tuesday, 21st April 2026 (via Microsoft Teams)

Safeguarding is everyone’s business and TACT believes that only the people with the right skills and values should work in social work.  As part of TACT’s commitment to safeguarding, we properly examine the skills, experience, qualifications, and values of potential staff in relation to our work with vulnerable young children.  We use rigorous and consistent recruitment approaches to help safeguard TACT’s young people.  All our staff are expected to work in line with TACT’s safeguarding policies.

We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than advertised if the volume of applications is excessive, you are therefore advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

TACT does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies, nor the fees associated with them.

You will be part of a small energetic and committed team supporting the delivery of Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s philanthropy and income generation ambitions. Working collaboratively with colleagues, you will help grow and steward support from individuals, corporate, charitable and statutory donors, with a lead responsibility for a defined portfolio of relationships and initiatives.

Fundraising and relationship building happen across the charity, and you will manage your own portfolio of donors and partners and work with the Chief Executive and wider team to co-ordinate activity, share insight and maximise opportunities for place based philanthropy in Northamptonshire.

You will need confidence, excellent communication skills and the ability to plan and deliver projects as part of a highly collaborative team. You will be comfortable cultivating, stewarding and sometimes soliciting charitable donations yourself, as well as creating opportunities for the Chief Executive to engage with donors and prospective supporters.

The HR team is committed to the attraction and retention of a highly engaged and performing workforce that is committed to delivering our vision to see isolated communities changed by the love of Christ. We do this by nurturing a supportive and encouraging environment, where strong relationships are built, personal growth, innovation and creativity are encouraged, and performance achieved.

As our new Talent Acquisition Manager, you will be doing exactly that. You will drive the recruitment operations for placements for both UK and overseas staff, leading the team and taking ownership and responsibility to execute a best-in-class candidate experience. 

The Talent Acquisition Manager will lead recruitment for us in support of our strategic goals in this area, partnering with hiring managers and offering innovative and creative advice and solutions on how to attract and recruit the best talent available. This is a managerial role that requires strong decision making and the ability to drive the department forward progressively, but still very much a position where you will be expected roll your sleeves up and take a hands-on approach to deliver first-rate talent for the organisation, and experience for our candidates. You will oversee all recruitment activity passing through the UK office, owning our ATS and line managing the Talent Acquisition Officer.

1. Talent Acquisition Strategy 

• Contribute to the development and implementation of the talent acquisition strategy, with a strategic focus on digital optimisation, to ensure improving placements for both UK and overseas roles. 

• Oversee and deliver all employer brand initiatives and recruitment campaigns including hiring events to drive candidate engagement and boost our employer brand. 

• Build diverse candidate pools, and create initiatives to attract and retain diverse talent. 

• Develop and analyse our recruitment metrics, and use your knowledge, market insights, numbers and analysis to continually refine and improve the talent acquisition process using a data-led approach. 

• Offer a clear, supportive and innovative voice in interactions with international colleagues to streamline processes and ensure seamless, effective collaboration.

• Use creative and innovative approaches to continue to reach new candidate audiences in a narrow field. 

• Continuously review our process to drive improvements and change, especially through the use of emergent technologies. 

• Work closely with colleagues in our youth outreach programme ‘Co-Pilot’ to develop, maximise and harmonise our approach in bringing a younger demographic into our talent pools, incorporating this relationship into our strategy. 

2. Transactional Recruitment Management 

• Create and deliver an annual international recruitment action and promotional plan 
• Work in close collaboration with our marketing team in the promotion and delivery of recruitment advertising including online/offline and social media campaigns and analysing results to inform planning and performance improvements. Ensure that the recruitment message remains central throughout our range of communications activities and that our voice is clear, compelling and interactsand synergizes seamlessly with our existing central campaign operations 

• Monitoring, reviewing, and developing the recruitment pages on our website to maximize engagement

• Being responsible for the discernment and wisdom required to undertake spiritual personal and assessments, refining a clear and robust framework to ensure a fair and consistent candidate experience. 

• Overseeing the development and maintenance of physical resources for overseas recruitment 

• Representing MAF throughout the year at festivals and other events within the UK as a passionate and compelling advocate 

• Initiating high quality recruitment events in various forums throughout the year, focusing on producing a clear ROI 

• Leading in the development of the Online Recruitment Journey 

• Leading in the recruitment of UK roles

• Training and supporting UK managers with hiring responsibilities in effective recruitment techniques and selection processes, ensuring that colleagues are coached and upskilled to sufficiently assist in the delivery of an efficient campaign.

• Review the workflow of the recruitment process to ensure that the workload requirement for managers supporting the process is mitigated and manageable, whilst maintaining their engagement in the process. 

• Work with the UK and International HR Managers to support a seamless onboarding process for all joiners 

3. Overseeing our selection processes to ensure the progression of suitably skilled applicants who meet our faith, vision, and values criteria 

• Designing and implementing robust, efficient, and personable selection processes that deliver an excellent candidate experience 
• Overseeing MAF UK’s assessment processes and assisting with interviews where required 

• Liaising with MAF International (MAFI) to discuss candidates’ potential fit for overseas roles 

• Managing our use of UK psychometric assessment 

4. Envisioning and delivering new initiatives to attract and build our talent pipeline 

• Overseeing and driving proactive digital acquisition using LinkedIn and other platforms 
• Working with other teams to design and deliver creative, engaging, and high-quality recruitment campaigns and promotional initiatives 

• Raising awareness and leveraging team support for recruitment initiatives

• Establishing, developing, and sustaining collaborative relationships with key external bodies e.g., Christian bodies within the aviation industry, armed forces, and universities

• Selecting, training, and managing a network of volunteer recruitment champions, increasing the scale of our capacity to support at events and build a greater presence in the community specifically from a recruitment perspective 

• Designing and implementing approaches to encourage greater diversity with applicants 

• Demonstrating a data-led approach, monitoring recruitment statistics and measures to inform decision making, identify issues and prepare management information reports. 

5. Partnership 

• Building strong relationships with the MAFI recruitment team and proactively sharing resources, experience, and expertise with Engagement Units 
• Member of the MAFI Recruitment Steering Group 

• Establishing or contributing to recruitment learning circles with other Engagement Units 

• Support efforts to integrate into one global entity from a recruitment perspective 

• Contribute to the launch and maintenance of the Mission Aviation Academy, to continue to enhance our employer brand around our training schemes and ensure a sustainable funding pipeline for them for the future 

6. Management  

• Overall management of the relationship portfolios and specific management of ‘Premium’ enquirers portfolio 

• Line manage, coach, develop and champion the Talent Acquisition Officer 

• Participating in MAF UK organisation development initiatives and policy review 

• Managing own time effectively to maximize organisational benefit 

• Lead on the overall management and administration of the Applicant Tracking System 

7. Legal, finance and professional 

• Maintaining a high level of legal awareness and ensuring our legal obligations are maintained throughout the recruitment process 
• Preparing and managing the recruitment budget 

• Modeling self-leadership through continual professional development 

8. Travel 

• This role will involve some travel within the United Kingdom, particularly around the events season. 

Other duties as may reasonably be assigned by the Director of People and Culture including covering for other members of the team as required. 

DIMENSION AND LIMITS OF AUTHORITY:  

• Expenditure up to agreed budget. 

• Responsible for managing the Talent Acquisition Officer and conducting regular 1-1s and Personal Development Reviews according to agreed standards. 

• Decision making within agreed parameters. 

TASKS COMMON TO ALL MANAGERS:

• Role modelling of organisational values and beliefs 

• Contributing to the shared spiritual life of the MAF UK team as a Christian mission

• Attendance and participation in team and corporate times of biblical reflection and prayer 

• Encouraging team members to attend, participate and lead in times of Biblical reflection at regular corporate prayer meetings 

• Participate in planning in accordance with the MAF UK strategic plan and as outworked through matrix programme and project teams 

• Keeping line manager informed of all relevant information in a timely manner 

• Complying with statutory and organisational requirements for the proper handling of personal and sensitive data and ensuring good personal data handling practices are developed, reviewed, and encouraged 

• Abiding by Safeguarding, Conduct and other MAF UK policies provided on the Intranet. 

CHRISTIAN VALUES, BELIEFS AND ETHOS: 

As a Christian mission, MAF UK seeks staff who share in the evangelical Christian values and beliefs as described in the mission, purpose, values, and beliefs statements.All staff will be required to actively support and demonstrate the Christian values of the organisation and to take part in organisational activities such as staff devotions, prayer meetings, and fellowship days.

Location: Hybrid working with the requirement to work in the UK offices in either Folkestone or Cranfield. 

Working Hours:Office open officially from 9.00 to 5.30pm (9-4pm on Friday). Hours to be agreed according to flexible working policy. 

Salary:£48,500

Terms: 

Hours: As a senior appointment at least 36 hours per week but in addition those required to achieve the agreed responsibilities, with a one-hour unpaid lunch break each day. 

Flexibility will be required for working additional hours and travel to meet business needs or for travel or meetings on weekends or evenings.

This role involves some unsocial hours, weekend work and travel within the UK 

Leave:Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per year plus eight paid public holidays per year. 

Pension: Non-contributory pension scheme (10%) of salary on joining. 

Additional Benefits:

• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for free, confidential support on personal and professional issues. 

• Death in Service/Life Assurance scheme. 

• Free on-site parking at our offices. 

Probationary and notice period: 

• 6-month probation period with mid-term review 

• Notice period is 3 months. 

Closing Date for Applications 22nd March

JOB TITLE:                         Centre Based Assistance Dog Instructor (Maternity Cover) 

LOCATION:                        Based at our Centre in Milton Keynes, with travel up to 3 hours 

SALARY BAND:                 £26K - £32K per annum, depending on experience. Line management experience desirable.

JOB TYPE:                          Full time and Part time applicants considered. Fixed Term of 12-18 months 

REPORTS TO:                    Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme 

Medical Detection Dogs trains dogs to save lives. 

We train specialist dogs to detect the odour of human disease, providing life-saving alert assistance dogs to people with complex health problems across the UK and collaborating with NHS Trusts and other researchers and Universities both in the UK and internationally to advance the early diagnosis of disease.

We have an exciting new opportunity to join this small but fast-growing charity that is a world leader in its specialist innovative field. 

The Role 

We are looking for a passionate and driven person who has previous proven experience and skills working as an Instructor within an Assistance Dog organisation, who has worked with clients and partnerships. The role includes supporting both clients who have had a MDD dog placed with them and also our own dog applicants with their puppies and young dogs to ensure they receive the highest standard of socialisation and early training in terms of obedience, public access and developing an alert to the applicant’s condition, with the aim to reach an accreditable assistance dog partnership status. The role will also include carrying out client specific and odour training for MDD own dogs, placing these dogs with their new clients and looking after a number of established partnerships. This role would suit somebody residing up to an hour from our centre in Milton Keynes.  

Duties that encompass the role of an Instructor include:  

• Be the first point of contact for the allocated partnerships in your area. To provide guidance and instruction to applicants who have applied to the charity to have their own dogs considered for the training programme guidance and instruction on handling, behaviour and obedience and odour training as well as newly placed partnerships.

• Alongside the Instructing team, to run puppy classes, public access training, recall sessions in small groups for applicant own dogs that are in line with the charity’s quality standards and in accordance with timescales and targets. 

• To also carry out support visits and home interviews for applicants and clients that have been allocated to you.  

• Regularly monitor progress of any young dogs and partnerships in training in your area and provide detailed, evidenced feedback to Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme.

• To carry out client specific training with any MDD owned dogs that have been matched, including the required odour scent training.

• Instructing, guiding and supporting new assistance dog clients in managing and handling a Medical Alert Assistance Dog effectively, via pretraining, placement training and aftercare visits.

• Supporting partnerships in training in successfully reaching an accreditation standard and in maintaining this standard throughout the life of the partnership.

• To support a number of established partnerships in the form of aftercare, refresher training and yearly re-accreditations, assisting further afield on occasions as required.

Responsibilities  

• To escalate issues and problems to the Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme as appropriate.

• To carry out scent assessments on any MDD dogs in socialising as and when required with the support of the rest of the Instructing Team.

• To plan, organise and deliver practical and theoretical training to clients, meeting their individual needs in line with agreed standards to include areas such as dog welfare, appropriate handling, commanding and overall management. This will involve working with the parents as Team Leader and child as Client and working with adult clients.
• Assess the team dynamics of the family & balancing the needs of all family members as well as those of the dog.
• Assess the individuals preferred learning style and amending as relevant to aid a client.
• To accompany the client into all regular environments that they will take the dog to, ensuring the dog behaves in an acceptable manner and that the client and others are aware and clear in terms of where they dog should reside and behave for e.g. public transport, place of work. To complete a check list of environments for any applicant own dogs in training who are on the programme to be assessed within.
• To support and advise clients in transferring the odour training from pot training and recognising alerting behaviours to establish real life alerting.
• To ensure all partnerships are in line with the ADUK regulations with regards to behaviour, obedience and welfare and branding.
• Due to the nature of the role, flexible working hours may be required in some instances to facilitate the effective delivery of the work e.g. working during the school holidays with school age clients.
• To monitor the correct and false alerting percentages of allocated partnerships via data analysis, advising where necessary until the correct alerting levels are achieved.
• To complete comprehensive reports and paperwork for any time spent with applicants or partnerships in training or established. Maintain accurate records by providing verbal and written information with agreed timescales about clients, dogs, applicants and apprentices as appropriate.
• To work alongside allocated partnerships with the aim of the partnership reaching an accredited standard and feeding back to the Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme if there are any concerns that the accreditation cannot be achieved.
• To provide clients with appropriate aftercare services at regular intervals in their own homes in the form of annual visits, support visits or at refresher workshops run at the Centre to agreed standards.  This will include continual re-assessment of the dynamics of family and dog, formulating and training on appropriate solutions, as well as offering additional dog training advice.
• To deliver handling days as part of an applicant’s pretraining to include ‘Introduction to Assistance Dog’ ‘Advanced Handling’ and Family Handling.
• To scent train and seizure proof advanced dogs in preparation to be partnered with an adult or child client and ensure that applicant own dogs have received this at the earliest opportunity.
• To maintain the ongoing public access training with any advanced dog in scent training that has been allocated to them.
• To liaise with Independent Contractors as relevant.
• To provide support to the Charity’s public relations and fundraising functions as required, specifically in your area.
• To act as the ‘contact’ person for the assistance dog programme in relation to training policy procedures with clients and their families, other professional service providers and members of the public.  This will include on-going research and development of the project.
• As required, to liaise and provide support for Volunteers of the Charity.

Other 

• Share best practice with colleagues across the charity.

• Any other duties or tasks that are required to ensure the successful running of the Medical Alert Assistance Dog Department and the Charity overall.

PERSON SPECIFICATION 

SKILLS AND ABILITIES 

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• High level of preparation, organisational and co-ordination skills
• Strong and clear teaching and instructing skills
• Experience of running puppy classes, carrying out public access training and recall sessions
• Able to develop training plans for any dogs in training under your care
• High level of self-motivation and planning
• Approachable, calm and empathetic to children and adults with debilitating and life-threatening conditions
• Happy to travel alone within the UK to visit any clients as necessary
• Willing to be on call for partnerships as and when required
• Willing to stay away from home in local accommodation when client locations are too far to travel back home
• Happy and able to have Medical Alert Assistance Dogs in training reside in your home
• Good team player, but equally able to work independently
• Positive, empathetic and calm attitude
• Able to embrace a constantly evolving organisation
• Flexible

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE 

Essential 

• Previous Assistance Dog Instructing and Dog Training experience
• Knowledge of AD(UK) and ADI regulations
• Law in relation to dogs 
• Knowledge of medical conditions relevant to puppies between 8 weeks and 2 years of age
• Knowledge of dog and human psychology
• Proven evidence and experience of dog handling and training skills
• Previous experience of teaching and instructing
• Sound dog training and dog behaviour knowledge
• IT literacy and report writing skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom and SharePoint
• Full UK driving licence
• Pass a DBS (CRB) check due to regular contact with children

Preferable  

• Knowledge of debilitating medical conditions and understanding of how they can impact people, both physically and psychologically, particularly when they are unstable and fluctuating
• Previous knowledge of odour/scent training
• Previous line management experience 

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES ​

• Strong and clear teaching and instructing skills 

• Approachable, calm and empathetic to children and adults with debilitating and life threatening conditions 

• Able to embrace a constantly evolving organisation

• You should be supportive of the charitable aims of Medical Detection Dogs and capable of working as part of a team, as well as able to motivate yourself

• You should be adaptable and positively embrace change by not only being flexible towards the ideas of others but also putting forward ideas to colleagues. This will involve creativity in problem solving and making appropriate responses to new ideas and unexpected situations

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• You should be supportive of the charitable aims of Medical Detection Dogs and capable of working as part of a team, as well as being able to motivate yourself.
• You should be adaptable and positively embrace change by not only being flexible towards the ideas of others but also putting forward ideas to colleagues. This will involve creativity in problem-solving and making appropriate responses to new ideas and unexpected situations.

DIVERITY, EQUALITY & INCLUSION

We are a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive Charity. Medical Detection Dogs thrives when everyone feels comfortable bringing their best self to work. We celebrate difference, whilst striving to create an environment where colleagues feel respected and valued for their unique potential. We are committed to our values on equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Charity Values

All employees are expected to uphold the charity’s core values in their daily work. This includes demonstrating respect through open and considerate communication, fostering cooperation by working collaboratively, maintaining honesty in all interactions and ensuring fairness through just and transparent decision-making.

Finally, the successful candidate will also be expected to: 

• Hold a full UK Driving Licence 

• Provide proof of identity and eligibility to work in the UK. 

• Undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check 

• Work some evenings and weekends 

• Be willing to travel to the Centre based near Milton Keynes

Make a real difference in your community! 

As TCF Programme Officer, you’ll be at the heart of two exciting funding programmes: the Thurrock Community Fund, supporting local voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise projects, and the new ‘#I Will Fund’ from the National Lottery, empowering youth-led social action. 

You’ll coordinate applications, grants, and reporting, ensuring both funds run smoothly and fairly—giving you the chance to see your work directly benefit local people and projects that matter.

#Community Fund Programme Officer. #Programme Officer. #Community