Community Development Manager

Role Overview

The Film & TV Charity’s Looking Glass research on the mental health of the UK film, TV and cinema workforce has consistently shown that mental health and rates of loneliness at work are significantly worse in this sector than among the population as a whole. Further Charity research has also shown that the two are closely linked, strongly suggesting that tackling loneliness is vital part of the industry-wide fight to protect the mental health of the workforce. 

As the Community Development Manager, you will use our research insights to help develop the Charity’s community strategy, managing a programme of work that seeks to embed social connection as a core mental health priority in the Charity’s work and among the wider industry. You will also deliver specific projects stemming from the community strategy. Foremost among these is the Charity’s Community Partnerships programme. This involves working with a cohort of peer and community-led industry support groups to meet the needs of their communities, primarily through regular events-based engagement at our Soho offices. But it may also involve contributing to the co-working space offer at our offices in Soho, and to the Charity’s research on themes related to loneliness and social connection.

You will need to have experience of strategy development and partnerships or community management, and the excellent relationship management skills on which this depends. A background in developing mental or social wellbeing interventions is highly desirable, as is experience working in the film, television or creative industries. You will be a positive and enthusiastic individual, with a passion for creating solutions that support people’s mental and social wellbeing.

 Main Areas of Responsibility

Community Strategy

·Continue to onboard and engage Charity staff with latest loneliness research findings

·Work with senior leadership to develop the Charity’s existing community strategy in response to the latest loneliness research findings and get buy-in from internal stakeholders

·Work closely with relevant teams to develop key actions informed by these strategic priorities

·Working with senior leadership, onboard and engage key industry stakeholders with the latest loneliness research findings and recommendations (where appropriate this may involve working closely with other Charity team members)

·Work closely with the Charity’s Impact and Evaluation Lead to ensure the impact of our Community Strategy is measured appropriately and reported on regularly in staff and trustee updates

Community Partnerships

 -Continue managing (and growing) the Charity’s network of peer support and community groups, with a focus on communities experiencing high levels of loneliness

-Plan and deliver partner engagement events, with the aim of combatting loneliness and fostering belonging for the most vulnerable industry workers

-Day to day management of the Community Partners will involve working with the Charity’s Wellbeing Services Coordinator to manage partner event bookings, enquiries, building partner relationships, supporting partners with event management, attending partner events and gathering wellbeing insights from these communities to grow the Charity’s industry knowledge and support offer

-Support the partners to deliver effective and sustainable community building and peer support by organising appropriate workshops and webinars

-As needed, co-produce events with partners that aim to deliver on our partnership goals of fostering community and creating meaningful social connection

- Raise awareness of our Community Partners and their work within the wider industry

-Measure the impact of the Community Partnerships through tools such as member surveys and partner interviews, and regularly report on these findings

Co-working Space Development (tbc)

-Develop the Charity’s co-working space in Golden Square to be an inclusive, welcoming community hub for industry freelancers, that supports them to foster meaningful social connections

- Improve user satisfaction rates, working with relevant teams to improve operational support, bookings systems, user policies and drive deeper engagement with the Charity’s wider services

Research

 -Support research projects (conducted either internally or by external partners) that continue to develop our understanding and evidence base on loneliness and social connection

-Contribute to the national and international dialogue on loneliness by sharing the Charity’s research findings, collaborating with key stakeholders and promoting best practice

-Develop relationships with professionals working to tackle loneliness (third sector, private sector, academia) to enable knowledge sharing, ensuring the charity’s work informs wider evidence on workplace loneliness

-Support the wider team to develop wellbeing projects and initiatives using research findings

General

-To operate in a way that ensures you are recognised as a role model for the Charity’s core values and behaviours.

-To undertake any other works as could be expected.

-To be prepared to travel to meetings across the UK and be away from home overnight occasionally, as the job reasonably demands.

- Candidates will need to be able to work evenings on a regular basis to support Community Partnership events. We operate a Time off in Lieu system to ensure that this is achievable within the post-holder’s contracted working hours.