Head of operation jobs in Stevenage, hertfordshire

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Volunteer Recruitment & Onboarding

• Lead end-to-end recruitment and onboarding of volunteers across all Hospice roles, including clinical, wellbeing, family support, retail, fundraising, finance, facilities and administrative roles.
• Deliver a high-quality, seamless onboarding experience for volunteer applicants.
• Co-deliver monthly Introduction to Volunteering sessions, including follow-up engagement.
• Maintain effective recruitment pipelines to meet service needs.
• Support with recruitment campaigns for high priority volunteering roles.

Compliance & Governance

• Oversee volunteer compliance, ensuring volunteers, where required:
  • Have satisfactory references
  • Are DBS-checked
  • Complete and refresh mandatory training, including face-to-face safeguarding and relevant onboarding training via departments
• Maintain accurate compliance records within CRM systems.
• Monitor and report on DBS and safeguarding renewals, liaising with volunteers, team leaders and the education team.
• Ensure adherence to Hospice policies, legal requirements and best practice

Volunteer Operations & Service Delivery

• Provide front line guidance and advice on volunteer involvement and best practice to volunteer involving teams.
• Work with education team to co-facilitate Hospice Connections training sessions where required.
• Build strong cross-departmental relationships to align volunteering with organisational priorities.
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the volunteer lifecycle and provide guidance and support to managers in planning volunteer requirements, recruitment, onboarding, induction, training, ongoing supervision, recognition, development, issue resolution, and volunteer exit processes.
• Part of the People Team office cover answering telephone, email and in person queries or directing the enquiry to the right place to be resolved. This includes monitoring the volunteering and volunteer reference and volunteer rota inboxes.
• Arrange regular meetings with Hospice volunteer managers to:
  • Review volunteer pipelines and activity
  • Analyse data and service needs
  • Identify opportunities for collaboration and service improvement
• Be a main point of contact for volunteers in key operational roles (e.g. IPU Kitchen, Meet & Greet), including recruitment, onboarding, supervision, and ongoing support

• Organise IPU volunteer rota planning and management (forward planning and weekly), ensuring adequate cover and resolving last-minute gaps, arranging shadow shifts and organising mentor allocation.
• Manage and organise tasks for admin volunteers within the Voluntary Services team.

Volunteer Engagement & Experience

• Support with the planning and delivery of an annual programme of volunteer engagement events (e.g. Sunday lunches, feedback forums, seasonal events): Coordinate event logistics including communications, RSVPs, venues, catering and health & safety.
• Actively gather, review and respond to volunteer feedback to continuously improve the volunteer experience.
• Coordinate and support volunteer communications across the organisation, including the production and distribution of the monthly volunteer bulletin and volunteer updates.
• Foster a positive, inclusive and motivating environment for volunteers.

Data, Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain high standards of data accuracy across volunteer systems and records.
• Use data insights to inform planning and improve service delivery.
• Identify and suggest improvements to volunteer processes, including onboarding and rota systems.

General Responsibilities

• Represent the Hospice and uphold its values and reputation at all times.
• Support organisational income generation activities where appropriate.
• Identify and engage in continuous professional development opportunities, sharing learning with colleagues.
• Contribute to ongoing service improvement across volunteering and wider Hospice operations.

Qualifications, Skills, Experience, Knowledge & Approach

Essential

• Demonstrable experience in volunteer coordination or management
• Experience overseeing compliance processes (e.g. DBS, safeguarding, governance)
• Experience managing rotas, logistics or service delivery functions
• Demonstrated experience coordinating volunteer recruitment and onboarding processes
• A strong understanding of volunteer management best practice, including relevant legislation, policies, compliance requirements, safeguarding, DBS processes, and governance.
• Awareness of developments within the voluntary sector and hospice volunteering to ensure organisational practices remain current, effective, and compliant.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and database management
• Strong analytical, planning, and organisational skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication, diplomacy, and problem-solving ability
• Ability to manage competing priorities and work independently in a fast-paced environment
• Proven stakeholder management and relationship-building skills
• Proven ability to meet recruitment targets across multiple service areas

Desirable

• Experience in healthcare, hospice or charity sector
• Experience facilitating training or group sessions
• Knowledge of EDI principles and inclusive volunteering practices

· Proven experience of working in diverse communities

Communication

· Excellent customer care skills – understands importance of good customer engagement & able to build strong working relationships 

• Good team player who is willing to support others/learn new skills 
• Able to communicate sensitively and understand boundaries of working with volunteers
• Excellent verbal, written, and digital communication skills
• Compassionate, emotionally intelligent, and able to communicate sensitively
• Confident and persuasive communicator, able to represent Voluntary Services in meetings and in conversations with Heads of Services
• Strong interpersonal skills to build collaborative relationships across teams

Decision Making

· Maintain confidentiality at all times 

· Proactive, solutions-focused, and accountable for outcomes

· Strong attention to detail and ability to drive multiple projects concurrently.

• Confident decision-maker with sound judgement

Mental & Physical Considerations, working conditions and environment

· Commitment to the aims, ethos and values of the Hospice

· Keen to develop self within role

· Ability to prioritise in the best interests of the organisation as a whole

· Willing and able to work as part of a team and independently using own initiative 

· Skilled in managing competing demands and expectations 

· Work with pace and accuracy 

· Ability to manage various tasks in a timely manner 

· Self-motivated and able to fulfil the job role with minimal supervision 

· Task driven – able to see processes through to competition 

· Ability to concentrate for sustained periods of time 

· Confident under pressure 

Health & Safety

· Understand and comply with all Health and Safety, Fire and Infection Control regulations

· Complete all mandatory training and ensure compliance of direct reports and contractors

Safeguarding

Act in a manner at all times to safeguard the interests of individual patients/clients and their  families and justify public trust and confidence in the Hospice of St Francis.