Smart works charity jobs

Key information

Location: Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham, or London

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (full time)

Start date: ASAP (we are happy to work with notice periods)

Duration: Permanent

Salary: £36,340 - £41,065 per annum if based in London. £33,690 - £38,410 per annum if based in Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle or Nottingham, plus a £312 yearly tax-free work from home allowance.

Application deadline: Monday 27th October, 12pm

About upReach 

Do you think that your socio-economic background should determine your career prospects?

upReach’s vision is of a society in which everybody has an equal opportunity to realise their full career potential. Our work is important because right now a student from disadvantaged background who gains a first-class degree from a top university is less likely to secure an elite job than a more privileged student with a 2.2. 

We are an award-winning charity employer working to address this issue in partnership with employers and universities. We help undergraduates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds achieve their career potential by providing an intensive programme of support that addresses socio-economic barriers to graduate employment. 

To find out more about how we support our students, visit our website and read our Annual Report, and Impact Report.

Role overview 

This role will play a pivotal part in delivering upReach’s new volunteering strategy, which unifies four historic strands (mentoring, Alumni, CSR-funded volunteering, and Programme Employer Partnerships) into a single, coherent framework.

Core Responsibilities

Please note that it is not possible for the job description to cover the exhaustive list of responsibilities of your role due to the varied nature of the role. The job description aims to provide an overview of your remit and core responsibilities. 

The Volunteering Programme Manager will be responsible for ensuring that the professional mentoring programme and Alumni Programme can operate smoothly and effectively, and for implementing our volunteering strategy to engage supporters in our work. 

You will be responsible for line managing team members working on upReach’s mentoring programme and Alumni Programme, and will work closely with the Programmes and Impact Enabling teams to ensure that volunteering opportunities are unified and cohesive.

1) MENTORING PROGRAMMES

• Provide strategic and operational oversight of upReach’s two mentoring programmes, Professional Mentoring (structured 6-month matches) and Ask an Expert (one-off interactions with professionals initiated by students).

• Manage stakeholder relationships with mentoring partners, ensuring a smooth and high-quality experience for all volunteers.

• Collaborate with Programmes and Partnerships teams to ensure that our mentoring supply and demand is balanced, identifying opportunities for development and working with teams to plan this.

• Produce robust and detailed reporting for participating partner employers on an ongoing basis, increasing the chances of renewals.

• Embed the professional mentoring programme within the wider volunteering framework, ensuring it complements Alumni and open access volunteering opportunities while maintaining the value of partner-funded packages.

2) ALUMNI PROGRAMME

• Provide strategic oversight and direction for the Alumni Programme, ensuring it aligns with upReach’s volunteering strategy and organisational goals.

• Ensure Alumni are engaged through a range of activities, including professional development opportunities, the Alumni Ambassador Board, and tailored communications.

• Oversee the creation and implementation of Alumni volunteering opportunities, ensuring these are impactful and complement wider partner-funded activity.

• Collaborate with Programmes, Fundraising, and MarComms teams to ensure Alumni engagement supports Associate development, fundraising, and long-term organisational sustainability.

• Monitor Alumni engagement data and outcomes, ensuring robust reporting to funders, stakeholders, and the Leadership Team.

3) VOLUNTEERING

• Implement our refreshed volunteering strategy, working in collaboration with the Partnerships, Fundraising and Programmes teams to ensure this meets the needs of the charity.

• Act as the first point of contact for all volunteer enquiries.

• Oversee the volunteer journey from attraction to offboarding, including clear onboarding, safeguarding processes, engagement activities, and recognition (e.g. events, certificates, digital acknowledgements).

• Conduct ongoing evaluation of volunteering activities and implement improvements as necessary.

• Collaborate with other teams across the organisation to identify opportunities for volunteers, and support with implementing this.

• Manage relationships with volunteers and organisations, ensuring positive experiences for all those involved with upReach in this capacity.

• Pilot and evaluate new open access volunteering initiatives, tracking impact through defined KPIs and reporting mechanisms.

• Work with Fundraising and MarComms teams to develop strategies for recognition, retention, and long-term ambassador engagement of volunteers.

4) LINE MANAGEMENT

• Manage relevant individuals within the Mentoring and Alumni team, providing ongoing personal and professional development support through weekly 1-to-1 calls or meetings, written feedback on documents, and day-to-day guidance via Slack. 

• Use relevant impact dashboards and data to set priorities for your team and to identify areas where support from the Programmes team is needed, to ensure that all internal KPIs are achieved.

• Managing the performance of your team - including setting SMART professional development goals and utilising a range of resources and tools where necessary to help your team perform successfully in their roles. Be part of the upReach Leadership Team and contribute to forming the strategy and direction of the charity. 

• Provide leadership in embedding volunteering as a strategic pillar of upReach’s mission, ensuring sustainability, scalability, and alignment with organisational growth.

Skills and Experience

The ideal candidate for Volunteering Programme Manager should display these skills: 

• Motivation - Displays a high level of self-motivation and ability to measure own progress, and can encourage and monitor others in their team to ensure everyone can  do their best work.

• Stakeholder engagement - Able to engage and communicate confidently with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.

• Continuous improvement - Uses initiative to come up with ideas and improvements to achieve personal, team and organisational objectives.

• Planning and organising - Able to demonstrate a high level of organisational skills, ensuring that initiatives are designed to meet organisational KPIs, objectives and priorities, are accurately planned, and meet the needs of internal and external stakeholders. 

• Problem solving and decision-making - Confidently uses a range of problem solving techniques to resolve issues on behalf of the team or organisation, showing creativity and analytical thinking in their approach, and doing so following clearly defined processes but without supervision. 

• Innovative - Leads on new areas of innovation and, if necessary, enables and supports the team to make changes needed.

• Communication - Inspires team and others to engage fully with long term vision, purpose and strategy of upReach, with the ability to confidently engage with stakeholders at all levels to generate a commitment to these goals.

To be successful, it is anticipated that you would have experience in:

• Coordinating/managing volunteer initiatives

• Project/programme management

• Communicating with a variety of stakeholders, through written and verbal communication

Team Culture & Benefits: 

We offer: 

• Flexible and hybrid working.

• Statutory Holiday Entitlement of 25 days and bank holidays. This increases to 2 additional days after 2.5 years and then to 3 additional days after 5 years of working with us. 

• Birthday leave and Voluntary leave

• Enhanced Parental Leave beyond statutory requirements for all team members. 

• 3% Pension Contribution, which increased to 5% after 5 years of working with us. 

• Cycle-to-work scheme.

• Monthly socials and annual wellbeing days

• Dedication to Staff Wellbeing through our Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aid Training. 

• Personal Development Budget, activated after 6 months in the role.

• The opportunity to participate in our fantastic staff networks: 

  • Disability and Inclusion Network

  • Diverse Roots Network 

  • Green Network 

  • LGBTQ+ Network

  • Mindfulness Network

  • Parents and Carers Network

  • (Im)Migrants Network 

Ready to apply?

We are committed to making our recruitment process inclusive. All applications will be blind screened, and our job packs are available in Braille, large text or another format upon request. We can provide reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment application process and on the job, and we'll always endeavour to be as accommodating as possible.

Applications close on Monday 27th October at 12pm.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

At upReach, we are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, social background or any other protected class. We celebrate and value the diverse perspectives that people from all backgrounds bring to our team. We are passionate about creating a workplace that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of communities across the UK. Diversity in the workplace creates dynamic and effective organisations and we are actively working to build a more inclusive workforce by continuously improving our recruitment, retention, and development practices. We  encourage applications from individuals from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds, those with disabilities , those who are care-experienced, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those who are LGBTQIA+.