Social media activist jobs

SUMMARY

Position Title:  Operations Lead

Level: Level 4

Salary: £31, 320 - 36, 720 (FTE yearly)

Reports to: Director of Finance, HR and Operations

Location: Liberation centre Brixton,  London (New office in Brixton)/ Remote working within the UK with at least 2 days work from our office (Pro rata for part time)

Contract: Part time (32hrs/weekly),  fixed-term contract for 2 years, with potential for extension and role expansion.

Hours: TAA has flexible working hours, with some expected evenings and weekends due to the nature of the role. All extra hours are reimbursed as Time off in Lieu (TOIL).

Start date:  As soon as possible (potentially August)

Benefits:  TAA laptop and phone, (employee assistance and health cash package including staff supervision, counselling, dental, optical care and more.).

The Advocacy Academy is an activist youth movement. We serve as the political home for grassroots youth organising and the catalyst for collective action. The lives of the young people we work alongside have been directly shaped by living in an unjust world, and we exist to turn their anger into action. 

Young people are often the catalysts for major social change, from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, to the Soweto Uprising mobilising young people to resist the apartheid regime's education policies, to the Sunrise Movement redrawing the electoral map across America, and more recently encampments and protests across the world protesting the genocide in Palestine. How successfully they achieve real and lasting change depends on whether they are organised and whether they have the right strategy and tactics to be effective. 

This is why we are looking for an Operations Lead capable of envisioning the full journey of a young person through their time with The Advocacy Academy from the first activation point to whenever they choose to end their journey with us. We want someone who is excited work with us in creating an environment that supports our mission and aspiration for our young people.

We want our young leaders to win and to build real power across the UK that ensures that the generations that follow aren’t just inheriting our mess, but our equipped and ready to fix it. That is why we are looking for someone passionate, a trusted partner, and the go-to person who will support us in all aspects of facility management. Working closely with the Operations and Community team, you will be responsible for the physical spaces and infrastructure within TAA. This includes overseeing the maintenance, security, and functionality of the Liberation Centre, equipment, and physical assets. Your focus is on the efficient operation of the physical environment.

Before you skim the job description, please remember you don’t have to tick all the boxes for each role to apply. Charity experience is not a requirement! We all experience a bit of imposter syndrome, including the staff here at The Advocacy Academy. Let’s name it for what it is - a manifestation of the oppression many of us face on a day to day. If this role pulls you and you believe you could make a difference, then apply anyway or reach out to us to discuss more!

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

1. You will become a key member of the Finance, HR & Operations Team, including but not limited to:
   1. Supporting the Director of Finance, HR & Operations in maintaining and improving the relevant operational systems and processes.
   2. Supporting the Director of Finance, HR, and Operations in ensuring the delivery of our Liberation Centre strategy: working closely with the Community team to ensure the Centre provides a functional, welcoming, inclusive, and safe space environment for our staff, young people, and community.
   3. Building relationships with other departments, engaging with them to understand their needs, and communicating regular Operations updates.
2. You will ensure that your responsibilities run like well-oiled machines by being a conductor of the orchestra through becoming a key member of the Finance, HR and Operations team supporting the team to achieve their strategic objectives for the year:
   1. Provide Support for TAA’s facilities, including cost savings and ensuring a safe and conducive work environment for our staff, members, and community groups by:
      • Supporting the Director of Finance, HR, and Ops in ensuring the maintenance of our Liberation Centre, which includes: establishing protocols and processes for healthy work environments, supporting in making the space accessible and safe for all its user groups.
      • Supporting maintenance and safety checks are regularly carried out at the Liberation Centre, including security and fire systems, evacuation, and emergency drills.
      • Acting as the main point of contact with the council and centre manager and liaising on matters related to maintenance and repair.
      • Being the main point of contact for building contractors.
      • Supporting with identifying first aiders and marshals, acting as one of them, and ensuring that the first aid box is adequately stocked up at the Liberation Centre and that the fire extinguishers are within date.
      • Supporting the Director of Finance, HR, and Operations with the development of applicable risk assessment forms (e.g., general risk assessment for the Liberation Centre, fire risk assessment, COVID, remote work, employee wellbeing, incident report, etc.) and their completion as may be required.
      • Rolling out mandatory Health and Safety training courses and undergoing regular H&S training to keep your knowledge updated and informed of changes in regulations.
      • Ensuring the space is well-stocked, and holding our procurement practices 
      • Liaising with our cleaner and making sure that the relationship works well and that the cleaner is supported in their access of the space
      • Supporting the Community team in holding overall safety practices for the Liberation Centre 
   2. Provide Support on TAA IT infrastructure, to include but not limited to:
      • Act as the primary point of contact for our IT support provider, engaging with them to ensure they are managing troubleshooting and issue resolution well.
      • Support the Finance, HR and Ops Director with planning for future IT infrastructure needs, keeping scalability and cost-efficiency in mind.
      • Assist the Director Finance and Resources with monitoring IT and data protection compliance throughout the organisation, ensuring secure data storage, transfers, archiving and deletion.
      • Sourcing and Setting up laptops and phones for staff, and supporting staff in using tech as part of inductions.
      • Keep updated with changes in legislation that may need to be considered within The Advocacy Academy’s facilities and IT management.
      • Managing our trello project management tool.
      • Leading on tech repair via apple support or penelope for the staff team
   3. Provide HR support, to include but not limited to
      • Supporting the Head of People with DBS checks and the onboarding of new staff, ensuring they have the necessary information and equipment for their work.
      • Working with the Head of People to ensure that all our candidates have a great experience from the beginning to the end. 
      • Support with Office induction for new starters.
      • Supporting with planning social events.
      • Supporting on tech off  boarding for staff leaving
   4. Provide M & E Support, to include but not limited to
      • Coordinating and supporting the implementation of  monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEAL) infrastructure across departments to track impact and efficiency.
      • Managing and optimising Airtable dashboards and databases to streamline data reporting and enable insights for decision-making.
   5. Provide Finance Support, to include but not limited to:
      • Be the main point of contact for our day to day Host finance administration. 
      • Supporting our team with generating sales invoices.
      • Monitoring and responding to our Operations and expenses and invoicing slack and email messages.
      • Processing invoices and expenses in a timely and accurate manner.
      • Supporting fundraising team with gift-aid reconciliation.
3. Share responsibilities for achieving our strategic objectives by upholding our vision, mission, strategy, ideology, and cultural values within your area and also across TAA, supporting on cross-departmental projects as needed:
   1. Embody our commitment to social and economic justice
   2. Role model upholding ideology, culture and value expectations across the organisation including but not limited to: leading by example across departments and during team days and role-modelling leadership, identifying new opportunities to the Director of Finance, HR and Ops and to the team and identifying risks to our integrity and authenticity in relation to ideology and culture
   3. Ensure that you work in tandem with and in support of other team members including but not limited to: encouraging collaborations across other departments with resources as needed
   4. Take responsibility for communicating your own wellbeing and needs and providing feedback on TAA wellbeing initiatives to your line manager, and contribute to living the TAA culture
   5. Take responsibility for pursuing your own development to build knowledge and skills to fulfil your role and areas of interest 
4. Governance and Compliance
   1. Work with the Finance, HR and Operations to prioritise and centre risk management in your portfolio: feeding into risk analysis and mitigation, identifying and escalating risks to the strategic objectives, taking the lead to mitigate risks early and thoroughly.
   2. Ensure understanding and compliance with TAA policies and practices and take the lead on their implementation within your portfolio

A BIT ABOUT YOU  

• You are passionate about, and committed to, creating a more fair, just and equal world. 
• You believe in the potential of young people to challenge the status quo and are dedicated to helping them become more powerful citizens.
• You’ve got a deep understanding of, and a personal relationship with, issues of social justice. From racism to the housing crisis to climate justice, you’ll be aware of how systemic injustice operates in our society, clued-up and well-informed on the big issues of our time, and committed to changing them.
• You’ll be comfortable managing a “to-do” list of competing priorities and balancing your workload to meet competing deadlines.
• You’re a sensitive and thoughtful relationship-builder who is interested in building a network of relationships to support the Advocacy Academy’s work. You’re a great listener, and remember people’s names, faces, and stories. 
• You’re a confident written and verbal communicator, who is comfortable with tailoring communication to reach a diverse range of audiences and stakeholders.
• You’re proactive, organised, and eager to learn, whether that’s chatting with potential funders, researching new opportunities or collaborating with teammates.

  IDEAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE  

• Detail oriented 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working with different audiences or types of stakeholders 
• Project management and experience working collaboratively across teams both in person and online
• Excellent organisational skills with confidence managing multiple tasks at the same time/ balancing multiple priorities to meet deadlines
• Experience with our existing systems e.g., Microsoft Excel/ Google Sheets, Canva
• Confidence working in a fast-paced environment 

This is an outline of the responsibilities and duties of the Operations Lead role, it is not intended as an exhaustive list and may change from time to time to meet the changing needs of the Liberation Centre and our young people. Any changes will be made in consultation with the post holder.

HOW TO APPLY  

Candidates will be asked to provide a CV and a Cover Letter OR a supporting video application addressing the following questions (no more than 1000 words or 10 minutes for all questions).

• Tell us about a social justice issue that makes you angry and why it matters to you?
• Our Operations Leads entails working and building relationships with different stakeholders. Tell us about a time when you successfully cultivated a relationship with someone when working towards a shared goal - What did you do and what did you learn?
• Include anything else you would like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Operations Lead role.

In addition, please also provide information on your notice period and your availability for interview. You may also attach any other content that would be relevant for us to have in order to showcase interest and experience. The content can come in any

form of media, including but not limited to - a mind map of ideas, a timeline or portfolio of your work, life or experiences; a recording; a Powerpoint or other form of presentation; a song, article, poem or other writing samples.

DATES  

• • Closing Date: The deadline for applications 27th June 2025 by 10am.

Please be aware that there will be two rounds of interviews (including an interview task) and we will be interviewing as we receive applications. The application date might be brought forward if we find the right person.

NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US  

We aim to be representative of the community we are working with. We encourage applications from people of colour, those who identify as LGBTQIA, working class as well as disabled people, those living with mental health conditions, refugees and migrants. We welcome people from all identities who are made to feel marginalised.

We’re not just committed to being an equal opportunity employer, we actively celebrate diversity in all its forms. Let us know if we can do anything to make the application or interview process more accessible. If you are invited to interview, we will at that point ask you for any accessibility requirements or preferences.

As an employer we make all reasonable adjustments to support employees in their work if they are disabled or have a health condition. We support the Access to Work scheme which could provide you with financial support to get the help you need to do all tasks successfully. We are happy to facilitate Access to Work assessments and reclaims, and would actively welcome applicants who would need this in order to do the job.

All staff who work on our programme must have, prior to starting work, a returned satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dated no earlier than 1st January 2021. The Advocacy Academy will assist the application for, and pay for the processing of, a new DBS for staff members where required. 

We welcome applications from people with convictions. Please disclose in your application if you have any convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings that are not “protected” (as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013)) . We consider each person on their own merits, taking into account all the circumstances.