Fixed Term Contract for 6 months
(Start date January 2024, long term extension likely, dependent on funding)
Location: West Lothian – locally home based, with regular work in West Lothian communities
Role Reports To: Delivery Leader
Direct Reports: TBC – likely to be 3 or 4 direct reports
Job Family: Job Family 4 – £30,000 per annum
Closing date: 10am on Monday 8 January.
About Volunteering Matters
Volunteering Matters are a national volunteering and social change charity. We passionately believe that everyone across the UK should have the opportunity to thrive. We bring people together, through the power of volunteering, to resolve some of society’s most complex social issues.
We are currently looking for a talented, dynamic, and professional Programme Manager to join our team in West Lothian. The right candidate would be someone who can work flexibly, use their own initiative, and demonstrate a strong understanding and commitment to our organisational values.
Information about the role
Role Overview
You will play a key role overseeing, managing, delivering, and developing our work across West Lothian. Initially, this role will be focused on 2 priority areas:
1) We are part of a West Lothian third sector consortium who will shortly begin delivering Parental Employability Support. Within this project, we will ensure that parents have the opportunity of taking part in positive and empowering mentoring relationships, and paid work placements/jobs provided by local Employers.
2) We are also part of a West Lothian programme known as Cashback: Community Connections. Alongside our partner organisations, we support young people who face multiple barriers to moving on in life. This includes those who are involved in, or at risk of, offending behaviour, engaged in Youth Justice, or are due for release from custody. Our part of the service includes providing young people with the opportunity of mentoring relationships, and access to volunteering.
As a senior member of the regional team, you will role model our organisational values and demonstrate excellent leadership, people, and communication skills. You will develop and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external colleagues, parents, young people, Mentors, and other stakeholders.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
• To role model our organisational values (further info below) and demonstrate excellent leadership skills
• To effectively oversee the quality delivery of our programmes across West Lothian, ensuring each one meets its required goals, targets, milestones, and anticipated impact
• To lead discussions, attend meetings and manage relationships with external colleagues, partners, and stakeholders, liaising regularly with all to provide regular progress reports
• To provide effective line management to a small staff team, leading and encouraging staff performance and development, coaching, setting objectives and reviewing progress
• Oversee the effective recruitment, training, and support of Volunteer Mentors
• To maintain quality standards around effective Volunteering Management, particularly in relation to Mentoring
• To ensure all aspects of project delivery, and staff management, are compliant with health and safety, data protection, GDPR and safeguarding quality standards.
• Develop relevant information and materials to promote and raise the profile of our work locally
• Work alongside the Delivery Leader, ensuring programme income and spend is in line with budgets
• To promote and adhere to Volunteering Matters policies and ways of working. This includes effective teamwork, working flexibly, and being adaptable to change
• Administration tasks including the use of Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and other software
This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. While some variations may be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.
Skills Required
• Proven leadership skills with an ability to provide supportive and effective line management
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent people skills, able to establish and main strong working relationships, to enthuse and influence others
• Strong organisational and time management skills, able to prioritise a demanding workload, working under pressure and to deadlines
• Ability to oversee and manage all aspects of delivery and development of several volunteering programmes simultaneously
• Excellent decision making and problem-solving skills, able to use own initiative and manage challenging situations
• Highly IT literate and comfortable using a range of essential systems including Office 365, Microsoft Teams and other relevant software
Experience Required
• Experience of line managing, coaching, or supporting staff. Ability to set and achieve high standards for self and others and to manage work performance effectively.
• Experience in project management, with a strong track record in meeting goals and objectives
• Experience in all aspects of effective Volunteer Management, but particularly in Mentoring
• Experience of effective partnership working and managing relationships with external stakeholders
• Knowledge and understanding of effective monitoring and evaluation processes to measure outcomes
• A strong knowledge and understanding of barriers and life challenges facing young people, and parents, today in Scotland
• Experience in safeguarding, and assessing and managing risk
Qualifications Required
Relevant experience, skills and alignment with our organisational values is more important for this role, rather than any specific qualifications.
Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme
This role requires membership of the PVG scheme. Having a conviction is not necessarily a barrier to employment.
If you are not currently a member of the PVG scheme, we can support you with the application process (fees will be reimbursed by Volunteering Matters).
Our Organisational Values and ways of working
Volunteering Matters offer flexible working by default. This means that our staff have significant flexibility when it comes to place of work, working hours, and are empowered with the responsibility of managing their own diary and workload.
Part of your working week will need to be based in West Lothian, meeting internal and external colleagues, volunteers, people accessing our services, partners, and other stakeholders. For the remainder of the time, you can work from home. You will need good internet access and a suitable home working environment. All I.T. equipment, staff mobile phone and infrastructure will be supplied. At Volunteering Matters, we embrace a philosophy of ‘Freedom within a Framework’ and are guided by our
Organisational Values:
We are Empowering.
We are Inclusive.
We are Compassionate.
We are Positive.
We are Straightforward.
We are looking for a candidate who can evidence these characteristics in their application and at interview.
Employee Benefits
Volunteering Matters ambition is to be the best place to work in the charity sector. We offer a wide range of
employee benefits which include:
• Fully flexible working
• Unlimited annual leave allowance to achieve a positive work-life balance
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loan (public transport)
• Competitive and supportive maternity/adoption/family leave provision
• Competitive and supportive sick leave provision
• Access to our free Employee Assistance line (provided by CiC Wellbeing)
• An organisational “Wellbeing Promise”
Diversity & Inclusion
We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and communities. This will help us to ensure that our
staff team represents the people we serve in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
We particularly welcome applications from Black people, people of colour, and people with disabilities – all of whom are currently under-represented in our staff team.
Disability Confident & Reasonable Adjustments
We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role.
Please provide evidence in your application which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required
in the “Experience/Skills” section of this job description.
To be considered for a guaranteed interview or to discuss any reasonable adjustments during the process, please
state this in your application or contact join@volunteeringmatters.org.uk for more information.
We have also committed to the following pledges which positively encompass our recruitment and selection processes and methodology: The Promise (Scotland), Show The Salary, Salary History.
How to apply
- Please complete an application form and send to scotinfo@volunteeringmatters.org.uk clearly stating which role you are applying for.
- Complete the Recruitment Monitoring Form
- If you would like to have a discussion with the Hiring Manager, please request this from scotinfo@volunteeringmatters.org.uk