Department: Communications and Engagement
Reporting to: Volunteering Development Champion
Salary: £23,000-£25,000 per annum
Based: Grantham
Position: Full Time Permanent
Closing Date: Tuesday 30th November 2010
Interview Date: Wednesday 8th December 2010
Background
The Woodland Trust has a long tradition of involving volunteers in the delivery of its objectives; the organisation was founded by volunteers. Today volunteers are involved in almost all aspects of our work and enable us to achieve far more than would be possible through paid staff alone.
Volunteers not only support the organisation to get things done but through their involvement learn more about trees and woodland. Through this they are more likely to become local community champions for trees and woodland, to make personal lifestyle choices that benefit the environment, help to address climate change and be better able to take part in informed debate and decision making that effects trees and woodland.
There are currently over 1033 active, tasked volunteers who generously give their time and skills to support the trust achieve its aims. In 2009 their “gift of time” to the Woodland Trust was 78,089 hours (equivalent to 10,412 days) representing a “Gift in Kind” of £1,697,743.
If we include the hours given in 2009 by individuals supporting the Woodland Trust through Tree Planting activities and online projects collecting data relating to ancient trees and phenology these figures rise to 200,197 hours representing a value of £2.1m. This non tasked activity however is not a development priority for the Volunteering Development Team.
The Central Team
As a member of the central team your role will be vital to leading the delivery of the Volunteering Strategy – which directs the way in which volunteering is developed across the Woodland Trust. You will work with a detailed understanding of how, through a variety of roles, volunteers can support the work of the Woodland Trust, you will work inclusively, enabling volunteer task managers to deliver a quality volunteering experience for their volunteers.
Unlocking potential funding through volunteer engagement, seeking out new volunteer engagement opportunities and delivering a volunteering journey alongside an awareness of development in mass participation activities are also the joint responsibilities of each member of the team.
Working cohesively is essential to the success of a small, but highly skilled team where responsibility for good communication and a sense of customer service delivered across the organisation are key measures for each individual.
Context of Work
The volunteering development team sits within the Communication and Engagement Department. Each member delivers across the Woodland Trust ensuring a consistent service is provided in relation to volunteer engagement.
Job Purpose
To lead the central Volunteering Development team to provide a quality service and enable task managers to effectively engage volunteers. To develop an excellent understanding of where volunteers can add value to the trusts work and support task managers achieve their objectives. To work with task managers to develop new and existing volunteer programmes. To champion volunteering across the trust.
Duties
Team Leader:
- To manage the volunteering development staff and volunteer team (currently a Volunteering Development Officer and Volunteering Journey Coordinator).
- To provide support and leadership enabling the team to develop and implement the volunteering development strategy.
- To ensure the team works across the organisation recognising opportuinities for volunteer involvment and implementation of volunteer management good practice.
- To encourage each individual to learn and develop themselves professionally; to use the Performance Development Review System to support team development.
- To influence and lead team members to demonstrate themselves as full and effective service providers.
- To encourage team members to practice direct volunteer management to help deliver their own role, so as to set the standard of volunteer management by example
Accountability:
- To produce quality annual, quarterly and monthly reports of the teams work and volunteering across the trust generally.
- To support the Volunteering Development Champion to set and report on Key Performance Indicators.
- To carry out an outcomes focussed evaluation of volunteering across the trust.
- To support the Volunteeering Development Champion to maintain a detailed knowledge and understanding of the current legislative framework and best practice in relation to volunteer management.
- To champion the role of volunteers and to work to establish recognition of the value of volunteering to the Woodland Trust.
- To work with the Volunteering Development Champion to ensure financial systems support easy and cost effective management of the budget.
- To deliver the volunteering development strategy and to actively engage with strategic development across the organisation to enable the team to fully exploit opportunities for volunteers to support the delivery of organisational objectives.
- To work closely with the Woodland Operations department to implement the Wood Ops volunteering strategy.
- To explore and develop a framework to enable the trust to manage its relationships with independant conservation groups and "friends of" groups to maximise their benefit to the trust.
- To maintain a comprehensive understanding of legislation relating to managing and engaging volunteers and to inform changes to policy and procedure where appropriate.
- To support task managers to implement the volunteer disciplinary procedure.
- To ensure robust processes are in place and in use to safeguard the health and safety of volunteers.
- To work with the Supporter Marketing department to maximise the financial income from volunteer supporters.
- To deliver a volunteer recognition, award programme.
Development and Innovation:
- To bring innovative solutions to problems relating to volunteering within the Woodland Trust.
- To explore and raise awareness of external funding opportunties to support the development and implementataion of new and existing strategic volunteer programmes
- To ensure the Woodland Trust adopts best practice to further improve volunteer engagement.
- To work with the Volunteering Development Champion to influence and inform the development of strategic plans.
- To work with the Learning and Develoment Manager to explore and implement appropriate accreditation programmes for volunteers' skills and learning.
- To deliver inspirational inductions to enable staff to recognise the value of volunteer engagement.
- To ensure that the Supporter Relationship Management systems (SRM) support easy and cost effective capture of volunteer details and management.
- To work with the PR team to maximise the publicity for, and the profile of, volunteering at the Woodland Trust.
Misc:
- Each member of the team will be responsible for their own administration generated through their role
- Each member of the team will engage volunteers directly to support the delivery of their role.
- Each member of the team will work in ways described in the organisational behaviours and attitude framework
- Each member of the team will see the benefit and actively build rapport and relationships with their team members both directly within Volunteer Development and Communications and Engagement as well as across the Woodland Trust
- Each member of the team will take responsibility to work within the Performance Development Review programme for the benefit of their own professional development
- Each member of the team will take responsibility for their own, team members and volunteers health and safety.
- Each member of the team will play their part in delivering the Volunteer of the Year awards – as outlined within their objectives
Experience Required
- Significant experience of either managing volunteer programmes or developing volunteering across a sector
- Experience of managing a development team and of implementing strategy
- Experience of implementing change
- Experience of developing policy relating to volunteer programmes
- Ability to set and deliver goals and targets
- Eperienced networker – both internally and externally
- Experience of finding innovative and workable solutions to problems
- Experience of working as part of a team to implement IT solutions to manage procedure or service delivery
- Experience of producing reports for both internal and external audiences
- Experience of managing a small budget
- Experience of using common software packages to carry out routine administration.
Desirable but not essential experience
- Experience of implementing an outcomes focussed approach to evaluating volunteering programmes
- Experience of addressing staff performance and development within a recognised framework
- Full UK driving licence and own car would be an advantage
Knowledge required
- Excellent understanding of the law as it relates to volunteering
- Knowledge of funding opportunities for volunteering
- Knowledge and understanding of an outcomes focussed approach to the evaluation of volunteer programmes
- Knowledge of frameworks of accreditation for volunteers
- Excellent understanding of what motivates individuals to volunteer
Qualities required
- Excellent communicator with an inclusive approach to working with people both internally and externally
- Team player who works with an awareness of how your role impacts on others (both in your immediate team and wider across the organisation)
- Keen service provider committed to excellent customer service
- Passionate about the value volunteering brings to an organisation
- Open to learning and developing as an individual within the role
- Can demonstrate vision to maximise on their own role and what they bring to the team as a whole
- Highly approachable
- Natural leader for influencing people about new ideas and encouraging change
- Motivator
The list of tasks shown above is not exclusive nor does the order indicate the priority attached to them. The job holder may, therefore, be required to perform other duties which may reasonably be assigned to them by their manager or supervisor.
We all have a duty to ensure that our acts or omissions at work do not impact on the health and safety of others and ourselves and that we abide by any safety measures as directed and in accordance with the Woodland Trust Health & Safety Policy.
How to apply:
If you feel you have the necessary skills and experience and an affinity with the Trust's aims, we would like to hear from you. Please submit a letter of application including current salary details together with a CV, stating clearly which position you are interested in to:
recruitment@woodlandtrust.org.uk
To demonstrate good practice we would appreciate your support in removing unnecessary information from your CV and letter of application. This includes date of birth, education dates, religion and ethnicity.
Please ensure you state where you orignally saw the position advertised.
Note to Agencies:
Agencies are advised that the Woodland Trust will not accept any CVs but company details may be supplied by email to: recruitment@woodlandtrust.org.uk