BERWICKSHIRE ASSOCIATION FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE
DEVELOPMENT WORKER
Place of work: Based in Duns but Berwickshire working brief.
Hours of work:28 hours worked over a minimum of four days each week. This post involves flexible working with community and voluntary organisations, including occasional evening and weekend work. It should be noted that the development worker may be required to attend residential events on occasion (usually once a year).
Annual Leave:25days per year (pro rata) plus public holidays.
1. MAIN PURPOSE
BAVS is a community development organisation and a partner in the Borders Third Sector Partnership (the Third Sector Interface - TSI). We support Berwickshire communities and Third Sector organisations by providing capacity building support and practical help on a range of issues; we also represent the interests of the Third Sector within the community planning partnership and provide information/communication links between partners in both the statutory and Third Sector. We operate from Duns to cover Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders.
The role of the Development Worker is to deliver a capacity-building development support service to new and existing Third Sector organisations.
BAVS works through a community development approach and therefore seeks to set its work plan targets around the needs of voluntary groups in the Berwickshire area.
Level of responsibility: The Development Worker will work on his/her own initiative and with the direction of the Executive Officer as part of a team to provide this support.
Responsible to: The Development Worker is responsible to the BAVS Board through the Executive Officer (EO), with day to day support from the EO as line manager.
2. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Development Worker as directed will be responsible for:
a)Work with voluntary organisations, community groups and individuals, supporting them through development of new organisations or helping existing organisations manage change.
b)Supporting member groups to represent themselves to other agencies.
c)Providing information to BAVS to monitor and evaluate its work.
Key responsibilities:
2.1Professional:
a)Undertake any relevant training required and maintain up to date knowledge of best practice in voluntary and community development sector activity.
b)Engage in the monitoring and evaluation procedures required by our board;
c)Assist the community to identify need and look at solutions for meeting that need.
d)Maintain contact with voluntary groups and respond to specific requests for assistance from them.
e)Maintain knowledge of the village and community halls in Berwickshire and offer support to the halls committees.
f)Facilitate the recruitment of volunteers and help support them with required training.
g)Work actively to achieve the targets in BAVS Business Plan and the TSI Work Plan;
h)Deputise for the Executive Officer when required.
2.2 Organisational: The development worker delivers a capacity-building development support service to new and existing organisations in Berwickshire which will involve:
a)Developing networks;
b)Legal structures, charity status and good governance;
c)Supporting compliance with all applicable regulations;
d)Organisation and project development and business planning;
e)Identifying funding opportunities and assisting with applications;
f)Dissemination of information as appropriate.
g)Community engagement, surveys and action plans (geographical communities and communities of interest);
2.3 Other: The development worker attends a range of partnership meetings. These may involve:
h)TSI development meetings
i)Community planning sub-groups
j)Health & Social Care Integration Locality Groups;
k)Community Learning Partnerships;
l)Other meetings with statutory and Third Sector partners;
3.Accountabilities
The Development Worker is line managed by the Executive Officer of BAVS, and is accountable to the BAVS Board of Directors.
4.Skills and Experience
The post holder should have the following skills and experience:
Essential:
a)The ability to identify barriers to success and possible ways of overcoming difficulties.
b)Significant relevant past experience demonstrating an ability to engage with volunteers and staff in the Third Sector and Public Sector
c)Ability and track record of establishing and maintaining effective, informal networking and multi-agency working.
d)An understanding of the Third Sector and the environment in which it operates (including charity regulations and good governance).
e)Be results driven, haveability to plan work and demonstrate success.
f)Knowledge and experience of planning, target setting, monitoring and evaluation.
g)Able to work well as part of a team
h)The ability to work without direct supervision, using own initiative.
i)A working knowledge of the voluntary sector, (it is desirable, but not essential, that the post holder has experience of the voluntary sector in Berwickshire)
j)Good communication skills, both written and oral, able to communicate effectively with volunteers, community groups, Boards of Directors, statutory agencies, colleagues and national agencies).
k)Basic financial and bookkeeping skills in order to advise groups as needed.
l)Good IT skills i.e. knowledge of Microsoft applications,able to use online databases and produce Word reports.
m)Hold a valid driving licence and have use of a car. (Mileage allowance paid).
Desirable:
a)Community development experience
b)Experience of generating income through services and funding development
c)Understanding of Social Impact accounting
d)Knowledge of constitutional forms and legal structures
5. Terms and conditions
The post is part-time (4 days, 28 hours per week), worked over Monday to Friday. The development worker may be required to attend evening meetings, as appropriate for a community support service.Overtime is not paid; we operate a Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) system.
25 days paid annual leave (pro rata) and 10 days Public Holidays paid (pro rata). At least 4 days must be taken over the Christmas/ New Year period when the office is closed.
Willingness to be a PVG Scheme member (disclosure).
Salary: pro rata £18,990 - £20,233
Travel expenses are paid at 45p per mile, as authorised by the EO.
Variations: BAVS receives annual grant support from Scottish Government as part of the Borders TSI. Any increase or decrease in the level of funding available could have an impact on this post.