Job title:Volunteering Projects Officer

Reports to:Shortbreaks Project Manager (Leeds Mencap)Volunteering Projects Team Leader (Royal Mencap Society)

Management of: Project Support Worker,Volunteers

Leeds Mencap and the Royal Mencap Society, working partnership will deliver a 12 month programme of Young Ambassadors – a Youth Volunteering project for those aged 16-24.

The Young Ambassadors programme gives practical activities and support to enable young people with a learning disability to enhance their skills whilst gaining in confidence and self-esteem through volunteering and citizen focused activities.

The overall purpose of the post

  • Over the 12 months of the project recruit and support 2 groups 16 young people (32 in total) using the Young Ambassador Programme tools and resources.
  • Deliver 8 Community Impact which are youth led volunteering activities
  • Undertake monitoring on project KPIs and outcomes and support processes to record and analyse the key learning for Mencap and wider project impacts.
  • Support the development of new volunteering projects and programme for Mencap through knowledge sharing and case study reporting.
  • Work as part of a national programme with local accountability

The key roles for Volunteering Project Officer are:

  • Active Supporter
  • Team player
  • Recorder & reporter
  • Lifestyle enabler
  • Safe Practitioner

Active supporter

The Volunteering Project Officer will provide support to individuals undertaking the activities that they have chosen to do. They will provide support on a 1 to 1 or group basis. They will support the progression of the individual through the development of new skills and maintenance of existing skills in line with a plan that has been agreed.

KPIs:

  • Support individuals through the funded projects, helping them to achieve the outcomes that are right for them and achieving a range of targets including becoming a Volunteers
  • Assist in delivering volunteer induction training to groups of volunteers on a regular basis. As well as operational and local task management of the volunteers.
  • To provide support on a 1 to 1 or group basis that will enable individuals to gain or maintain the skills that they need to undertake the activities that they have chosen to do
  • Demonstrates an ability to work responsively with people and use a range of methods to engage people successfully. Develop appropriate tools such as cues, prompts and reinforcers that enable individuals to undertake the tasks that they require for their chosen activities.
  • To work in a positive and proactive way so each individual supported is able to receive a good quality service in line with Mencap standards.
  • Ability to adopt a flexible approach to working so that all opportunities are maximised in the best interests of people.

Measures: Contract targets, volunteer targets, feedback, observations, employer feedback, feedback from external organisations

Team player

The Volunteering Project Officer will work as part of a national and local team and is expected to work effectively and collaboratively with all colleagues, including volunteers and partner organisations. They will deliver support, in line with, the activities agreed and Mencaps values.

KPI’s:

  • Responsible for supporting Young Ambassadors, supervising volunteers and for ensuring teams work effectively together.
  • Identify, develop and maintain effective relationships with agencies and partner organisations who are able to support the delivery of volunteering projects including Young Ambassadors and wider volunteering outcomes
  • Ensure teams within area of responsibility and/or the delivery partner network operate in accordance with the stages and processes outlined in the toolkit, the minimum quality standards and any additional contractual obligations
  • Shows enthusiasm for the team and its work by demonstrating flexibility to support colleagues to ensure that the project meets its targets, including participating in events, fundraising initiatives, volunteer training and administration processes as required
  • Demonstrates a commitment to improving the team’s performance through constructive feedback and generation of ideas and solutions

Measures: Team meetings, feedback from team, observations, feedback from external organisations

Recorder and reporter

The Volunteering Project Officer has an active role in ensuring that activities and progress are recorded. These need to be reported in a timely and effective manner and that clearly identify progression made, including Volunteering activities, that individual achieve. They will ensure that they work in a way that is fair and respectful.

KPI’s:

  • Report on a monthly basis, targets related to the delivery projects (e.g. number of young people helped through each stage), volunteer area needs, volunteer opportunities and pending enquiries.
  • Contribute to the volunteer KPI's of retention, match and skills development
  • Ensure accurate and up to date records (budgetary and forecasts); paper and electronic, are maintained as required by Mencap or external funding contracts.
  • Responsible for managing own and volunteers expenses within the financial management guidelines, and for monitoring the budget within agreed limits.
  • Achieving Mencap’s standards, though completing all required reporting and recording accurately and on time
  • Demonstrates an ability to record and report about a person with a learning disability in an accurate and respectful way, in line with organisational values

Measures: Service paperwork, support/development plans, contract targets

Lifestyle enabler

The Volunteering Project Officer has an important role to play in supporting people to achieve the progression in personal skills and undertake the activities that they have chosen to do. This means helping people to make choices and decisions and exploring and accessing opportunities that will enable them to have a larger community presence, particularly through volunteering.

KPIs:

  • Maximise individuals’ participation through their active involvement and participation of the project/s at a local, regional and national level and by actively encouraging them and assisting them to become involved in volunteering and other opportunities.
  • Demonstrates an ability to support people to identifying their needs and devising an achievable plan to achieve this
  • An ability to support people in a proactive manner to develop the skills that they need to achieve their goals within agreed timescales
  • To work effectively with others to support successful progression and achievement for individuals
  • To identify and overcome barriers faced by individuals who wish to undertake their chosen activities

Measures: Service targets, young person’s feedback, service paperwork, staff feedback

Safe practitioner

The ability to work safely and in compliance with regulatory, contractual and internal requirements is essential to the Volunteering Project Officer so that the people we support feel safe and confident in the service that they use wherever this is delivered

KPIs:

  • Understands and adheres to safe working practices to promote personal safety and the safety of others
  • Reviews the managing risk with individuals assessment and applies the risk management processes with all individuals they are supporting, highlighting any issues to the Volunteer Projects Team Leader
  • Reports any areas of concern with safe working when supporting people in community based activities to the Volunteer Projects Team Leader
  • Highlights and reports any practice issues or safety concerns through line management channels to secure support and improvement in line with organisational policy
  • Undertakes and supports assessments and health and safety reviews (where appropriate)

Measures: feedback stakeholders, employer and staff feedback, observations, relevant paperwork

Person Specification

In addition to the things below, in Mencap we expect our employees to:

  • be positive about working for Mencap and to demonstrate this to all the people they come into contact with
  • work well with all of their colleagues
  • take responsibility for their own development

Skills/competence requirements

Essential

  • A strong understanding of the issues facing people with a learning disability
  • Ability to deliver workshops with a group of people
  • Ability to work on a one to one basis with people with a learning disability
  • Excellent planning and organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities to successful conclusions
  • Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
  • Knowledge of how to monitor and manage budgets and record project activates
  • The ability to work both independently and as part of a team and to maintain effective relationships with people at all levels of an organisation
  • A strong awareness and understanding of equal opportunities and the ability to translate these into effective action
  • Knowledge and insight into volunteering, particularly for those with a learning disability

Desirable

  • Knowledge of relevant, local community networks and health and social care service provision
  • Knowledge of the benefits system and how it impacts on volunteering
  • Knowledge of Health and Safety practices and processes

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working directly with people with a learning disability
  • Experience of working with volunteers
  • Experience of budgeting and financial monitoring processes
  • Experience of using project management tools to measure impact and outcomes
  • Experience of using e-mail, internet, word-processing and spreadsheet packages, accurately and with good attention to detail
  • Experience of managing relationships with external organisations

Desirable

  • Experience of working within a target driven environment
  • Experience of networking and collaborating with community and volunteer led organisations
  • Experience of managing and supervising staff & volunteers

Other

Essential

  • Must display a consistently positive attitude, evidenced by always delivering potential solutions to address issues and challenges
  • The confidence, drive and determination to deliver agreed targets
  • Ability to stay calm and work effectively under pressure
  • Full clean drivers licence
  • Satisfactory DBS check
  • Ability and willingness to travel across the England with occasional overnight stays