Trainee DEVELOPMENT WORKER

Job description

Salary: / (i)Initial 6 months training and probationary period: £11,000 per annum pro rata.
(ii)After 6 months in post, on satisfactory completion of probationary period: £16,000 per annum pro rata.
(iii)After 12 months in post, on satisfactory performance appraisal: £19,000 per annum.
Hours: / 35 hours a week 9 am and 5 pm Mon – Fri.
Duration: / 2-year fixed term.
Line manager: / Chief Executive (Tim Robertson)
Staff managed: / None, though may give guidance and support to volunteers or students on placement.
Base: / Koestler Arts Centre, 168a Du Cane Road, LondonW12 0TX
(adjacent to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, near East Acton tube station).
Holidays: / 25 days a year (of which up to 10 days may be taken in the initial 6 months) + Bank Holidays
Pension: / After the 6-month probationary period, all staff are invited to join the Trust’s pension scheme.

Main aim of the post

To increase the Koestler Trust’s income, and to make that income more consistent and predictable, by writing applications and reports to funders, by planning and monitoring the Trust’s fundraising, by writing other promotional texts as needed, and by assisting with fundraising events.

Coached and closely supervised by the Chief Executive, the post-holder – who will probably be a recent graduate and does not need to have previous fundraising experience – will gain first-hand in-depth knowledge of development work in a busycontext. Applicants should plan to spend at least 18 months in the job, and then look to move on to a career in the arts or charity sectors.

For satisfactory completion of the training and probationary period, the post-holder will be carrying out most of the following duties to a satisfactory level after 3 months and all of them to a good level after 6 months.

Duties

  1. To write top-quality applications to charitable trusts, public sector bodies and business sponsors that raise substantial new funding for the charitable work of the Koestler Trust.
  1. To carry out research to identify potential funders and ways of raising money.
  1. To write top-quality monitoring reports and other information whenever required by funders to ensure that their support for the Koestler Trust is sustained and developed.
  1. To maintain excellent paper and database records of funders, donors, deadlines and sums of money, liaising with the Trust’s book-keeper to ensure scrupulous financial records.
  1. To plan and review the Trust’s fundraising by setting timescales and targets and reporting the success rate in a format that gives a clear, up-to-date overview for thechief executive and board of trustees.
  1. To gain and maintain a thorough understanding of the Koestler Trust – its history, day-to-day work, future plans, policies, staffing and financial needs – and a reasonable knowledge of arts in criminal justice, so that this understanding and knowledge inform all funding applications and other texts.
  1. To ensure that all funding applications and monitoring reports meet the deadlines, formats and other requirements set by funders, include realistic and measurable outcome targets and accurate budgetary information.
  1. To maintain and develop the Trust’s support from individual donors, especially administering the Name a Koestler Award scheme (through which individuals sponsor awards in their name and are sent copies of the awarded artworks).
  1. To develop the internet as a route for donations to the Trust, including the Trust’s own website, Easy Fundraising, Justgiving and networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
  1. To write other texts as required by the chief executive, eg. for the website, annual report, brochures and press releases.
  1. To write all texts in a clear and engaging style, well-structured and brilliantly presented, with diagrams, images and examples of offenders’ artworks wherever appropriate.
  1. To help organise and run Koestler Trust events, with particular responsibility for welcoming donors and funders at these events, eg. drinks receptions at Koestler exhibitions.
  1. To arrange and take part in face-to-face meetings as appropriate, eg. for funders to visit the Koestler Arts Centre or a prison art department, or for the chief executive to meet a potential donor.
  1. To act as a member of the Koestler team, assisting when needed with events like the annual exhibition opening and tasks like the annual mail-out of awards certificates.
  1. To participating in team meetings (usually on Tuesday mornings) and regular one-to-one Support and Supervision meetings with line manager (usually once a month).
  1. To follow the Trust’s policies and procedures, eg. for health and safety and equalities.

Person specification

To be short-listed for interview, applicants must show in the written statement of the application form that they meet each of the following numbered points.

Qualifications

  1. Honours degree at least class 2:1 in any subject that includes a substantial amount of writing.

Knowledge

  1. Thorough working knowledge of email, the internet and IT packages including Word and Excel, ideally with the ability to produce and edit diagrams, graphs and images.
  1. A strong level of numeracy for working with budgets and statistics.
  1. A good understanding of how to carry out research and to analyse findings.
  1. General knowledge of current issues in the arts, criminal justice and the voluntary sector.

Experience, paid or voluntary

  1. Experience of carrying out defined tasks within an organisation.
  1. Experience of working collaboratively with others.
  1. Experience of taking initiative and developing new projects or ways of working.

Skills and abilities

  1. Top quality writing skills – easily able to produce a variety of texts that are purposeful, accurate, well-structured, clear and will engage the intended audience.

This is the most important criterion for successful appointment to the post. At the same time as submitting the application form, candidates must submit a 300-word piece of writing on “Why people should donate money to the Koestler Trust”.

  1. Strong interpersonal skills – able to communicate with a wide range of people face-to-face and on the telephone, including handling complaints.
  1. Independent and highly organised in planning own workload and meeting deadlines.
  1. Intellectual ability to see the big picture of an organisation and its context, balanced with extremely careful attention to detail.
  1. Able to learn new information quickly, to grasp the most salient points, and to present them in imaginative and accessible ways.

Attitudes and values

  1. Enthusiasm for the aims of the Koestler Trust.
  1. Flexibility and willingness to learn, with a can-do attitude tosolving problems.
  1. Energy and stamina.
  1. A strong commitment to equal opportunities.

TR Jan 10

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Staff team: Jan 2010

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