Programme Coordinator

Action for Conservation is a grassroots charity with a mission to bring the magic of nature into young people’s lives, inspiring a youth movement committed to conservation, restoration and to the Earth. We use pioneering approaches to inspire and empower young people from diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 12 and 24, to become the next generation of environmental leaders. We're looking to appoint a Programme Coordinator based along the South East Coast to help us expand our work in the region and deliver our programmes for young people.

Key terms

Start date: as soon as possible
Starting salary: £28,121.27 - £29,317.92 depending on experience
Contract: Permanent, full-time
Hours: 35 hours per week. Regular evening and weekend work, including residential work, will be required. Time off in lieu (TOIL) can be taken for overtime worked.  
Location: Brighton or Eastbourne
Travel: Frequent regional travel - along the South East coast and to London - will be required to deliver our programmes, as well as occasional national travel for meetings, team gatherings and others

About the role

As South East Programme Coordinator, you will be responsible for delivering our core programmes in your region. Through your work, you will inspire and support young people to connect with nature in new and exciting ways and gain new environmental knowledge and skills, and will empower them to have a voice on environmental issues they care about and take action for nature.

You will plan and lead a wide range of sessions for and with young people indoors (including in schools), outdoors and online. You will also support young people to design and deliver environmental action projects that benefit nature and their local communities and create platforms for young people to share their voices and influence decision-making. You will look after all practical and administrative aspects of programme delivery as well as play a vital role in inspiring, empowering and supporting young people both during and outside of activities. You will also formally act as our Blue Mentor for the Blue Influencers Scheme, a match-funded programme for environmental youth social action, funded by The Ernest Cook Trust and the #iwill Fund. 

This role sits across programme coordination and administration on one hand and programme delivery on the other. The proportion of each varies throughout the year, with a busy spring and summer season of activities leading into a quieter, desk-based autumn and winter season as we plan and get ready for the year ahead. In total across the year, you can expect to lead or support the delivery of four to six Ambassador events (usually day-long with a 2-day residential graduation), two 5-day residential summer camps, and around 25 (half-day) sessions at secondary schools or youth groups in your regional (plus additional sessions as needed to support your colleagues with their session delivery).

To be successful in the role, you will be highly organised, proactive, self-reliant and a skilled facilitator who can engage and build positive relationships with young people in a range of settings. You will have prior experience of delivering events and activities for and with young people and, ideally, relevant experience of programme coordination and administration.

Main duties

Support young people to engage in our programmes and learn about, connect with and take action for nature

• Recruit a diverse range of schools, youth groups and young people to take part in our programmes and act as Blue Influencers, with a particular focus on young people experiencing disadvantage and marginalisation.
• Create exciting content and educational materials for young people.
• Plan and deliver events and activities that help young people to connect with nature, develop their environmental knowledge and skills and take action in their communities, with a particular focus on coastal, marine and riverine environmental issues.
• Support and mentor young people to imagine, plan and deliver environmental action projects to tackle issues that are important to them, with a particular focus on projects that benefit blue spaces.
• Support young people to partner with local community organisations to embed their projects within the community and maximise learning, connection and impact.
• Lay the groundwork for our first coastal Intergenerational Action Site, bringing together young people, conservationists, local stakeholders and community members through our ‘gold standard’ approach to intergenerational nature restoration and decision-making.

Lead on programme coordination and support with safety, evaluation and communications

• Be responsible for the general coordination and manage the logistics to deliver our programmes in your region.
• Manage risk, health and safety and safeguarding during programme activities.
• Ensure Blue Influencer projects meet the Ernest Cook Trust’s and #iwill Fund’s funding criteria and are administered in line with the due diligence guidance.
• Support the evaluation of our programmes and report on outcomes. 
• Help us to grow and manage our network of volunteers in your region.
• Share stories of the young people you work with and support young people to directly share their stories through social media, YouTube, blogs, articles, talks and other channels.
• Help us to expand our network of local community partners that are actively looking to engage more young people.
• Be an active member of the regional and national network of Blue Mentors. 

See the full job description and person specification in the Recruitment Pack.
 

Why work with us?

You’ll be joining a young, mission-driven team who truly love what they do. Working with young people is always rewarding, sometimes challenging and never boring, and you’ll get to experience first-hand the positive impact that your work has. We work hard whilst maintaining a positive work-life balance and spend lots of time outdoors. In 2023, we were recognised by Escape the City as one of the top progressive places to work from over 13,000 nominations, after a rigorous assessment across six criteria, including Mission, Impact, People, Planet and Innovation.

Some of the benefits of working at Action for Conservation include:

• 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays, plus one additional day for each year served up to a maximum of 30 days
• Up to 5 days of professional development leave and up to 4 paid volunteer days each year
• A workplace pension with 3% employer contributions
• Access to flexible working to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance
• Regular team and organisational away days in the great outdoors
• Joining a growing organisation with the possibility to progress within the team as opportunities arise
• A robust training package and a bespoke development plan to support your progression and career aims 
• Opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge such as public speaking, youth engagement, group facilitation, practical conservation, and others
• Opportunities to share your voice and shape the direction of our work, ensuring that our content is relevant and reflective of your interests and the issues facing your community
• Seeing the impact of what you do, as you transform young people's lives

Our commitment to diversity

Diversity is one of our core values as an organisation and we are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where diversity is valued and there is equality of opportunity. We also recognise that the climate and ecological crisis disproportionately impacts minority and/or marginalised communities – yet these voices are largely underrepresented in the sector. Currently, the environmental sector is the second least diverse in the UK, with just 4.8% of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds. If the environmental movement is to succeed in creating a greener future that supports society as a whole, we need diverse voices at the heart of our programmes. We therefore encourage people from demographics that are currently underrepresented in the environmental movement to apply. 

Guaranteed interview scheme

We particularly encourage applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds or living with a disability or long-term health conditions. We will offer an interview to any candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds or living with a disability who opt into our Guaranteed Interview Scheme when applying and who meet the essential criteria for this role.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is Sunday 27 October 2024 at midnight. Click on the 'Apply' button to complete the online application form for this position.

Shortlisted candidates will be notified by email and invited to an interview by 01 November. First-stage interviews will be held between 05 and 07 November. Second-stage interviews will be held on 11-12 November. 

If you would like further information, support with access requirements, such as an adjustment to the application or interview process, or an informal chat, please contact us by email.