Volunteering Manager

We’re an award-winning charity that runs local learning centres in the heart of communities where the young people we support live. Our centres provide an innovative education programme which includes practical learning support and motivational and confidence-building activities for children and young people aged 7-18. Our aim is to inspire students from the least advantaged neighbourhoods to broaden their horizons and achieve their full potential.

As the UK’s leading university access organisation, our staff team is helping thousands of young people each year. We have thirty-nine centres and extension projects across England and Scotland, with ambitious plans to scale-up our provision further over the coming years.

We are looking for a Volunteering Manager to join our team on a fixed-term contract. The charity is hugely grateful for the important contributions of its dedicated volunteers. The Volunteering Manager will play the critical role, with the support of the Assistant Director of Operations, in ensuring the effective recruitment, placement and retention of volunteers at IntoUniversity – this will include supporting with initial recruitment and training (working closely with local to IntoUniversity teams to deliver this), ensuring that all volunteers across the charity are valued for the talents that they bring, and that the ethos and values of the charity are demonstrated in all aspects of the charity’s volunteering. 

The role at a glance

Contract

Full-time, fixed-term until early July 2025

Start date

January 2025

Working hours

09:00 to 17:30, Monday to Friday. However, we operate core working hours in Head Office so you can choose to start early and finish early (e.g. 8:00 to 16.30), or start later and finish later (e.g. 9.30 to 18:00).

We are a delivery organisation providing frontline educational services for young people. Our Head Office team is based on the site of our North Kensington centre in West London. We are an organisation with team members at different stages of their career, including many in their first roles: we are committed to nurturing talent and providing a developmental culture for all. Our Head Office team works in-person 4 days per week with 1 day from home.

Salary

£38,100 inclusive of £2,600 London contribution 

Location

IntoUniversity Head Office, 95 Sirdar Road, London W11 4EQ

Annual leave

33 days (inc bank & public holidays) + 3 closure days (two in December and one in July) + additional length of service entitlement (one day per year of service, up to 5 days)

Staff benefits

• Employer pension contributions of 6% (and up to 8% after two years)
• Year round ‘early finish’ Fridays at 4.30pm
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to wellbeing and legal support
• Life Assurance scheme with AIG including SmartHealth service with access to 24/7 online GP appointments
• Interest-free new starter loans of up to £1,000
• Cycle to Work Scheme and Travelcard Loan Scheme
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay and sick pay allowances
• Staff in FOCUS – rewards, competitions and prizes across the year 

What will my main duties be?

With the support of the Assistant Director of Operations:

Volunteer recruitment:

• To develop a volunteer recruitment plan to meet programme and organisational need; and to work closely with the corporate partnerships team and programme and regional managers to implement the recruitment plan, for example working with the Heads of Mentoring to implement a university student recruitment plan for the Mentoring programme
• To deliver guidance and training to support local IntoUniversity centres to implement the recruitment plan, including working with universities and community organisations
• To manage volunteer enquiries and national recruitment channels, such as volunteering sites and networks

Volunteer onboarding

• To use the charity’s Salesforce database to manage the volunteer pipeline - from application, to selection and training, to centre allocation
• To manage the process of onboarding steps including application form, training, Safer Recruitment checks, and support local IntoUniversity centres to implement the onboarding process consistently
• To work with the programmes and delivery team to ensure efficient induction takes place and to ensure staff are recording all volunteering activity on Salesforce

Volunteer training

• To implement a high-quality volunteer training programme for regular volunteer roles, including: organisation of a training schedule and staffing; facilitation of training (alongside delivery staff); providing guidance and training to staff to deliver volunteer training; reviewing training resources and facilitation

Volunteer experience:

• To provide support, resources, and training to centre staff and programme managers to ensure quality volunteer management throughout the volunteer lifecycle
• To implement volunteer development and recognition strategies to ensure volunteers feel valued as part of the IntoUniversity team and to support centre teams to build lasting relationships with volunteers to support retention
• To develop best practice in volunteering across IntoUniversity, including reviewing and evaluating current practice in the sector

Internal collaboration

To drive a joined up approach to managing volunteering within the charity, including:

• To work with the HR team to align staff and volunteer policies and processes, and support local teams to implement them consistently across the network
• To work with the Corporate Partnerships team to offer successful corporate volunteer roles
• To work with the Communications team to develop an online presence and resources promoting volunteering

Organisational wide

• To champion diversity and inclusion in your role at all times, referring to the Diversity and Inclusion Staff Responsibilities Guide.
• To ensure compliance with all necessary regulations and legal requirements, including the Children’s Act, Equal Opportunities, Data Protection Act, Health & Safety and Working with Vulnerable Groups
• To undertake any task that may be requested from time to time that may be consistent with the nature and scope of this post.