Volunteer Development Coordinator

This is an exciting new opportunity to help Cambridge City Foodbank (CCFb) grow and develop the talent and skills of its large volunteer workforce. Reporting to the Operations Manager, you will have a critical impact on CCFb’s ability to meet the need for emergency and affordable food. This post builds on the findings of CCFb’s externally commissioned Volunteer Learning Project.

Main Duties:

●        Lead the recruitment, retention and development of the volunteer workforce; working to support Team Leaders, and to ensure there is clarity of responsibility and accountability.

●        Oversee the Volunteer Development Team, including recruiting to vacant posts, line management of the team and the team’s workflow. The team comprises of 3 x Volunteer Administrators specialising in volunteer recruitment, volunteer journey and supermarket collection days.

●        Coordinate the special supermarket collection day volunteer teams, that take place periodically throughout the year.

●        Complete the transition to the ‘Assembly’ volunteer database and oversee the maintenance of accurate records.

●        Create and deliver an action plan which builds on the findings of the Volunteer Learning Project (with the support of the CEO and Operations Manager) in the following areas:

     o   Living the Ethos – ensuring our Vision, Mission and Values are understood and embraced by our volunteers

     o   Connection & Community – creating strong connections with the organisation and a sense of community across the whole volunteer supporter base.

     o   Diversity, Inclusion and Lived Experience – proactive action to engage diverse communities in volunteering, including widening age, ethnicity, and lived experience.

     o   Continual Learning and Progression – ensuring effective volunteer induction, training and ongoing development opportunities take place, throughout a volunteers’ journey.

     o   Operational Excellence – improving volunteer procedures and administrative systems.

●        Liaise with colleagues across the Trussell network; sharing best practice and participating in learning opportunities, to further the work of Cambridge City Foodbank.

●        Other activities may be requested from time to time by the CEO, Operations Manager and senior staff, consistent with the needs of the Charity.

Personal Specification:

Technical skills and minimum knowledge:

●        Excellent people management skills, with a good understanding of the differences in supervising volunteers compared to employees, gained from personal experience with the voluntary sector.

●        Strong coordination experience, highly organised, and able to effectively juggle multiple administrative tasks at the same time!

●        Competent in the use of Zoom/Teams and MS Office software.

●        Excellent written and verbal communication and relationship management skills.

Behaviours and competencies:

●        Friendly, trustworthy and able to maintain confidentiality.

●        Able to demonstrate empathy for people from disadvantaged, marginalised or socially-excluded backgrounds.

●        Be committed to the vision, respect the ethos and uphold the values of Cambridge City Foodbank and Trussell.

Our Vision, Ethos & Values:

Our Vision is for a UK without the need for foodbanks. Each day we meet the need for emergency and affordable food, and tackle the causes of poverty, by harnessing the power of the community. We are an independent local charity and member of the Trussell Trust network.

We value dignity, justice, compassion, community and impact, in all that we do. We serve local people regardless of background, inspired by our Christian ethos and values.

As part of our commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity, we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions and those with a lived experience of poverty as well as any other under-represented group in our workforce. We are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of our employees from all forms of harm.

Currently: our amazing team of over 200 volunteers assisted by a small staff team, provided over 17,500 3-day emergency food parcels to people across Cambridge (around one-third are children) and distribute in excess of 170,000 Kilos of food.