Head of Communities and Development

Surrey Community Action exists to support Surrey’s voluntary sector, the diverse communities of Surrey, and other organisations who seek to work with both.  We do this in three main ways:

• Advocacy and Representation - ensuring that non-voluntary sector stakeholders understand the value of our sector and how to work together to achieve shared objectives.
• Services to the Voluntary Sector - providing services to Surrey’s voluntary sector that increase their effectiveness or fill gaps in their capability, capacity, and resilience.
• Services to the Surrey’s Communities - providing services directly to Surrey’s communities that support community action and address unsupported needs.

Much of our work is with other community organisations, including community building management groups, voluntary car scheme organisers, councils, and others, but we also run projects and activities targeted at individuals within communities, such as fuel poverty advice, and support to Surrey’s Gypsy and Travellers.

We have some income generating services, predominantly to other voluntary sector organisations.  We seek to offer excellent service to our clients, whether managing payroll, conducting DBS checks or delivering training and events.

We also manage the “Astolat” charity offices, providing high quality office accommodation and support to eight other VCFS organisations.

About The Role

To realise our ambitions to provide the best possible support to Surrey’s communities and voluntary sector, we are looking for a Head of Communities and Development that can:

• Help us secure funding for Surrey Community Action’s core activities and projects.
• Develop, support, and inspire a team of project officers to deliver our projects and activities.
• Contribute to the running of the organisation as part of the management team.
• Create and develop projects and services that meet unmet needs in Surrey
• Develop themselves and their role to make an even bigger difference to the people and organisations we support.

Securing Funding

You will help us secure funding for Surrey Community Action’s core activities and projects, working with all staff to prepare high quality funding proposals to Local Authorities, trusts, grant giving bodies, corporate partners and major donors.  You will also lead on negotiating renewals of funding and maintaining good working relationships with current commissioners and funders.

You will be comfortable working in collaboration with partners from across the voluntary and statutory sectors, always focusing on making the biggest difference to the people of Surrey.

Leadership and line management

This role looks after some of our community project officers who in turn provide information, advice, guidance, and support to a diverse range of stakeholders, including community buildings, rural housing enablers, Good Neighbours Schemes, Community Champions, Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities, and people in fuel poverty.

You will provide effective line management to our community project officers, focusing on developing them to excel in their roles and broaden their skills, making sure to lead by example and develop yourself alongside them.

Running the Charity

You will form an integral part of the management team, working in tandem with the Chief Executive, management team and Board of Trustees, supporting the charity in strategic leadership, performance management and development our projects and services.

Develop new projects and services

To succeed in this role, you will need to have or build a deep understanding of Surrey’s voluntary sector and communities.  You may design and conduct consultations and market research to deepen your knowledge and share it with peers and other stakeholders in ways tailored to our audiences.

The environment in Surrey is complex and changeable, so we are looking for someone who can flex themselves and this role so that Surrey Community Action can do better every day, who can recognise ways we can improve and provide even better support to our stakeholders, from local authorities, to charities and community groups, to individuals in need.

About You

We are looking for someone with passion, drive, and an ambition to improve the lives of all people and communities in Surrey either directly or by ensuring Surrey’s voluntary sector survives and thrives.

We want Surrey Community Action to reflect the diversity of the individuals, communities, and voluntary sector we serve so encourage applications from anyone who believes they can carry out the job description.

There are some things that will make you stand out, but even if you do not match all the criteria below, we still want to hear about you and what you can offer:

• Ideally, you will have demonstrable success of fundraising in the charity sector, particularly from grants making trusts, and you would have experience of working and negotiating with Local Authorities.
• You will be a strong line manager with experience of mentoring and developing staff.
• You will have solid IT skills including Office applications and databases.
• You will be able to communicate across a wide range of audiences, from senior local authority leaders, to community group trustees, from grant making trusts, to charity peers, and do so online and face-to-face.
• This is a complex role, so you will have the ability to plan, balance and manage multiple priorities – with support from the CEO and your colleagues.
• You might not have a background in the voluntary sector but will be willing to learn.
• You should have good financial literacy, including setting budgets and core cost recovery
• Above all, we are looking for someone with the potential to help make Surrey Community Action a stronger organisation able to make an even bigger difference to those we support.

The Nuts and Bolts

Our offices are in Burpham, Surrey (GU4 7HL).  This role can be delivered from the office, or as a hybrid role with 2-3 days in the office per week.

You will report directly to the Chief Executive and be responsible for 5-6 project officers.  You will be an equal part of our small management team and contribute to our trustee board meetings.

We are committed to continued professional development and will support you to develop your skills even further.

You may have to travel across Surrey and sometimes beyond, so access to transport would be an advantage where public transport is not an option (we can support you into Access to Work scheme as needed).

This is a full-time role (35 hours per week), but that time can be flexible to accommodate family and caring commitments.

The salary for this post is £40,000 and we also offer:

• Flexible working
• 5% employers pension contribution
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Paid volunteering leave
• Free on-site parking
• 25 days holiday with an additional three days between Christmas and New Year, as well as all English Bank Holidays