Volunteer and Community Manager

We are looking for the right person to become our new Volunteer and Community Manager, someone who can support our existing volunteers, recruit new people to join our volunteer team and raise the awareness of our services across Kent and Medway.

Although an understanding of the Criminal Justice System is ideal, we can teach you that. What we cannot teach are the skills to understand the challenges that volunteers face, how to hear and support them when they face these challenges and how to keep them engaged and motivated to support victims of crime.

Our volunteers are an amazing group of people who support adults and young people to understand the impact of their experience of being a victim of crime and stand alongside them as they move into their new reality.

If you think that you have these qualities and are resilient & adaptable then we need to hear from you.

What we offer:

At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:

• Flexible working options including hybrid working
• 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
• An extra day off for your birthday
• Pension with 5% employer contribution
• Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
• High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment & leisure discounts
• Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
• Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
• Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression

About the role:

This job cannot be home based and you will need to be able to travel across Kent and Medway.
You will be Supporting and managing existing volunteers in Kent and Medway
Recruit new volunteers from the various communities in Kent and Medway to build a volunteer team that better reflects the communities we wish to serve
Introduce new volunteering roles to the local service and recruit into them
Build strong working relationships with volunteer bureaus, higher/further education colleges and other agencies across Kent and Medway to raise the awareness of volunteering opportunities with Victim Support
You will also need to build our online and real-life media presence to raise the profile of our service in Kent and Medway
On a daily basis you will need to be in contact with Volunteers, the local Senior Management Team, local Team Leaders, Caseworkers, the Hate Crime Advocate and Stalking Advocates

You will need:
To be able to work independently against an agreed plan
To remain empathetic whilst developing the confidence of volunteers to hold safe but challenging caseloads
Able to work in partnership with other agencies and with team members.
Resilience. This is a busy job with multiple demands on your time so you will need to remain focused on what your priorities are.
You will need to be comfortable talking to various individuals and groups about the work that we do and look to develop a volunteer team that reflects the communities that we serve.
You will need to be comfortable meeting potential volunteers, presenting to other agencies and occasionally being the local voice of Victim Support in the media

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks including Police Vetting and Disclosed Barring Service checks will be required. If you are unable to obtain a police vetting certificate you will not be confirmed in post.

Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard.
Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.
As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.
If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.

How to apply:

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.