Engagement Manager SAFE Valleys V529

Job Advert

Engagement Manager 

17.5 hours per week (fixed-term contract for 12 months)

Job Ref: V529

Hours/Days per week: 17.5 days per week – (Flexible days/hours)

Salary: £12,500 plus attractive employee benefits package

Start date: 6th January 2025 

Location: Homebased with extensive travel across Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr

Closing date: 2nd December

Interview date and Location: 9th December - online

Volunteering Matters 

Everyone in the UK should have the opportunity to thrive. So we bring people together to overcome some of society’s most complex issues through the power of volunteering. 

We partner with communities to overcome adversity, tackling social isolation and loneliness, improving health, developing skills and opportunity and making sure young people can lead change. And because we’re a national charity, we do this at scale, sharing our expertise and building partnerships to make an even bigger impact. 

We turn local knowledge and energy into action and progress, building stronger communities and a better future for all. 

SAFE Valleys 

SAFE Valleys is a pilot project that brings our award-winning SAFE project to Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taff. Funded by the Moondance Foundation, SAFE (Safety Awareness for Everyone) is a project that empowers young people in a peer-led environment. It aims to improve the knowledge of topics relating to healthy relationships and sexual health, mate crime, and internet safety. It focuses on young people aged 16-35 with additional learning needs in addition to offering support to their families.

SAFE is facilitated with peer-led workshops. The aim of this project is to empower young people with additional learning needs to lead the conversation and education around their own relationships improving knowledge and awareness of these topics for our beneficiaries of this project.

Job purpose

The successful candidate will deliver a pilot project, taking our SAFE project into Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil. You’ll be responsible for forging new connections and seeking opportunities in the area to deliver our SAFE workshops, encouraging the participation of volunteers wherever possible. The role will involve workshop delivery as well as volunteer recruitment and management. Working alongside an existing colleague in Gwent, you’ll develop and consolidate our workshop materials, to ensure that they’re meeting the needs of the young people participating. 

Key Duties:

1. Deliver SAFE workshops throughout the RCT and Merthyr Tydfil area, involving volunteers in delivery where possible.

2. Recruit, interview, induct, train and support volunteers. 

3. Work closely with our SAFE project in Gwent to manage referrals into the project, updating on progress and plans in the process. 

4. Develop and update workshop materials and activities to meet new challenges, in conjunction with SAFE colleagues in Gwent.

5. Management of the matching/placement of volunteers, risk assessing the volunteers and planned activities, and monitoring and supporting the match throughout. 

6. Maintain good record keeping, ensuring that evidence and impact data is collected so that we can monitor progress against outcomes.

7. Promote the project through a range of techniques, instigating interest in volunteering and encouraging engagement. 

8. Maintain effective relationships with volunteers, beneficiaries, colleagues and project partners. 

9. Prepare reports to the Delivery Leader for Wales, based on agreed outputs and targets. 

10. Risk assess all activities, ensuring that they are regularly reviewed and amended if circumstances change. 

11. Contribute to joint working and teamwork across Volunteering Matters and the SAFE team. 

Experience/Skills and attributes: 

1. Knowledge of social care and/or third sector service provision, and the support networks and services available in Merthyr and RCT. 

2. Experience of working with people with learning disabilities, and a good understanding of how best to support learning.

3. A calm and collected demeanour, with the ability to engage and support beneficiaries. 

4. An experienced facilitator with the ability to engage in good conversation with beneficiaries, whilst actively assessing risks and solutions. 

5. Experience working in partnership with other agencies. 

6. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

7. Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise a demanding workload and work under pressure and to deadlines. 

8. Ability to assess risk and carry out risk assessments. 

9. Evidence of good administrative and IT skills and the ability to maintain project monitoring, administrative and financial records. 

10. Understanding of and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. 

11. Understanding of and commitment to Data Protection and confidentiality. 

Desirables: 

Ability to speak Welsh or a willingness to learn. 

Qualifications: 

Relevant experience and values alignment are more important for this role than specific qualifications. 

Location: This role is home-based and will involve extensive travel across Merthyr Tydfil and RCT. For this reason, we require the post holder to have a full driving licence with use of their own car. The postholders will require good internet access to enable remote working and a suitable home office space. IT equipment and infrastructure will be supplied. 

Our Values & Way of Working:

In all that we do, we embrace a philosophy of ‘Freedom within a Framework’ and are guided by our values: Empowering, Inclusive, Compassionate, Positive & Straightforward.

This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. It is neither exhaustive nor exclusive but while some variations will be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.

Diversity & Inclusion 

Volunteering Matters welcomes all applicants and are keen to ensure our team reflects the diversity of the UK and the communities we serve. We encourage applications from disabled, LGBT and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, along with candidates with any protected characteristics and from disadvantaged groups. 

Disability Confident & Reasonable Adjustments: 

We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role. Please provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required in the “Experience/Skills” section of this advert. To be considered for a guaranteed interview or to discuss any reasonable adjustments during the process please contact us.

We have also committed to the following pledges which positively encompass our recruitment and selection processes and methodology: The Promise, Show The Salary, Salary History. 

Benefits 

Our employee benefits reflect our culture which is built on an approach of full flexibility with accountability, and designed to let you make your most positive contribution; we offer Flexible Working by Default (re hours & place of work), Unlimited Annual Leave, Employee Pension scheme, Life Assurance, Cycle to Work Scheme, Season Ticket Loan, Employee Assistance Programme, enhanced sick and family leave. We are also open to discuss job share applications. 

GDPR Statement 

If you apply for a role with us, we will retain your contact details including your name, address, email address and phone number to help us manage your application for up to 6 months.  We will not use your personal data for any other purpose or share it with any third party. You can contact us at any point to update your personal information or ask us to delete it from our records.