Volunteering Manager

About FareShare Midlands

FareShare Midlands is the region’s largest food redistribution charity, fighting food poverty and hunger by tackling waste. We source good quality food that is surplus to requirements from retailers and manufacturers. We rely on an army of volunteers to help redistribute this food to 550 frontline charities such as school breakfast clubs, community centres and organisations supporting those who are homeless, unemployed, socially isolated and recovering from addiction. These organisations provide meals and food parcels to more than 70,000 vulnerable people every week. 

The Role

Key duties and responsibilities

• Develop and implement a regional volunteer recruitment strategy that will deliver an extensive pool of diverse and engaged volunteers to ensure the operational needs of FareShare Midlands
• Recruit, build and maintain relationships with a wide range of regional volunteer sources, ensuring regular engagement leading to long term partnerships.
• Regular liaison with the FareShare UK Volunteering Team to capitalise on national initiatives.

• Develop and deliver a regional engagement programme that ensures all volunteers have a rewarding experience, whilst effectively contributing to FareShare Midlands’ overall development
• Promote volunteering, internally and externally to ensure that the impact of volunteers is celebrated.
• Deliver a comprehensive volunteer induction programme to maximise the engagement and contribution of each volunteer.
• Develop and deliver volunteer training, which ensures all volunteers are able to meet their potential and complete their volunteer roles effectively.  
• Arrange volunteer activities and events to celebrate achievements of the volunteer team

• Lead the ongoing development and delivery of volunteer policies and evaluation, including taking responsibility for volunteer welfare and safety
• Work closely with the FareShare UK Volunteering Team, sharing knowledge and good practice to ensure our policies and procedures as are well designed as possible.

• Work with colleagues across FareShare Midlands to identify opportunities to grow our volunteer team further
• Present to a wide range of organisations about volunteering and FareShare Midlands to secure partnerships that can further enhance our volunteer team and experience
• Engage with other FareShare Regional Centres and the FareShare UK Volunteering Team on a regular basis to deliver UK wide volunteering activity and share good practice.  

Person Specification - Skills, Qualities & Experience

• Developing and delivering successful best practice based volunteer recruitment, training and engagement programmes
• Knowledge of the needs and experiences of volunteers from a diverse range of backgrounds
• Able to establish and maintain appropriate systems for the management and accurate recording of volunteer programmes.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to deal with people at all levels building successful and productive relationship, both internal and external.
• Previous line management experience
• Managing projects and associated budgets to time to cost and to quality. 
• Enthusiastic and self-motivated with excellent team-working and team building skills
• Ability to use own initiative, working independently when required.
• Strong presentation skills to promote FareShare Midlands as a destination for volunteering.
• Good time management with ability to manage workloads, set priorities and meet deadlines
• Demonstrable IT literacy, in particular of using Microsoft applications (Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint).
• A commitment to ensuring Equality, Inclusion and Diversity is embedded in all activity.
• Willingness to work flexibly including events and occasional weekends.
• To subscribe to the ethos, vision and mission of FareShare Midlands

• Experience of working with volunteers / adults with additional support needs
• Experience of delivering training sessions
• Experience of using volunteer management systems
• Experience of monitoring and evaluating volunteer programmes
• Risk management experience
• An understanding of Food Safety and Health and Safety legislation
• Understanding of safeguarding processes and legislation

• A commitment to Equal Opportunities
• An appreciation of FareShare Midlands’ mission and vision
• Flexibility of approach and ability to work in a team
• Proven ability to develop and maintain good working relations, with both internal and external audiences 
• The roleholder will be required to work flexibly. The role provides a mixture of home-working, outreach work and working in our regional centre offices