Job Description Co-ordinator (Fighting Words Belfast)

Transcription

1 Job Description Co-ordinator (Fighting Words Belfast) RESPONSIBLE TO: RESPONSIBLE FOR: Development Officer, Fighting Words Belfast Volunteers ROLE The post holder will be responsible for the administrative and operational needs of Fighting Words Belfast S/He will co-ordinate an ambitious programme of activity including workshops for schools and community groups, after-schools clubs, outreach and special projects as well as the recruitment and training of volunteers. (See Project Description) TERMS All terms and conditions will comply with Fighting Words Belfast s standard terms as detailed in a staff handbook. Contract term: Location: Working hours: Salary: Expenses: Leave: This is a permanent post, subject to funding. Young at Art office, Cotton Court, Waring Street, Belfast, BT1 2ED This post will require regular travel to other sites, including but not confined to the Fighting Words Belfast centre at Skainos, 241 Newtownards Rd, Belfast and the Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts, Duncairn Avenue, Belfast. Part-time (22.5 hours per week). This role will require flexibility during peak periods. 19,208 pro rata. Expenses reimbursed by prior agreement (where reasonably incurred and properly documented). Approved mileage reimbursement for work-related travel by monthly claim. 28 days annual leave pro rata plus Bank Holidays. TOIL given by negotiation for work over and above agreed hours. Fighting Words Belfast operates a range of policies to promote equality, health and safety and the protection of children and vulnerable adults from harm. All candidates for this post must be committed to upholding these policies and additional checks may be required for the successful applicant. APPLICATION PROCESS This is an only application process. Hard copies will not be considered. All applications must be completed in full using the original MS Word document. Do not enclose any other materials. No CVs. In compliance with company policy, the separate Disclosure and Monitoring Form must be returned. Complete the form as fully but concisely as possible based on the Person Specification and other job information supplied. Candidates will be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria. It is the applicant s responsibility to ensure their application arrives in time and in the appropriate format. If you have problems with formatting this document, please contact Fighting Words Belfast on The deadline for completed forms to be received is 4pm on Monday 16th October Late applications will not be considered, regardless of the reason for delay. Interviews for shortlisted candidates will take place the week beginning 30 October 2017.

2 Project Description Fighting Words Belfast is a creative writing initiative for all children and young people in Northern Ireland aged The project arose out of a collective effort between Young at Art, Skainos in East Belfast, the 174 Trust in North Belfast and Fighting Words, Dublin. Fighting Words is a growing network with initiatives in Dublin, Cork, Wicklow and Mayo. Fighting Words Belfast works closely with the other Fighting Words centres. Fighting Words Belfast is a subsidiary company of Young at Art -Northern Ireland s leading children s arts organisation and is a charity. The patrons of Fighting Words Belfast are an array of multi-award winning writers and poets: Roddy Doyle, Lucy Caldwell, Dave Eggers, Nick Hornby, Paul Muldoon and Glenn Patterson. The aim of Fighting Words Belfast is, in Glenn Patterson's words, to empower children and young people to become the authors of their own lives, promoting the importance of stories and storytelling as intrinsic to a young person s identity and personal development and not only about the acquisition of literacy skills. Since March 2015 Fighting Words Belfast has delivered creative writing engagements to over 4,000 children and young people in free, two hour creative writing workshops and other activities such as weekly after-schools Write Clubs at Fighting Words Belfast s centre at Skainos, east Belfast and at the Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts, north Belfast. A unique feature of Fighting Words is the use of trained volunteers in the execution of workshops and other activities as writing mentors and story illustrators and over 180 volunteer mentors have been recruited and trained to date in Belfast. The principal role of the volunteer is to engage with and support the children and young people in their imaginative journey during workshops. The personal development of volunteers is an important aspect of the project and training is provided in areas such as child protection, first aid, autism awareness and illustration skills. All workshops take place outside a classroom setting, mostly at the Fighting Words Belfast centre at Skainos. To date most young participants have been drawn from schools and community groups in the greater Belfast area but outreach activities have been delivered across Northern Ireland (e.g. the Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy, and Stendahl Festival, Coleraine). Fighting Words Belfast activities are open to all but there is a special focus on accessing hard-to-reach communities and supporting children and young people who face additional challenges. Fighting Words Belfast works in partnership with other a range of agencies and with other Fighting Words centres to develop innovative approaches to inspire in children and young people a life-long love of story making and sharing.

3 Current Staffing Structure FWB Board of Trustees Development Officer (30 hrs pw) Coordinator (22.5 hrs pw) Event managers (sessional) Volunteer Coordinator (post to be generated) Volunteers

4 RESPONSIBILITIES Artistic To maintain quality standards throughout the planning and execution of the programme To support and contribute to overarching and specific evaluation To review and update the initial training programme for volunteers in line with programme needs and relevant legislation With support from the Development Officer and in line with FWB Board priorities to develop, pilot and review new initiatives Management General To oversee the effective administration of the Fighting Words Belfast project and support the Development Officer To assist in the management of company processes and systems To liaise with the Development Officer on policy compliance and operational management To compile and keep accurate records in compliance with agreed policies, systems and procedures, maintaining rigorous and time-efficient procedures for all company paperwork To be responsible for the maintenance of the company inventory and archive To implement and monitor all policies and procedures To execute all tasks in accordance with agreed branding and advocacy messages To prepare all relevant event and project plans and risk assessments for authorisation by the Development Oficer or orther named personnel To contribute to, and support, company evaluation and play a key role in forward planning To support the preparation of relevant reports on the project

5 Management Human Resources To oversee discrete freelance and volunteer recruitment and management in support of all FWB programmes and strategy To identify and to deliver (as appropriate) training and professional development opportunities for volunteers To oversee any intern management system To support the maintenance of an effective personnel records system, including leave/toil sheets, staff records, reference checks and Access NI enhanced disclosure police checks, and volunteer records Management Programme To operationally and administratively support the workshop programme and effectively plan its delivery To prepare all schedules for schools and volunteers and oversee preparation of relevant supplies and equipment To act as the primary liaison for schools and other groups in booking workshops and other programmes To review the programme delivery on an ongoing basis To plan and implement appropriate evaluation and documentation Finance General To ensure all paperwork is gathered and recorded in relation to tax compliances To document all income and expenditure accurately against agreed budgets, with discrete budget management responsibilities To provide information to the Development Officer that ensures fundraising is accurately costed and planned Marketing Brand & Advocacy To support the marketing strategies and brand development of Fighting Words Belfast To ensure a high standard of consistency and a high level of literacy is effected across all company publicity and documentation To support the updating of the FWB pages on the Young at Art website and to contribute to review of its functionality

6 General To work at all times towards the purpose of Fighting Words Belfast and in agreement with the priorities of the FWB Board To ensure regular and effective communication with the Development Officer on all aspects of FWB delivery To support and implement all company policies and procedures (e.g. health & safety, equality, child protection and safeguarding) as agreed To uphold principles of Quality, Accessibility, Best Value and Efficiency at all times To carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required in the operation of the post

7 Person Specification Fighting Words Belfast seeks the optimum candidate who can best meet all Essential skills and most closely demonstrate the Desirable skills. Applications who DO NOT MEET ALL Essential skills will not be considered. Fighting Words Belfast reserves the right to weight key skills within the selection process. RESPONSIBILITIES ARTISTIC ESSENTIAL Minimum 1yr experience working in an arts, education or literature programme Personal knowledge and/or experience of a working arts environment DESIRABLE Arts project management experience 3rd level qualification in the arts/ humanities or related field (undergraduate degree or above) Specific experience of literature, creative writing or youth arts programmes RESPONSIBILITIES MANAGEMENT ESSENTIAL GCSE English minimum grade C or equivalent qualification Proficiencey in MS Office (Word, Excel,etc) Experience of drawing up schedules, operational event and/or project plans Excellent oral and written communication skills DESIRABLE ECDL/CLAIT/RSA Word Processing Stage 2 Experience of volunteer management Desktop publishing and web content management experience Experience of working in youth or education sectors RESPONSIBILITIES FINANCE ESSENTIAL GCSE Maths minimum grade C or equivalent qualification Experience of monitoring and reporting against budgets DESIRABLE Budget management experience Proficiency in handling expense claims and other financial paperwork Experience of reporting to funders Prior knowledge of HMRC compliances