Community Projects Officer

Role Description

Careers and Placements

Careers and Placements at the University of York is looking for a Project Officer to lead the coordination of its Community Projects programme.

As part of the Community Engaged Learning (CEL) team, you will support students to develop their skills and experience whilst also delivering tangible social benefits. Our offer consists of programmes both in curriculum and extracurricular, such as: Community Projects, Sustainability Clinic, York Students in Schools and Charity Volunteering.

Each year over 1,400 students engage in CEL activities, meeting local community needs whilst also contributing to their own personal development. 

It is an exciting time for the team as we continue  to scale up Community Engaged Learning in the curriculum through our work in the Academic and Community Partnerships (ACP) team, in collaboration with departments across all three faculties. The postholder will work on a diverse portfolio of projects, supporting the design and facilitation of activities from start to finish.

The CEL team is part of ACP based in Careers and Placements and supports the University in its commitment to Employability. This commitment requires a willingness to continually innovate in response to changes in the graduate labour market; ensuring that the opportunities to build employability at York are equal to, or better than, those offered at comparable institutions on an international basis. 

Role:

You will be jointly responsible for coordinating all aspects of our central volunteering programmes and support programmes in the curriculum, which contribute to students’ personal and professional development and meet community needs. This includes building and maintaining excellent relationships with a wide range of organisations to develop mutually beneficial placements and projects.

You will recruit and support students to participate in projects and train and facilitate teams of volunteers on bespoke community projects. You will build and maintain excellent relationships with a wide range of organisations to develop mutually beneficial opportunities. You will be customer focussed and have an interest in measuring the impact of volunteering.

The post reports directly to the Operations Manager for the Community Engaged Learning Team. 

Skills, Experience & Qualification Needed:

• You will be educated to degree level or have equivalent experience 

• Knowledge of volunteer management 

• Excellent organisation and partnership building skills 

• Excellent customer service skills, engaging in a friendly and tactful manner

• Ability to use initiative and work independently

• A commitment to be collaborative, supporting, customer centred and to make a difference

• A demonstrable interest in student and/or community development

• A current knowledge of volunteering and community engagement would be an advantage 

Interview date: Thursday 23 July

For informal enquiries: please contact Jacqui Fountain (Operations Manager) by emailing jacqui.fountain@york.ac.uk.

Condition of employment

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Consequently, all applicants will be asked to declare both unspent and spent convictions on their application form.

Appointment of the successful candidate will be conditional on a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum (essential) criteria for each position will be offered an interview.  Read more about the University of York’s commitments under the Disability Confident scheme.