OUR PLACEMENTS

Placement summary

Project Trust (PT), an innovative youth development and education charity based on the Isle of Coll in Argyll, is recruiting for a graduate for a 12 month placement focussed on Alumni development. The role will be to support the development of the Project Trust Community of stakeholders, principally by rapidly increasing contact with the membership, updating contact details and engaging membership involvement with Regional Groups.

Job description

Project Description

The appointment of a full-time Graduate Project Trust Community Officer will enable Project Trust to significantly increase engagement with members of the PT Community, in particular returned volunteers and through them their families, by assisting with updating their contact details. Ultimately, this will contribute to the establishment of support and meaningful engagement of the membership with PT and one another and the headline objective of establishing a sustained funding stream.

Summary of main responsibilities:

• To work with the Head of Alumni and Engagement to develop the PT Community;

• To work with the PT Communications Officer in developing the effectiveness of an on-line community, encouraging contributions to dialogue and discussions and to engage with members of the PT Community through the medium of Social Networking;

• To work alongside the Recruitment, Finance and Fundraising and Overseas Teams to encourage their involvement with the PT Community, in particular by maintaining purposeful engagement with recently returned volunteers, the majority of whom attend university;

• To research the contact details of returned volunteers, to communicate with them and encourage their active engagement with PT and one another as members of the PT Community;

• To represent the Project Trust at all appropriate meetings and conferences;

• To attend Staff Team meetings and other meetings as required;

• Within the job holders skills and abilities, support the Chief Executive and Head of Alumni and Engagement as required in other tasks or activities which contribute to the achievement of Project Trust’s objectives and its development.

For informal enquiries regarding this position please contact: Alison Fraser, Head of Alumni and Engagement
01879 230444; [email protected]

This position is part funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the European Regional Development Fund.

Qualifications

Minimum HNC in relevant discipline

Skills / Experience

Essential Skills

• IT experience, particularly in the use of databases and social media.

• Excellent communication skills, including written and spoken.

• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders, including volunteers, their parents, other staff and other supporters of Project Trust.

• Experience of working on varied communications materials both online and offline.

• Experience of writing high-quality stories and newsletters and gathering case studies.

• Experience of developing innovative ideas and driving through change.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

• Experience of working in an office environment.

• Ability to demonstrate understanding and knowledge of the aims and objectives of Project Trust and commitment to Project Trust’s purpose, approach and ethos.

• Ability to form good working relationships with a wide range of groups and individuals.

• Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

• Preparedness to undertake occasional work outside normal standard office hours.

• A demonstrable commitment to Equal Opportunities and Diversity in all Work practices.

• Able to travel to different venues within the UK, in order to fulfil the requirements of the role.

• The right to work in the UK.

Desirable Skills

• Excellent time management, organisation and prioritisation skills.

• Web design and/or social media management skills.

Benefits

Company benefits

Subsidised accommodation.

Placement benefits

As part of this ScotGrad Graduate Placement Programme, the candidate will benefit from support from a team within Highlands and Islands Enterprise and also access a four day residential training course focussed on employability and business skills.

Additional information

Location: Isle of Coll, Argyll

Preferred start date: 16/06/2014

Company information

Project Trust is an innovative youth development and education charity and one of the UK’s leading providers of long-term overseas volunteering placements for school-leavers. From our base on the Hebridean Isle of Coll, we select 280-300 young people from across the UK and Europe for long-term voluntary teaching and social care projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean every year. These projects are carefully selected to ensure the volunteers’ existing skills can be put to good use in their host communities and do not take work from local people. Crucially, we provide all volunteers with extensive training and support before, during and after their time overseas, to maximise both the educational value of their experience and the positive impact they have in their projects.

Since our inception in 1967, we have provided more than 6,600 young people with the opportunity to develop a wide range of essential transferable skills, gain valuable work experience and an in-depth understanding of another culture whilst making a meaningful contribution to volunteering projects overseas. We pride ourselves on combining a ‘family feel’ with the highest possible professional standards in volunteer recruitment, selection, training, support and debriefing. Following strategic investment from the Wood Family Trust (2008-11), we successfully designed and implemented a new nationwide recruitment process, which has resulted in a sustained increase in volunteer numbers year on year. With 299 volunteers overseas this year, the 2013/14 cohort is Project Trust’s largest ever and numbers for 14/15 and 15/16 will be sustained.

Company sector: Other

Company website: www.projecttrust.org.uk