Voluntary Services Officer

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Joining #TeamNELFT means you'll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We're CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

The Voluntary Services Team is looking to recruit to the post of Voluntary Services Officer - Band 6 (30 hours per week). This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated and dedicated individual to lead and join our dynamic and positive team. The post holder will need to be passionate about volunteering and and be able to promote how volunteering can be beneficial to the individual as well as the organisation. The post holder will be expected to lead on a number of volunteering initiatives across the Trust.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will oversee and manage the design and delivery of the volunteer services across the Trust and will provide advice and guidance to the Trust regarding the governance and management of volunteers
• The post holder will have overall responsibility for the good quality management of volunteer services in line with NHS England and Helpforce
• The post holder will have a comprehensive knowledge of volunteer management and will provide specialist advice within the Trust in accordance with guidance and best practice
• The post holder will work on their own initiative and operate autonomously, giving direction to other team members when required
• The post holder will be required to build and maintain constructive relationships with a broad range of external stake holders to include other NHS organisations and third sector organisations and represent the Trust accordingly
• The Post holder will strengthen and promote pathways for volunteers to enter employment within the Trust in line with the workforce strategy
• The post holder will explore and develop methods to evaluate and demonstrate the added value that volunteering delivers for the patients, staff and organisation
• The post holder will provide data for management reports within agreed timescales
• The post holder will be responsible for the design, development and implementation of the Trust Volunteer Policy and Strategies

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

High Cost Area Supplement

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,551 to a maximum of £5,735).

COVID-19 Vaccination

We continue to encourage all staff to ensure that they have been double vaccinated and received their booster. We recognise that taking the vaccine provides the best defence against COVID 19 for our patients, our staff and their families.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• The post holder will work collaboratively with clinical and non-clinical teams to assist with the engagement, involvement, and support of volunteers. They will provide high quality guidance and support to operational leads to achieve a positive outcome for volunteers, the services they support and patients they interact with.
• The post holder will engage with all staff to include clinicians and Health Ambassadors to promote work experience programmes that can support our next generation of health professionals in-line with the workforce strategy

Use of AI

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.

We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.

Person specification

Trust Values

Essential criteria

• Demonstration of Trust Values

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• NVQ level 2 or equivalent standard of literacy and numeracy
• Educated to degree level in relevant subject, or significant experience of working within the specialist areas

Desirable criteria

• Additional qualifications relevant to the post e.g. volunteer management Leadership and management qualification

Other

Desirable criteria

• Able to travel across boundaries of Trust

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working in Voluntary Services
• Experience developing volunteer roles / programmes in order to improve patient / customer experience
• Experience of managing volunteers
• Experience in recruitment, retention and development of volunteers

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of volunteer recruitment, management, retention and development
• Knowledge of current national volunteer guidance as set out by NHS England

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

• A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a 'Top 10 Family Friendly Employer' from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.

Supporting our Armed Forces

We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans. reservists and military spouses and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.

Equal opportunities employer

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.

We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email recruitment@nelft.nhs.uk.

Correspondence with us

You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.

In the event of a high number of responses to any advert, NELFT reserves the right to close the vacancy early. If you do not hear from us within three weeks of the closing date then please assume you have not been successful on this occasion.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Voluntary Services Officer (PDF, 427.5KB)
• NELFT Application - Hints and Tips (PDF, 38.4KB)