Volunteer Programme Manager

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About the Role

Brooklands Museum is a unique and special place to work, where people's pursuit of speed, flight and adventure changed the world! We have ambitious plans to fulfil our vision: Inspiring people to shape the future through Brooklands' history of innovation and endeavour.

As we are a visitor attraction, our priority is delivering a memorable and inspiring experience for all visitors and ensuring we meet our commitment of 'Brooklands at its best, every day'. So, no matter what role you join us in, you will have a very important part to play in this.

This is a crucial strategic role within the HR & Volunteering team and requires working on site. This role manages the volunteer programme for Brooklands Museum and includes supporting staff teams who volunteers report into, as opposed to direct volunteer management.

This role reports into and supports our Head of HR & Volunteering to run our volunteering programme, which currently includes approximately 750 active volunteers, as well as to support the wider HR and Volunteering team when required. Our dedicated and passionate volunteers received the Queens Award for Voluntary Service in 2016 as a result of their volunteering in a variety of diverse roles across the Museum. It is an extremely busy role where you must be a visible presence and support for our volunteers, taking time to establish good relationships as well as keeping on top of the necessary administration to ensure the programme runs smoothly.

As we are a visitor attraction, being able to multitask, adapt to changing priorities and generally get stuck into anything that is needed to support the Museum is critical to the success of this role. This is not a purely administration role, but a chance to use your people skills make a real difference to the team who care for our unique Museum.

By providing first class support to our volunteers and staff you will help them deliver a memorable and inspiring visitor experience and ensure we meet our commitment of Brooklands at its best, every day.

In 2019 we embarked on an exciting organisational development programme, this role will play an important part in helping us deliver our ongoing plans in this area, as we strive to encourage a culture where everyone feels supported, involved and appreciated.

Key Success Criteria

1. Positive relationships are built and maintained with the volunteer body who feel supported and appreciated by both the Museum and the Volunteering & HR team
2. A positive volunteering experience is reinforced by clear, thoughtful communication and issues being resolved promptly and in a fair manner
3. In line with our charitable purpose, our volunteer programme is inclusive so that everyone can feel welcome at Brooklands Museum
4. The behind-the-scenes volunteer function is managed in a way that supports the delivery of the Brooklands Commitment "Brooklands at its best, every day"
5. Clear processes and ways of working guidance is delivered with consistency across the Museum team to guarantee the best possible visitor experience

Main areas of responsibility:

Volunteer, HR & Other Support

• Act as the operational lead for the volunteer programme, ensuring the programme is dynamic and successful
• Build links externally to ensure that the programme is promoted to the local community
• Ensure the Museum continues to be supported by a skilled volunteer base and that volunteer requirements across the site are met
• Lead the development of the next stage of our volunteer strategy for the Museum
• Embedding our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion into our Volunteer programme
• Continue to develop a more representative and inclusive volunteer base
• Support and manage the volunteers reporting directly to the HR & Volunteering department which include the DofE coordinator and volunteer induction tour guides.
• Maintain the volunteer programme, ensuring record keeping and processes are in line with legal requirements including GDPR
• Manage the volunteer database including setting up rotas, monitoring activity and ensuring the active list of volunteers is kept up to date with the support of the HR & Volunteer Administrator
• Update volunteer policies and handbooks as required
• Support staff to deal with issues arising with volunteers in a timely manner, this may include having difficult conversations. Escalating to the Head of HR and Volunteering where necessary
• Support the volunteer survey process and subsequent activities identified
• Produce regular reporting on volunteering to support decision making
• Ensure volunteers adhere to safeguarding policies and procedures
• Support the administration and record keeping of the DBS process for volunteers
• Be part of the Museum first aid response team

Volunteer Recruitment

• Lead on the selection and appointment of new volunteers, with the support of the HR & Volunteer Administrator, in line with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion commitments
• Run volunteer recruitment events and maintain the volunteer and staff recruitment pages on the website
• Ensure a positive recruitment experience for all applicants and that all applications are responded to

Volunteer Training & Induction

• Lead on the delivery of inductions to all new volunteers, including scheduling at weekends to ensure everyone can attend, with the support of the HR & Volunteer Administrator
• Organise any 'whole volunteer body' training that may be required, e.g., fire safety, counter terrorism, liaising with the relevant department who runs the training
• Organise (and deliver where relevant) staff training programmes relating to volunteer management

Volunteer Appreciation and Communication

• Organise and deliver the volunteer recognition programme.
• Implement the centralised elements of the volunteer communication strategy (e-newsletters etc.)
• Respond to volunteer feedback, relevant to the whole museum and implement/manage volunteer feedback mechanisms

Group Volunteering Schemes (Corporate Volunteering, Duke of Edinburgh, Scouts, Air Cadets, Community Give Back)

• Manage the administration in relation to group volunteering and liaise with departments to set up volunteering days with the support of the HR & Volunteer Administrator
• Ensure that all necessary risk assessments and safeguarding measures are in place and any supervising staff or other volunteers are aware of any additional requirements.
• Ensure the policies and procedures for youth volunteering are adhered to.
• Work with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award volunteer to support young volunteers and manage any necessary administration.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list of duties and you may be asked to support other departments across the Museum.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Desired Experience

• Previous experience working with volunteers or of volunteering
• Previous Human Resources experience is beneficial but not essential
• Experience in successfully handling sensitive or difficult conversations with discretion
• Experience using systems and databases
• Experience within a visitor attraction, customer facing or hospitality environment
• Working knowledge of Better Impact would be beneficial

Skills & Competencies

• Positive approach and a 'can do' attitude with a willingness to be flexible and 'get stuck in' as needed.
• Exceptional organisational skills with the ability to prioritise a busy workload and work under pressure whilst maintaining a strong attention to detail
• Good communication skills with the ability to adapt your approach to suit your audience, and conduct all interactions in a calm, professional, engaging manner, especially when under pressure
• Ability to act with discretion and maintain confidentiality
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to work positively with colleagues, volunteers, and external stakeholders to build and maintain relationships
• Comfortable working with Microsoft Office packages, including Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Have a willingness to embrace and adapt to change and to try new approaches
• Full First Aid at Work certificate (or willingness to obtain the qualification)

Benefits

Our benefits package includes opportunities for continuous learning, 25 days holiday in addition to Bank Holidays and Christmas Eve, flexibility to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, 4% employee pension contribution, access to wellbeing support and Mental Health First Aiders. We also offer free onsite parking, discounts at our onsite Café and Museum shop as well as free access to all that Brooklands has to offer.

Working at Brooklands Museum

In line with our charitable purpose, we are active in ensuring that Brooklands is inclusive, so that everyone can feel welcome at, and benefit from, Brooklands Museum, including as visitors, staff, trustees, volunteers, members, partners, freelancers, contractors, participants, schools, and anyone else who wishes to visit or be involved with the Museum.

We have invested in our organisational culture over recent years and encourage everyone to be their true self at the Museum. The team have committed to ensuring we all feel involved, supported, and appreciated, by working as one team, communicating thoughtfully, being proactive and showing we care.

We recognise and embrace people that work in different ways, so if you need any adjustments to our recruitment process, please speak to our recruitment team who will be happy to support you.