Manager

Background to the Community Association for West Hampstead (CAWH)

Founded in 2010, CAWH aims to improve the quality of life for the community of West Hampstead and to provide activities and services to the residents of the area. Staff were appointed in January 2010 with funding from Camden Council, and moved into its current premises in the West Hampstead Community Centre, Dornfell Street, in June of that year.  In 2012, Council funding reductions led to CAWH needing to diversify its funding and to secure funding from a wider range of Trusts and Foundations.  The Community Association now has funding from a mixture of sources: hall hire income from the community centre; John Lyon’s Charity for children and young people activities; Ageing Better Camden and Big Lottery - Reaching Communities for work in reducing isolation for older people.  There are robust structures and systems in place for the organisation and there is a clear opportunity for development in the next 3 years.

Day to day, a wide range of activities is now on offer for children and young people and adults of all ages, around 40 per week in a range of community settings including the community centre, Beckford Primary School and Emmanuel Church where positive partnerships have been formed and continue to be built upon.  This is an exciting time to be joining the Community Association.

Profile of West Hampstead

West Hampstead encompasses the local government wards of Fortune Green and West Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It is a vibrant and active community and has maintained until recently a village feel. The area is mixed racially and culturally. There is a well-established population of families who have lived in West Hampstead for many generations; many professionals who have moved into the area more recently; and also some refugees and asylum seekers. Although West Hampstead is often perceived as being an affluent area, there is great disparity between the richest and poorest, with pockets of need.

There are growing numbers of families with young children in this area. This is increasing the demand for housing, play, nursery and primary school places. 

 

Aims of the Community Association for West Hampstead

CAWH is committed to establishing a dynamic community hub with and for the residents of West Hampstead, relevant to the needs of the community. CAWH’s objectives include:

1. Reduce isolation; promote local inclusion, cohesion and a sense of community
2. Enhance people's access to self-development opportunities and therefore improve people's employment opportunities
3. Improve access to advice, support and advocacy
4. Provide meeting space for voluntary and community groups
5. Facilitate and support leisure, recreation, education, social welfare and healthy living services and activities
6. Promote and support community led activity
7. Respond to the desires and needs of local people and seek to provide such services as may be required
8. Establish, manage and continually develop a community centre in furtherance of these objectives
9. Ensure the centre works towards environmental sustainability and the reduction of the carbon footprint of its premises and activities and in the wider community which it serves
10. Raise funding in furtherance of these activities

 

Post of Manager

The Community Association has had three Managers since 2010; the most recent has been in post three and a half years and undertook the task of setting up two dedicated programmes for children & young people and older people respectively, securing funding and recruiting project workers for both. The Community Centre premises have been improved, and income from hall hire now represents a significant portion of our revenue. Nearly 800 local residents receive our regular newsletters, and the number of members and users of our premises has grown considerably. Furthermore, the quality of services is widely recognised. Funding from Trusts and Foundations has been diversified and we have just secured funding for the children’s project for the next three years. The organisation is now in a strong place for the next stage of development and delivery.

This post will suit a motivated and outgoing person, with the drive to take on the challenge of developing the services and activities of our community association, and to extend cooperation with other organisations in the area. We are seeking a candidate with experience of working at a community level, solid management skills, and communication and networking skills. The successful candidate will have the full support of the Board of Trustees and the local community.

The key elements of the post will be:

• seeking out and taking advantage of new opportunities for development and funding;
• maintaining and developing the programmes;
• recruitment and support of volunteers including Trustees;
• coordination of the fundraising initiatives;
• ensuring sound monitoring and evaluation systems, both qualitative and quantitative, are in operation;
• day to day management of staff and resources of the community association.

 

 

External funding for work with children and over 65s has given the organisation some financial stability but fundraising from trusts and charities, particularly for core costs will continue to be a crucial part of this post.

The Manager is supported by an Administrator (17.5 hours a week), who looks after the day to day management of the Centre and community hall, administration of classes and activities that take place as well as bookkeeping. We currently have two Project Workers who run the aforementioned Big Lottery (funded until March 2019) project for older people, and one Project Worker who runs the Children and Young People project – funding for this project has just been awarded for three years from September. The Manager also has the support of a team of volunteers, and a range of part-time sessional staff to run activities and classes.

The Manager’s hours can be worked over three to five days a week; some flexibility will be required. The post has the potential to expand if fundraising initiatives are successful.

The Manager will be accountable to, and supported by, the Board of Trustees.

 

JOB DESCRIPTION: MANAGER

Responsible to: Board of Trustees

Salary: £19,200-£19,975 per year depending on experience (equivalent to £32,000-£33,300 inc. London Weighting per annum pro-rata)

Pension: 3% contributory pension

Contract: One year with opportunity for extension depending on funding availability with a 6 month probationary period

Hours of work: 21 hours a week, times to be flexible according to operational needs

Annual Leave: 25 days a year plus 8 days public holiday pro-rata

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE IS TO:

• Take overall responsibility for managing a range of projects in a number of community venues
• Develop the activities of the Community Centre, taking advantage of new opportunities
• Manage the staff, resources and finances of the organisation
• Raise funds to ensure CAWH’s financial sustainability, report to funders and seek opportunities for funding as required
• Maintain the values of the organisation in particular a focus on the local community and positive outcomes for individuals involved within the organisation

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES Project Management

• Ensure the services offered by CAWH are of a high quality and are delivered to deadline and all targets are successfully achieved as outlined in funding bids
• Ensure effective monitoring and evaluation systems are in place, and reflect both qualitative and quantitative measurements

Development

• Maintain and improve the existing programme of activities, events and initiate research and consultation into local needs and interests
• Creatively take the lead in developing new services that meet local need, in particular services for young people, and in line with the organisation’s Business Plan
• Network and work in partnership with other local organisations, and maintain good relationships with the local community and build the membership base
• Promote the use of the Community Centre and actively market the activities of the organisation
• Together with the Board of Trustees, to regularly evaluate and review targets in the strategic Business Plan

Personnel Management

• Recruit, train and support staff, in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures, and ensure that staff set annual work targets and have yearly appraisals of their work
• Provide a high level of motivation to staff and ensure best practice is adhered to
• Oversee an efficient and confidential system of collecting and recording  personnel records and lead on recruiting, training and developing volunteers to assist in CAWH’s work
• In conjunction with the employment sub-group, when appropriate, deal with matters regarding grievances, disputes and disciplinary hearings and ensure relevant legal requirements are adhered to e.g. DBS checks
• Ensure monitoring and evaluation of services are reviewed and consultations undertaken with the community in order to influence the direction and services of the organisation.

 

 

General Management

• Oversee an efficient system of office administration, room hiring, booking and invoicing of Centre facilities and to ensure effective recording, monitoring and evaluation systems are in place
• Implement and update the policies of the Association in collaboration with the Trustees.
• Research and introduce an effective Quality Assurance Programme
• Ensure reporting requirements are met with funders and legislative bodies such as the Charity Commission and Companies House

Financial Management

Together with the Treasurer:

• Oversee all aspects of financial management and planning
• Prepare and present yearly budgets and ensure monthly cash flow and income and expenditure accounts showing variance against budget, are prepared for committee
• Work with appointed auditor/independent examiner to ensure the annual accounts are prepared in an accurate and timely way
• Oversee the organisation’s payroll and bookkeeping functions

Fundraising

Maximise the income CAWH can generate through its activities, premises and services through:

• Applying for new sources of funding and to report to funders as required
• Lead a fundraising appeal to individual and corporate donors
• To review and implement  the Fundraising Strategy with the Board of Trustees

 

 

Board of Trustees

• Report regularly to the Board of Trustees and Finance and General Purposes Committee
• Advise the trustees with such legal, personnel and other  information as they may require, to ensure legislative compliance to Charity /Company Law and best practice
• Ensure the preparation and distribution of the Annual Report and accounts and to report to the organisation’s Annual General Meeting

General Requirements

• Attend monthly supervision with the Chair or other appointed supervisor, and staff development as required
• Ensure the organisation and its activities are advertised through different marketing channels, including through website and leaflets.
• The post will require occasional evening or weekend work, for which time off in lieu is given
• The post holder will be required to undertake other duties or tasks appropriate to the work and level of responsibility

This job description reflects the requirements of the post at the time of writing. The needs and circumstances may change over time, and therefore the Job Description may need to be reviewed in the light of any such changes which may occur.

 

PERSON SPECIFICATION             POST: MANAGER

Applicants need to demonstrate a successful track record in the following:

Experience

1. Proven experience of working in a management role within the voluntary or public sector and leading a team
2. Proven success in delivering a number of projects within budget and to deadline
3. Business planning and achieving targets set out by a Board
4. Fundraising, demonstrating success in securing contracts and funds from statutory and charitable sources, and meeting funders reporting requirements
5. Proven experience of managing budgets, organisational cash flow, and management accounts
6. Proven success in developing and embedding innovative mechanisms for capturing the outcomes of services and projects (monitoring and evaluation systems)
7. Managing premises, assets and organisational resources
8. Networking with a range of voluntary and public sector bodies to achieve organisational aims
9. Recruitment, management, motivation and providing leadership of staff and volunteers
10. Servicing, advising and reporting to a Board of Trustees

Skills

1. Proven skills in developing community groups and networking with statutory/voluntary sector Excellent communication skills, and ability to relate to people of diverse backgrounds IT skills: Office Package (Word and Excel) and social media. Account packages would be desirable, particularly QuickBooks, as well as knowledge of Wordpress Ability to analyse, organise and prioritise work and be self-motivated

Knowledge

1. Employment legislation and  good  practice in equalities & diversity Key issues facing voluntary sector organisations, and the role of local and regional government Legal, financial and good practice requirements relating to charities and experience of legal, financial and good practice requirements relating to a Charitable Company Effective publicity and marketing techniques