Volunteer Support Officer (Befriending)

EPILEPSY ACTION; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

An inclusive organization is seeking a passionate individual to support its befriending service for people affected by epilepsy. This role involves coordinating services across the UK and supervising volunteers, ensuring positive outcomes for service users. The position offers flexibility, requiring some evening work, and promotes a supportive work environment. Join a committed team dedicated to creating a world without limits for those impacted by epilepsy. If you're eager to make a difference in people's lives and thrive in a dynamic setting, this opportunity is for you.

Qualifications

• Experience working with volunteers or customers remotely.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work with diverse individuals.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and deliver the befriending service across the UK.
• Support and supervise a group of remote volunteers.

Skills

Communication Skills

Problem Solving

Organizational Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Team Player

Job description

This post will require some evening work for which flextime is given.

A mixture of homeworking and minimum of 40% working in the office in Leeds.

Contract: 12 month fixed term contract.

DBS: An enhanced DBS check will be required for this role.

At Epilepsy Action we are inclusive, supportive, and committed to creating a world without limits for people with epilepsy. As we embark on our new 2024-2030 strategy, we are excited to welcome you to our passionate, supportive and committed team.

We understand the importance of a work-life balance, and that's why we have a number of ways to support our people to achieve this.

By operating a flexible and supportive approach, we empower people to work in a way that suits them while also meeting the needs of the organisation.

If you are interested in building a career you can be proud of in an inclusive and ambitious organisation, we might have the role for you!

About the role

Our befriending service offers a friendly listening ear through a team of volunteer befrienders to people who would otherwise be isolated. The service provides the opportunity for people to talk openly, feel accepted, and understood either on the telephone or online.

In this role, you would be working within our services department, supporting the smooth running of the UK-wide befriending service through:

• Helping to coordinate and deliver our befriending service across the UK to people affected by epilepsy.
• Supporting and supervising a designated group of remote volunteers.
• Delivering positive outcomes for our service users.

About you

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic individual to be involved at the heart of service delivery.

Both our volunteers and our service users are scattered across the UK, so you need to be:

• A great communicator, able to build relationships using the telephone and online channels.
• Passionate about supporting volunteers and service users remotely.
• A problem solver with good decision-making and organisational skills.
• A team player, with the ability to work flexibly (the role requires some evening work).

We are looking for people who have:

• Experience of working with volunteers, staff, or customers remotely or virtually by phone or online.
• Experience of service delivery.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a demonstrable ability to work with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.
• The ability to adapt and thrive in a busy work environment.
• A professional work ethic: honest, conscientious, self-motivated, and reliable.

If you are interested in what you have read so far, you can either submit your application via our online portal or alternatively, if you still have some questions before applying, you can contact us for a friendly informal chat at [e-mail].

Being an Inclusive Organisation

We want everyone in our community, regardless of their backgrounds, identities, abilities, or circumstances, to feel valued and respected to participate fully. We know that inclusivity isn’t about numbers; it’s about embracing diversity and ensuring that everyone's voice is heard, needs are met, and contributions are acknowledged.

We recognise that each person’s experiences shape how they think, and having diverse representation across the organisation is fundamental to achieving our ambitions.

Despite this, we are not as diverse as we would like, and we actively encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We are also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader; this means we encourage applications from disabled people, and we are committed to interviewing disabled applicants who demonstrate through their application that they meet the essential criteria in the person specification. We want to support you to perform your best, so if you require any reasonable adjustments, please let us know.

Closing Date: Monday 10th February 2025 @ 9am.

Interviews: Tuesday 18th February 2025.

Recruitment process: The recruitment process will include a presentation and interview with our panel.

We want to make sure you are given the opportunity to thrive in our recruitment process, so we will share an overview of the discussion topics in advance.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications; therefore, early applications are advised.