Spear Centre Manager

Oversee Spear Ipswich, our centre supporting NEET 16-24 year olds into work, education, or training, working in partnership with Resurgo, and as part of our Love Ipswich team.

Role Profile

• Reports to: Head of Social Transformation
• Principal location: River Church Ipswich, Key Street, IP4 1BZ
• Special conditions of employment: There is a genuine occupational requirement that the post-holder is a Christian, as permitted under the Equality Act 2010.
• Working days/hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours; primarily Monday-Friday, with some evening and weekend work on occasion.
• Rate of pay: £25,213 per annum
• Travel: May be required on occasion
• Contract length: Initial 2 years, subject to successful completion of probation period, with potential to extend or become permanent.

Other expectations: The role holder will need to be available to work some other key dates outside the usual working pattern, such as special services (Christmas, Easter etc.), annual meetings, and Focus (our annual one-week church holiday in the summer). It is expected that staff members will be active members of River Church (i.e., praying, serving, giving, and growing as a disciple of Jesus).

Context: River Church currently has 10 staff, plus 3 vacancies, and some River College interns. The church has grown from an initial team of 15 people, to more than 300 (mainly under 35s) in its first 3 years, and we anticipate significant further growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Spear Programme: Spear Foundation is a 4-week initial phase, consisting of 2 group sessions and a 1:1 with each trainee per week, in which we coach young people around skills and mindsets to support them in returning to work or education, and equip them with the skills to stay there.
• Oversee the effective running of Spear Ipswich
• As a confident communicator, you will lead group sessions of around 10 young people, using coaching skills to transform attitudes to their own ability and the workplace, and to raise their awareness and maximise potential in stepping into the world of work
• Prepare and coach group and 1-1 sessions with the Spear centre Manager (training will be provided)
• Support the daily operational and administrative functions of the programme
• Line manage the Spear Assistant Coach and volunteer team
• Partnership liaison and relationship management
• Purposefully build and manage relationships with relevant professionals at local organisations
• Communicate directly with young people to encourage referrals to the Spear programme, and think creatively about ways of building the profile of Spear locally, ensuring as many local young people as possible who would benefit have the chance to take part, and maximising the available spaces on the pilot programme
• Maintain and develop relationships with local partners to form a strong referral network
• Supporting River Church’s mission and ministry
• Establish a strong presence at River Church to build a network of supporters for the Spear programme
• Contribute to the wider Love Ipswich team, including supporting our Crosslight Debt Centre and Money Courses, and River Store (social supermarket)
• Attend and participate in Staff Meeting, Tuesday morning Prayer Meeting, and Sunday Services (serving on a team at one or more Sunday service)
• Regularly pray for Spear, River Church, and in particular our Social Transformation work
• Attending other River Church events and services, occasionally speaking and/or contributing as required
• Ad hoc tasks and other project work

Person Specification

Personal qualities and beliefs

• It is essential that the role holder has a personal faith in and relationship with God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• Believes and embodies Christian teaching revealed in the Bible
• Is committed to the dream, purpose, and goals of River Church
• Is passionate about social transformation

Personal skills and abilities

• It is essential that the role holder has good teamwork and team-building skills, and is able to lead, manage, motivate, and encourage others
• Has good administrative and organisational skills and time management, and the ability to prioritise workloads
• Is highly self-motivated with the ability to take initiative and start new projects
• Has excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both written and verbal, including an excellent level of English spelling, punctuation, and grammar
• Has the ability to teach, train and develop leaders and volunteers in the Love Ipswich team
• Has a high emotional intelligence, high attention to detail, and high production values
• Is creative and flexible, with a can-do attitude
• Is teachable and has a desire to learn and grow
• Understands the importance of confidentiality and has good self-awareness
• Has enthusiasm, energy, commitment, and a sense of humour

Knowledge, qualifications, and experience

• It is essential that the role holder has good IT skills, and experience in and/or the ability to learn to use Mac OS X, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, ChurchSuite, and Expense Plus, as well as Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and Powerpoint
• Has a good and up-to-date understanding of statutory child protection and safeguarding requirements, health and safety legislation, and other legal aspects related to the running of Spear

It is desirable that the role holder has prior experience delivering training, coaching and development, and has other relevant experience or skills related to the role, or other areas of ministry and church life.

River Church is a thriving HTB Network resource church based in the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk.