Volunteering Officer

At IWM, we’re passionate about helping people understand the impact of conflict on lives, communities and society. Our volunteers play a vital role in helping bring to life the stories of our collections, promote great visitor experience and care for our many significant objects. As part of the Volunteering & Engagement team, you’ll join a supportive, collaborative environment where people and purpose come first. We value enthusiasm, kindness, inclusivity and the belief that volunteering enriches individuals and the organisation.

Volunteers are central to the experience we offer at all IWM branches. As a Volunteering Officer, you will help ensure that volunteers feel welcomed, supported and confident in their roles, shaping their experience and, in turn, the experience of our visitors, staff and a global volunteer community.

You’ll play a key role in recruiting, training, engaging and supporting volunteer teams, ensuring day to day operations run smoothly and safely. Working closely with leaders from Visitor Experience, Learning & Engagement, Membership, Conservation, Curatorial and more, you’ll continue to build a thriving volunteer culture that accelerates IWM’s mission and maximises our impact.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading and motivating volunteers to help them deliver exceptional experiences for visitors.
• Coordinating volunteers day to day: meeting and greeting, running pre-shift and post-shift briefings, assigning duties and carrying out welfare checks.
• Organising rotas and ensuring volunteer cover is consistent and well planned across your branch.
• Supporting volunteer recruitment, selection, onboarding and training programmes.
• Acting as the main point of contact for your volunteer team, offering guidance, information and pastoral support.
• Managing volunteer data and rotas using Better Impact, and generating reports to identify trends or gaps.
• Championing a positive, inclusive volunteer ethos across the organisation.
• Collaborating with colleagues across IWM to deliver effective volunteer engagement that supports operations and visitor experience.
• Providing advice to managers on volunteer involvement and scaling volunteer activity where needed.
• Supporting income generation activities by promoting IWM shops, cafés, memberships and experiences.
• Ensuring volunteers follow IWM standards, policies, health and safety requirements and behaviours.
• Maintaining an active, visible presence across your site. This is a mobile, visitor facing and hands on role.

What We’re Looking For

• Experience working with the public in a customer facing environment, ideally in heritage, tourism or cultural settings.
• Knowledge and experience of working with volunteers.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build rapport with a wide range of people.
• Confidence presenting or briefing groups in an engaging way.
• Experience motivating individuals and supporting others to reach their potential.
• A flexible, solutions focused approach and ability to adapt to changing demands.
• A genuine desire to work with and support the public.

Desirable

• Experience leading or managing volunteer programmes.
• Experience using Better Impact or similar volunteer management software.
• An interest in 20th century history.
• Knowledge of additional languages.

How You’ll Work

You’ll work closely with colleagues across all volunteer functions and areas of work. This includes Visitor Experience, Learning & Engagement, Membership, Curatorial, Conservation and more to ensure volunteers are informed, supported and integrated into the wider operation. You’ll support a diverse community of volunteers, build positive relationships across departments, and champion the value and impact of volunteering at IWM.

What Success Looks Like (First 6–12 Months)

• A motivated, confident and well supported volunteer team who enjoy being part of IWM.
• Consistent, reliable rotas and smooth day to day volunteer operations across your branch.
• Strong working relationships with staff across departments.
• Volunteer recruitment, onboarding and training delivered effectively and in line with IWM processes.
• Improved volunteer engagement, with clear evidence of positive feedback or strengthened volunteer satisfaction.
• Effective use of Better Impact to manage rotas, support communications and monitor trends.