Volunteer Support Manager

Location: MSSC NSC, 200B Lambeth Road, London, SE1 7JY (Hybrid Working)

Contract: Full time, permanent

Salary: £40,000 to £42,000 gross per annum, depending on experience

Closing Date: 8 February 2026

Assessment Day: 16 February 2026

The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is a vibrant and growing charity delivering life changing nautical adventure for young people through the Sea Cadets to give them the best possible head start in life. We also provide personal and professional development opportunities for seafarers with the Marine Society. Working with our staff, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a vision and five‑year strategy to take us forward and further improve the astounding contribution already made through our work to the lives of thousands of young people and seafarers, while fully supporting our volunteers who are vital to our success.

About the role

We are currently looking for a Volunteer Support Manager to join our innovative Young People, Volunteer and Business Support Directorate. You will manage the Volunteer Support Team and develop and maintain efficient volunteering systems used by our volunteers. This is a key role focussed on supporting the charity's volunteering strategy and championing best practice in volunteering. This is an exciting time to join the Sea Cadets with the opportunity to make a real difference to the way volunteers are supported and recognised.

The Volunteer Support Manager will be responsible for the effective and efficient administration of the volunteer processes via Microsoft Forms and Power Automate, as well as reviewing existing and implementing new systems to make them as effective and as volunteer friendly as possible.

Responsibilities

• Maintain, review and update volunteering systems, processes and approaches ensuring that they are efficient, up-to-date and as volunteer friendly as possible.
• Line‑manage and support the Volunteer Support Team based at the MSSC Support Centre to ensure the delivery of effective and timely support to the volunteers.
• Functionally manage and support the Area Volunteer Support Team based across the 6 Area Offices to deliver effective and consistent support to the volunteers.
• Work with the Head of Volunteering to review MSSC volunteering policies, monitor their appropriateness and effectiveness, and make recommendations for changes as necessary.
• Work with Volunteer Support Officers to develop systems and processes for managing the volunteer support workload and monitoring delivery standards.
• Develop guidance and associated resources for the support of volunteers.
• Manage the Volunteer Support elements of the Training and Admin website ensuring that the information is relevant, accurate and up to date.

Requirements

• Experience of managing and motivating a large team.
• Experience of managing, reviewing and refining complex administrative processes.
• Experience of running effective CRM systems including the use of Microsoft Forms and Power Automate or similar products.
• Experience developing processes which are targeted at both internal and external audiences.
• Experience of delivering a first‑class service to clients or customers.
• An understanding of the voluntary and community sector, ideally within the youth field.

Desirable

• Experience of managing or supervising a team based remotely.
• Experience of being a volunteer.
• Experience of managing an onboarding process with the understanding of the importance of safer recruitment.
• Experience of empowering a team to deliver a first‑class customer service.
• Experience of leading projects managing change with various stakeholders.
• Experience of working with volunteers and the knowledge of how to ensure they are supported.

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave per annum, increasing with length of service.
• Hybrid working for many roles.
• Volunteering Leave.
• Life assurance (4x salary).
• Private medical insurance.
• Generous pension (employer contribution up to 10%).
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Access to the Marine Society Digital Library.
• Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling.
• Employee development: We invest in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.

Additional Information

MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer. We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC's values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre‑employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire. All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo pre‑employment checks including a criminal record check.