Community Outreach and Admin Officer in Middlesbrough

YorSpace is a non-profit organisation that owns and develops land for the benefit of the community in York. Their work is creative and pioneering and this is a one of a kind opportunity. An exciting and challenging role combining event planning and marketing activities with day to day business tasks. This is a small team so you need to be someone who loves to get stuck in and help out where ever needed. If you care deeply about the power of community and supporting the development of Community assets in our region then this is the place for you.

YorSpace is a community land trust based in York, dedicated to building low-carbon neighbourhoods that are affordable, community-focused, and environmentally sustainable. Our mission is to address York's housing and community space shortage by creating cooperative models that remain permanently affordable and serve those most in need. By collaborating with partners, we deliver community assets within York and North Yorkshire. Our innovative co-operative ownership models support secure housing for residents while fostering a strong sense of community.

You are our ideal candidate if you care deeply about the power of community and supporting our region to bravely pioneer innovative solutions to complex social challenges. The role will perfectly straddle both elements of our organisation, lending your support to the Operational Team who work for YorSpace.

• Community Outreach: Championing the work we do and the opportunities we offer, and engaging with our target audience of housing co-ops, social enterprises, and other community groups. The role carries a significant degree of autonomy and would suit someone with the confidence and creative skills to make the role their own. Your goal is to get the local community involved with YorSpace in lots of exciting and inclusive ways. Community outreach tasks include:

• Outreach event planning, promotion and delivery
• Writing press releases
• Impact and funding metric reporting
• Creating inspirational sector case studies
• Communicating with our investors, local residents and regional stakeholders to raise our engagement levels
• Submitting accreditation and awards submissions
• Day to day oversight of our website and social media to keep the content fresh and interesting
• Planning and hosting events

• Administration: Ensuring we remain a well run and socially responsible organisation at all times. Being part of a relatively small team means we share the day to day tasks involved in keeping the organisation running effectively and responsibly. Tasks include:

• Liaising with accounts team as appropriate
• Contributing to writing and submitting grant funding applications
• Dealing with enquiries - answering emails & calls
• Attending meetings and supporting team members with notes and actions
• Management of spreadsheets and company policies
• GDPR compliance

We expect the time split between Community Outreach and Administrative duties to be approximately 70/30%.

This role is offered as a 4 days per week, 7.5 hours per day. The role is offered as a 12 month Fixed-term contract initially, with the intention to extend to a permanent role, pending the organisational funding being in place for this. Given the flexible working needed around community events, which may be held in the evening or weekends, we are able to offer flexible working to suit the individual, tbc on appointment and pending agreement with your line manager. The role is based in York City Centre. Some flexible working (e.g. occasional working from home) may be available based on prior agreement with line manager.

The role is offered with an annual gross salary of £36,000 per annum, pro rata (£28,800 p/a based on a 30-hour working week). Other benefits include:

• Workplace pension (5% matched) after qualifying period of one month
• Statutory holiday
• Paid for organisational events including team building days, field trips and networking events
• Potential for hybrid working by agreement

We are looking for someone with boundless energy, local knowledge, brave ideas, strategic flair, imagination, great organisational skills and a fierce passion for taking our communities with us as we embark on a new wave of co-operative developments which are set to change the shape of the housing market & community asset control over the next decade. We particularly welcome interest from the BAME community and from other groups that might not be fairly represented within our organisation. You will bring your whole self to the role because we celebrate inclusivity and diversity.

In return for your commitment, your personality and your experience we will provide a comprehensive induction that will give you the necessary know-how needed so that you can make a real difference to our communities. You will be someone who thrives in a small organisation where no two days are the same, presenting the perfect opportunity to showcase your multi-tasking skills. Your positive, can-do attitude will shine through as the main lead for most of our community-facing activities.

• Essential Skills & Attributes:

• A passion for and experience in working with people
• A great communicator
• Capable in the use of a range of social media platforms to make our communication relevant and interesting
• Experience in community outreach: ability to creatively design, and market community events, and engage meaningfully with diverse audiences
• The ability to work flexibly and independently at times as the role requires, to organise and prioritise your own workload and manage your time efficiently, while reporting to senior staff
• Excellent administrative skills with attention to detail and organisational abilities including proficient use of applications such as Microsoft Office and Google Suite, etc.
• Proficient use of spreadsheets (MS Excel, Google sheets) is an essential part of the role.

• Desirable Skills & Experience:

• A passion for making a real difference to the local area and its people
• A good understanding of the local challenges around access to housing and public services
• Experience of and understanding of community led housing
• Community Led Housing enabler training
• Experience in fundraising: some knowledge of writing a funding application would be advantageous
• Experience of working with not-for-profit groups and/or regional stakeholders and decision makers would be useful
• Experience of updating and managing WordPress websites including blogs