Opportunities at the Brain & Spine Foundation

About the Role

Location: primarily remote, with occasional in-person attendance in London, or elsewhere for events

Responsible to: Professional Services Manager

Annual Salary: £42,000

Contract type: Permanent and Full-Time

Additional benefits: Contributory pension scheme, 25 days annual leave and bank holidays.

We are looking to appoint a Volunteer Manager to lead the development and delivery of our Neuro Changemakers programme. Key activities will include recruitment and management of volunteers to lead self-help groups, setting up the administrative infrastructure to deliver these groups at scale, and to review our existing volunteer & ambassador strategy.

Reporting to the Professional Services Manager, the Volunteer Manager will be responsible for all aspects of volunteer activity for the Neuro Changemakers programme, including recruitment, induction, training, support and volunteer engagement and retention.

The Volunteer Manager will work closely with all our internal departments and external volunteer networks, acting as the first point of reference on volunteering process and policy across the organisation.

The successful candidate must have strong experience delivering volunteer-led programmes in support of vulnerable service users, with a proven track record in administration and volunteer project management. The ideal candidate will have experience growing such a programme to ambitious targets, and delivering at scale. Familiarity with neurology, neuroscience and neurological conditions is highly desirable.

The successful applicant will make a significant contribution towards the growth and success of our Neuro Changemakers programme online self- help groups across the UK. Just as crucially we provide valuable opportunities for individuals with lived experience of neurological conditions to gain skills and support others with their own experiences, as part of their own recovery and personal development journeys.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities

• Responsible for attracting, recruiting and retaining volunteers based on the organisational strategy for Neuro Changemakers.
• Working closely with the Professional Services Manager to ensure sufficient volunteers are available to meet organisational needs.
• Recruitment, training, induction and ongoing volunteer development.
• Working closely with the Professional Services Manager to deliver a comprehensive volunteer training programme.
• Support strategies to capture M&E data within the Neuro Changemakers programme.
• Outreach and mapping with volunteers to further understand our community’s needs, and to develop the case for setting up new groups in high priority and high need areas.
• Liaison with local authorities in areas to connect to local resources and promotion.
• Act as a deputy safeguarding lead, to ensure safeguarding policies and procedures are followed by all volunteers, including sensitive handling of any complaints, following correct procedures.
• Liaise with partner organisations to further the Neuro Changemaker programme.

Skills & experience

• Strong professional experience of working in a management capacity to deliver services, with experience of developing policy and collaborative working.
• Proven in-depth experience in managing volunteers (understanding best practice across all elements).
• Experience of working with vulnerable service users, understanding the skillset required to work with people affected by a neurological condition and carers e.g. to set up and lead support groups.
• Excellent project management skills, particularly around new projects delivery and evidencing high quality impact.
• A solution focused team player with a positive, can-do mindset.
• An ability to put people at ease and a true enjoyment of working collaboratively with colleagues and external stakeholders.
• Commitment to keeping up to date with best practice in volunteering and ensuring compliance with latest legislation.
• Excellent written, verbal and visual communications with brilliant attention to detail.
• In-depth understanding of safeguarding, particularly around vulnerable adults.
• Experience with CRM systems like Salesforce and an understanding of using Zoom with groups is highly desirable

What you get in return

We have a strong commitment to providing training and development. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs.

We also offer a great range of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Staff Benefits include a contributory pension scheme, 25 days holiday per annum (for full-time role), plus Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days, and default-remote working as standard as part of your hybrid contract (you will only be required to attend in-person for occasional critical meetings and important events).

Equal opportunities

The Brain and Spine Foundation is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our community can reach their potential.

We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.  We particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups.

How to apply:

Please send your CV and a one-page covering letter highlighting why your application should be considered through: https://www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/brain-spine-foundation/volunteer-manager/1003291.

Interviews will take place at online, with the dates to be confirmed. We will only contact those applicants who have been successfully selected for interview. If you require any adjustments during the interview process, please let us know.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

Short-listed candidates may be asked to prepare a short presentation on how they would execute the role successfully.

An enhanced DBS disclosure with adults barred list will be required for this post.

Note: this role is funded by a strategic grant from the Dinwoodie Charitable Company to help activate our Neuro Changemakers programme and other volunteering activity – in our communications we may refer to this post as the ‘Dinwoodie’ Volunteer Manager to recognise the role of the funder.

About the Brain & Spine Foundation (BSF)

The Brain & Spine Foundation (rebranding to i-Neuro in 2025) is a lifeline for the 12 million people in the UK living with any of the 600+ known neurological conditions, including well know conditions like dementia, stroke, and motor neurone disease, as well as hundreds of rare conditions.

We are a national charity working across the UK to help anyone affected by any neurological condition. We also work with families, carers, and health professionals.

We have three strategic programmes that aim to dramatically improve treatment, care, and support so that people affected by ‘neuro’ conditions enjoy a higher quality of life:

• Professional Neuro Services: National Helpline, Health Information, Professionally-led & Supervised Peer Support Groups.
• NeuroLifeNow: Social research driving systemic change from real-time, lived-experience evidence.
• Neuro Changemakers: Volunteer-led self-help groups.

This Volunteer Manager role is critical for our mission to grow our Neuro Changemakers.

At the core of Neuro Changemakers is our volunteer-led self-help groups. These groups involve the provision of organised, online sessions groups to members of the neuro community. These are delivered online, with each session led by volunteers