Community Organiser

SUMMARY

Position Title: Community Organiser

Level: Level 2

Salary: £28, 860 (FTE yearly) Salary reviewed annually

Reports to: Community Director

Location: The Liberation Centre, Brixton, London (Our office in Brixton)/ Hybrid working with at least 2 days work from our office (Pro rata for part time). This role will require additional office days on a needs basis

Contract: Part-time (20hrs/weekly), fixed-term contract for 1 year with potential for extension and role expansion subject to budget

Hours: TAA has flexible working hours, with some expected evenings (e.g. one 9pm finish once every two weeks) and weekends due to the nature of the role. All extra hours are reimbursed as Time off in Lieu (TOIL).

Start date: As soon as possible (potentially July, with consideration for notice period)

Benefits: TAA laptop (employee assistance and health cash package including staff supervision, counselling, dental, optical care and more.)

The Advocacy Academy is an activist youth movement. We serve as the political home for grassroots youth organising and the catalyst for collective action. The lives of the young people we work alongside have been directly shaped by living in an unjust world, and we exist to turn their anger into action.

Young people are often the catalysts for major social change, from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, to the Soweto Uprising mobilising young people to resist the apartheid regime's education policies, to the Sunrise Movement redrawing the electoral map across America, and more recently encampments and protests across the world protesting the genocide in Palestine. How successfully they achieve real and lasting change depends on whether they are organised and whether they have the right strategy and tactics to be effective.

This is why we are looking for a Community Organiser who is capable of supporting in building the leadership in young people that enables them to turn the resources they have into the power they need to make the change they want.

Before you skim the job description, please remember you dont have to tick all the boxes for each role to apply. Charity experience is not a requirement! We all experience a bit of imposter syndrome, including the staff here at The Advocacy Academy. Let s name it for what it is - a manifestation of the oppression many of us face on a day to day. If this role pulls you and you believe you could make a difference, then apply anyway or reach out to us to discuss more!

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

1.You will become a key member of the Communities Department, including but not limited to:

• Developing a good working relationship with community members and leaders including staff, TAA members, centre users, local residents, traders, and more
• Supporting with organising efforts in the community and in creating pathways for our members to take part in the work

2.You will help ensure The Liberation Centre is a warm and welcoming environment, working closely with The Community Director and Head of Spacemaking to ensure our space is welcoming, accessible, and that our users are thriving in the space:

• You will coordinate our HOST Programme - You will be accountable for the development and delivery of our HOST programme, including but not limited to:
  • You will ensure our bookings system is up to date, and hold relationships with centre users
  • You will flag and escalate Health and Safety concerns for the space to the Space Manager and work with them on operationalising problem solving in the space
  • You will cultivate relationships with Centre users, neighbours, and visitors and encourage them to get involved in activities and feedback any and all concerns or suggestions they might put forward
  • Support colleagues in the Operations team to ensure our Centre is a great and accessible place for staff to work from

3.You will help make The Liberation Centre a space for political education and organising by:

• Supporting the running of community spaces at TLC - including community putlocks, assemblies, trader meetings, and other TAA-held initiatives
• Supporting the Head of Community Organising in holding and leading spaces for community action and organising - including things like ensure turnout to events, conduct 1-2-1s, assist in minute taking, follow up on actions etc
• Supporting with capturing data on the impact of the space and feedback on space use by young people, community groups, and other partners
• You will be supporting the running of our open access youth space Just Us on an ad hoc basis - which can include: stepping in if people are sick, helping support specific events

4.You will ensure that our community activities run like well-oiled machines by pulling in the right people at the right time and ensuring that key milestones are met:

• Contribute towards risk management standards and ensure Health and Safety standards are met across our programmatic team
• Contribute towards monitoring and evaluation standards, safeguarding practices, and other critical policies and practices within the organisation
• Provide accurate and timely financial information to the budget lead for your work and to the Finance, HR & Operations team
• Support in the fundraising and income goals of the department by working with the Commercial team in supporting bids, building relationships, and hosting events or spaces

5.Share responsibilities for achieving our strategic objectives by upholding our vision, mission, strategy, ideology, and cultural values within your area and also across TAA, supporting on cross-departmental projects as needed:

• Embody our commitment to social and economic justice
• Role model upholding ideology, culture and value expectations across the organisation including but not limited to: leading by example across departments and during team days and role-modelling leadership, identifying new opportunities to the Community Director and to the team and identifying risks to our integrity and authenticity in relation to ideology and culture
• Ensure that you work in tandem with and in support of other team members including but not limited to: encouraging collaborations across other departments with resources as needed
• Take responsibility for communicating your own wellbeing and needs and providing feedback on TAA wellbeing initiatives to your line manager, and contribute to living the TAA culture
• Take responsibility for pursuing your own development to build knowledge and skills to fulfil your role and areas of interest

6.Governance and Compliance

• Work with the Community Director to prioritise and centre risk management in your portfolio: feeding into risk analysis and mitigation, identifying and escalating risks to the strategic objectives, taking the lead to mitigate risks early and thoroughly.
• Ensure understanding and compliance with TAA policies and practices and take the lead on their implementation within your portfolio

A BIT ABOUT YOU

• You are passionate about, and committed to, creating a more fair, just and equal world.
• You believe in the potential of young people to challenge the status quo and are dedicated to helping them become more powerful citizens.
• You ve got a deep understanding of, and a personal relationship with, issues of social justice. From racism to the housing crisis to climate justice, youll be aware of how systemic injustice operates in our society, clued-up and well-informed on the big issues of our time and committed to changing them.
• You ll be comfortable managing a to-do list of competing priorities and balancing your workload to meet competing deadlines.
• You re a sensitive and thoughtful relationship-builder who is interested in building a network of relationships to support the Advocacy Academy s work.You re a great listener, and remember people s names, faces, and stories.
• You re a confident written and verbal communicator, who is comfortable with tailoring communication to reach a diverse range of audiences and stakeholders.
• You re proactive, organised, and eager to learn, whether that s chatting with potential funders, researching new opportunities or collaborating with teammates.

IDEAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• At least 2 years of experience in organising and campaigning on issues of social justice and/or
• At least 2 years of experience in supporting young people to be more confident and comfortable developing and implementing organising or campaign efforts.
• Detail oriented
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working with different audiences or types of stakeholders
• Project management and experience working collaboratively across teams both in person and online
• Excellent organisational skills with confidence managing multiple tasks at the same time/ balancing multiple priorities to meet deadlines
• Experience with our existing systems e.g., Gmail/ Google Doc/ Google Sheets/ Canva
• Confidence working in a fast-paced environment
• Due to the office requirement of this role . click apply for full job details