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Closing date: Monday 26 June 2023
Location: London EC3R 6EN / Hybrid working.
Hours: 29.6 hours per week / 0.8 FTE
Salary: £21,000 per annum actual (£26,250 FTE)
Contract: Permanent
Interview date: 1st interview: Tuesday 4 July 2023, 2nd interview: Wednesday 5 July 2023

Are you interested in working for an organisation making a real difference to the lives of young blind and partially sighted people?

Here at the Royal Society for Blind Children we believe that every blind young person should have the chance to live life without limits. Our values of Trust, Energy, Ambition, and Motivation underpin everything we do, and by giving young people the essential skills to take control of their life, they can unleash their true potential.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivational Engagement Officer to lead on engagement activities with a wide range of stakeholders – you’ll be working with key professionals, partners, children, young people and their families, as well as developing our wider networks to raise and maintain awareness of RSBC, its wide range of services and our impact.

The main purpose of this role is to:

• Maximising all opportunities to increase the reach and impact of RSBC’s service’s by really engaging people
• Build vital relationships that will enable RSBC to develop existing networks and identify new ones with a wide range of stakeholders that will enable us to secure referrals through to RSBC services and support increasing RSBC’s reach and impact
• Get involved with the RSBC youth forum’s delivery and development by planning and facilitating monthly meetings and activities and supporting them to achieve their goals

The ideal candidate will ideally come from a charity background. You may have worked in Stakeholder Engagement; Youth Work; Education or with Children and Families.  Candidates will need to have experience of engaging with a wide range of stakeholders in order to build and maintain strong relationships and networks and drive recruitment to RSBC’s services, excellent interpersonal skills, and an understanding of the principles of young people’s participation.

In return we offer a competitive range of benefits including a generous annual leave allowance of 27 days (rising to 28 days after 3 years’ service) + bank holidays, Employee Assistance Programme, Perkbox, flexible working opportunities, 3% contribution towards pension, and season ticket loan. We are a welcoming, diverse and inclusive workforce and are a Disability Confident Employer. We also hold the Investors in People Silver Award.

To apply

For further details on the role, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification on the RSBC website.

Please apply by emailing your CV and a supporting statement which details how you meet the requirements of the role and person spec to recruitment@rsbc.org.uk

Closing date: Monday 26 June at 12pm

1st Interview: Tuesday 4 July

2nd interview: Wednesday 5 July

To apply you will need to have the right to work in the UK.

The Society is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Therefore, all posts are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure check from the Disclosure and Barring Service and 2 satisfactory professional references. Registered Charity No.307892.

Job description

Primary Objectives

• Instrumental to the planning of the RSBC’s engagement with stakeholders, and beneficiary recruitment across all service areas.
• Engage with potential children, young people and their families, key professionals and partners and wider networks to raise and maintain awareness of RSBC, its services and activities.
• Work to defined targets to engage participants with the Society’s services. Work collaboratively within the Services Department to support delivery staff in referral or recruitment activities in order to maximise all opportunities to increase the Society’s reach.
• Support the delivery and development of the RSBC Youth Forum and its members to ensure the participation of young blind and partially sighted people with RSBC.

Key tasks and main duties

• Secure participant referrals to RSBC services in line with the departmental delivery plan.
• Develop existing networks and identify and create new relationships with key stakeholders, in order to secure referrals to RSBC services and support increasing the Society’s reach and impact. Relevant bodies may include statutory services, housing associations, education settings and other third sector organisations providing complementary services.
• Devise and implement innovative solutions to engaging with potential participants that lead to recruitment, for example: increased partnership working; identifying and engaging new referral sources; meeting prospective stakeholders in person; effective marketing that will support increasing reach
• Ensure that the current database is kept updated with all professional contacts and referrals received, and records of relationships are up to date
• Collaborate with colleagues to ensure that they are supported in recruitment to their projects, activities and services and to maintain your knowledge of the current and planned service offer.
• Plan and facilitate monthly youth forum meetings and activities which continue to build on the engagement and involvement of blind and partially sighted young people, help promote awareness of their work and support RSBC’s values.
• Support the development of projects, identified by youth forum members, which highlight the challenges faced by blind and partially sighted young people, and the solutions they propose.
• Support youth forum members with their goal setting and achieving their desired outcomes.
• Work in conjunction with others in the Services Department, and Marketing and  Communication Teams to contribute to an effective communications plan and production of marketing materials.
• Provide regular updates on reports on progress against the recruitment plan to line manager and the wider organisation.
• Identify and attend appropriate exhibitions, conferences and events for awareness-raising, promotional and recruitment purposes.
• Advise the  Fundraising teams of potential funding opportunities and feedback to managers on sector intelligence that is identified during engagement activities.
• Ensure that Equality and Diversity  are embedded in all aspects of your work.
• Be responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of the  children and young people, vulnerable adults and their families that engage with the Society.

Person Specification

Professional and Educational Qualifications

The ideal candidate will come from a Youth Work, Rehabilitation, Social Work Community Health or Education background, with a qualification at  Level 3 or above in a related field.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• High levels of motivation, self-management and initiative
• Experience within a target-orientated, and customer-focused environment
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills that engender trust in our stakeholders.
• Proven experience of securing customer recruitment and maintenance of relationships and networks.
• Ability to engage positively with children and young people to support their personal development.
• Demonstrated critical and creative thinking and proven ability to evaluate and contribute to the development of your areas of work.
• An interest in engagement with and support of blind and partially sighted children and their families
• Knowledge of the disability sector and the services that support service users. Ability to produce clear marketing and information materials.
• Excellent influencing skills.
• Good experience of using databases to keep records.
• Understanding of the charity sector.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a multi-function team, sharing ideas and resources to maximise impact.
• An understanding of cultural sensibilities .
• A desire to effect social change through personal actions, and support young people to do the same
• An understanding of the principles of involvement and participation of service users.
• Ability to travel regularly within London and the South East, and to work occasional evenings and weekends.

Desirable

• Understanding of the needs of blind and partially sighted children
• Experience of working with and involving disabled people, particularly vision impaired young people