North West Programme Coordinator x2

Action for Conservation is an innovative young charity using pioneering approaches to inspire
the next generation of environmental leaders. We work with young people from diverse
backgrounds to build a youth movement committed to the earth. We are looking to appoint two Programme Coordinators to join our North West team and support the delivery of our core programmes for young people and our wider intergenerational nature restoration initiatives in the region.

Start date: As soon as possible
Contract type: Full-time, permanent
Starting salary: £27,039 – £28,190 depending on experience
Location: Manchester (hybrid), with regular regional and occasional national travel

The deadline for applications is Tuesday 02 May 2023 at midnight. Please complete
the online application
form to apply. For further details on how to apply, please see
the Job Application Pack.

About the role – North West Programme Coordinator (x2)

We are looking for two self-motivated individuals who share our passion for
youth-led solutions to the climate and environmental crisis to join our team in the North West. You will be responsible for
delivering our core programmes in your region, working closely with the North West Programme
Manager and other Programme Coordinators as part of a small team. In doing so, you will inspire young people to connect
with nature in new and exciting ways, support them to design and deliver environmental action
projects that benefit wildlife and their local communities, and empower them to have a voice on
environmental issues they care about. 

Our core programmes include:

1. WildED: Our flagship programme for schools and youth groups aims to support young
   people in urban areas to engage with environmental topics and design action projects to
   tackle local issues that they care about.
2. Residential camps: All-inclusive visits to our beautiful national parks where we
   empower young people to learn about nature, environmental justice and social
   issues. 
3. Ambassador programme: An action-packed mentoring scheme for young people who
   graduate from our camps to further develop their skills and knowledge and share their voice
   on the issues they care about. 

In addition, you will support the North West Programme Manager to drive opportunities
for intergenerational decision-making through our emerging intergenerational leadership site
network and other bespoke initiatives in your region. 

Across our programmes and wider work you will:

• Recruit young people and schools to take part in our programmes. 
• Plan and deliver workshops, hands-on action days, celebratory events, webinars and
  skill-building activities for young people. 
• Support young people to experience and connect with nature, through both
  residential and day-to-day activities. 
• Support and mentor young people to imagine, plan and deliver environmental action
  projects to tackle an array of environmental and social issues. 
• Support the development of ‘Urban Action Sites’ in your region, where young people
  can build strong links to community partners to ensure their activities are embedded within
  the local community and their impact is maximised. 
• Create exciting content and educational materials for young people. 
• Evaluate the effectiveness of our programmes and measure the impact of young
  people’s projects and activities. 
• Grow and manage our network of volunteers in your region. 
• Contribute to the communications output related to our programmes through social
  media, YouTube, blogs, and other channels. 
• Identify, explore and develop new partnership
  opportunities that help us to enhance our programmes and/or extend our reach beyond the
  traditional environmental sphere.
• Contribute to the continuous development and improvement of programmes through
  sharing ideas, knowledge and learnings with colleagues in the programmes team and across
  the organisation. 
• Support the North West Programme Manager as needed to plan and deliver site-based
  project activities. 

Having trouble picturing yourself in the role? You can see what some of our
current and former team members say about their experience working as Programme Coordinators at
Action for Conservation in the Job
Application Pack.

Skills and experience we are looking for

Candidates must have the experience, knowledge and skills listed as ‘Essential’ in
order to be considered for the role. The experience, knowledge and skills listed as ‘Desirable
(D)’ would be advantageous to have, but are not essential. 

Essential 

• Good experience of working with young people 
• Environmental knowledge demonstrated through post-secondary education and/or relevant
  work or volunteer experience 
• Good understanding of the barriers to young people, and particularly young people from
  disadvantaged and/or ethnic minority backgrounds, in engaging with environmental
  issues 
• Experience organising events, workshops or other activities with members of the
  public 
• Ability to relate to, engage and motivate young people, especially those who are
  different to you, and get them excited about nature 
• Good communication skills – in writing, verbal and through formal facilitation – with the
  ability to adapt your communication style to different environments and present to diverse
  audiences
• Solutions orientated, proactive and with a positive, can-do approach to work 
• Highly organised and able to prioritise and multitask across various programmes as well as
  adapt to changing circumstances 

Desirable

• Experience of supporting young people to design and deliver campaigns or environmental
  action projects 
• Experience of working with young people with additional needs 
• Knowledge of the region you will be working in and its unique challenges and opportunities 
• Experience using Salesforce and/or working with data for monitoring and evaluation purposes 

Why work with us?

You’ll be joining a young, mission-driven team who truly love what they do. Working with young
people is always rewarding, sometimes challenging and never boring, and you’ll get to
experience first-hand the positive impact that your work has. We work hard whilst maintaining a
positive work-life balance and spend lots of time outdoors. Some of the benefits of working at
Action for Conservation include:

• 33 days of annual leave (including public holidays), plus one additional day for each year
  served up to a maximum of 38 days
• Up to 5 paid professional development days and up to 4 paid volunteer days per year
• A workplace pension
• Access to flexible working to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance
• Regular team and organisational away days in the great outdoors
• Joining a growing organisation with the possibility to progress within the team as
  opportunities arise
• A robust training package and a bespoke personal and professional development plan,
  co-developed with your line manager, to support your progression and career aims
• Opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge such as public speaking, youth engagement,
  group facilitation, practical conservation, and others
• Opportunities to share your voice and shape the direction of our work, ensuring that our
  content is relevant and reflective of your interests and the issues facing your community
• Seeing the impact of what you do, as you transform young people’s lives.

Our commitment to diversity and Guaranteed Interview Scheme

Diversity is one of our core values as an organisation and we are committed to creating
an inclusive working environment where diversity is valued and there is equality of
opportunity. We also recognise that the climate and ecological crisis disproportionately
impacts minority and/or marginalised communities – yet these voices are largely
underrepresented in the sector. Currently, the environmental sector is second least diverse in
the UK, with just 4.8% employees from ethnic minority backgrounds. If the environmental
movement is to succeed in creating a greener future that supports society as a whole, we need
diverse voices at the heart of our programmes. We therefore encourage applicants from people
currently underrepresented in the environmental movement to apply. 

We particularly encourage applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds or
living with a disability or long term health conditions, as they are currently
under-represented in our team. We will offer an interview to any candidates who declare a
disability or who are from ethnic minority backgrounds and who meet the essential criteria for
the role.

Appointment to this role is subject to two satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check, which we will organise for the successful candidate. 

If you would like further information, support with access requirements, such as an
adjustment to the application or interview process, or an informal chat, please contact us by email
at [email protected].