Job Description

Job Title             West Midlands Community Engagement Officer

Hours                   35 hours per week, term time only, permanent

(Some elements of this role will likely require out of hours working) 

Reports to           Head of Membership

Remuneration£20,462 (FTE equivalent £28,000)

Background                                                             

Our 68-year-old charity is one of the most exciting and flexible employers in the charity sector. Having supported 13,000 Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and their 100,000 heroic volunteer fundraisers to raise more than £1 Billion during the past decade, last year we began to lay the foundations for significant growth in impact during the decade ahead, not just to extend the impact of PTAs, but to provide more broader support for parents in enabling their children to live happy, healthy, and productive lives.

During the summer, we launched a membership magazine (PTA Extra), and a popular programme of parent webinar covering such topics as: ‘Supporting your child’s mental health’, ‘Helping your child succeed in KS2 English’, ‘Neurodiversity in Children Matters’.In the autumn began building a fundraising team to support PTAs by fundraising at the national level.In December we launched the highly successful ‘National Parent Survey’ to explore the challenges and concerns parents face. This year we relaunch a national publication for parents new to school, called ‘Be School Ready’, and our new ‘PTA Launchpad’ programme.

At Parentkind we have developed a culture of high expectations for supporting PTAs and Parents alongside an equally high expectation that colleagues take care of their mental health and well-being.We are obviously a parent-friendly and flexible employer, where colleagues work from home by choice, and are given agency to perform their duties in balance with life.Colleagues work around important life-commitments such as taking their children to school, attending a medical appointment, or just taking a walk.Colleagues are trusted to do great things, both at home and whilst working.

Main purpose and scope of Role

This role will play key to engaging with and supporting PTAs across the region, as well as a variety of stakeholders such as schools, parent groups, local authorities, potential sponsors or supporters and other organisations as our suite of programmes grows. This role initially focuses on the following, but is subject to change as programmes are launched or evolved:

PTA Programme

• Growing our network of PTAs.
• Supporting PTAs through leadership transition to minimise PTAs closing unnecessarily.
• Organising gatherings of PTAs to enhance the PTA community.
• Providing training and awareness sessions for PTAs.
• Providing community support to PTAs during peak activity periods online or by phone.
• Helping schools establish PTAs and supporting them during their first year through our new PTA Launchpad programme.
• Hosting and co-ordinating virtual webinars/meetings to demonstrate the value of PTA membership and the support available. 

Parent Programme

• Raising awareness of Parentkind’s growing programme of support for parents, directly or indirectly through schools or other partners.
• Building relationships with parent groups to support engagement with our growing suite of parent support opportunities.
• Organising events for parents as part of our Parent Programme.
• Building relationships with regional stakeholders to support Parent Programme activities.

Other Programmes/Services

• Encouraging uptake or (when charged) sales of our broad and growing suite of programmes and services.
• Identifying and engaging with local and regional partners for our range of programmes.
• Feeding into programme design.

Wider Stakeholder Engagement:

• Attending appropriate conferences and educational meetings across the region. 
• Developing relationships with key local authorities and individuals so they advocate our services and the benefits of our programmes
• Developing relationships with MATs so that they can advocate Parentkind and the benefits of its programmes.
• Identify any opportunities for external funding to from LA’s, Companies, or other funders with the support of our fundraising team.

Organisational Effectiveness: 

• Create and implement operational annual plans and schedules to support our regional targets, ensuring that time specific milestones for their delivery are met.
• Regularly report on the health of our campaigns within your region, through identified KPIs and organisational targets.
• Ensure all knowledge and information is recorded, processed and maintained according to good administration practice.

General

• To keep abreast of relevant educational policy and legislation affecting our key audiences.
• To be flexible within the broad remit of the post.
• To undertake other duties as reasonably requested by the CEO and the Executive Leadership Team.
• To be self-servicing.
• To attend and participate in our performance, development, and training programmes.
• To abide by organisational policies, codes of conduct and practices.
• To be responsible for the health, safety, welfare of self, and other colleagues.
• Participating in and, as necessary, assisting with our national events and conferences.
• Supporting activities in other regions where a regional colleague is unappointed or unavailable.

Diversity at our core

Parentkind is committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process and encouraging equality and diversity with our team.We acknowledge that some candidates may require additional support to overcome barriers experienced during the application process.If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please reach out to us via email.

The Application Process

Please apply as soon as possible by submitting your application through Charityjob with a covering letter.Please note that we are unable to sponsor international candidates and candidates should be resident or very familiar with the region the role is applicable to and willing to move to the region before commencing the role.Candidates will require their own vehicle to support attendance at meetings, including schools. 

We will be interviewing on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible.

Parentkind is committed to safeguarding children in the schools we work and expect all colleagues to share this commitment.Appointees are subject to a DBS check.Having a criminal record will not automatically exclude applicants.

If you have not heard from us within two weeks following the closing date of the role, please presume that your application has been unsuccessful.