Baby Bank Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION 

Baby Bank Manager (South) 

£33,500 FTE per annum (gross) 

52 weeks per year 

We think this role requires 35 hours per week.  The job will be based at the Tooting site with termly visits to our Roehampton donation hub, although we may need some flexibility on this. There will also be occasional travel to our other sites across London. During your induction period, there will be the expectation of up to 2-weeks training at other sites. 

Many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.  

This role will require a DBS check. 

Purpose of role The Baby Bank Manager will work with the team to deliver the Baby Bank operation at a hub level to create a warm, caring and safe environment for families and volunteers and ensure there is great quality stock to meet the needs of families. 

Operations  

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  Responsible for the flow of stock in and out of your hub, and, working in a team with stock managers at other sites, flow of stock around the Little Village network in an efficient manner, which allows the fulfilment of referrals.  

  
  


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  Responsible for organisation of stock at your hub, ensuring it is stored in a neat and safe manner, maintaining good stock levels, and liaising with colleagues at your hub and across the network to source low stock items in a timely manner. 

  
  


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  Manage process for receiving donations; assigning ‘meet and greet’ person to welcome donors and record contact details. 

  
  


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  Responsible for managing and cost effectively sourcing adequate consumables as required for baby bank operations, e.g. stickers, clear bags, string, bin bags etc. 

  
  

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  To manage stock flow between the hub and storage facilities. 

  
  


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  To build relationships with internal and external contacts to manage and control stock levels (e.g. requesting and transferring stock) and/or working with other baby banks.  

  
  


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  To identify new opportunities for sourcing and managing donations. 

  
  


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  To prepare stock and marketing supplies for events as required. 

  
  


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  Be the lead contact with the Fundraising team for any corporate volunteering events. 

  
  

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  Design and manage the flow of the week, so that Session Leads and Volunteers have a clear plan of tasks and activities 

  
  

People  

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  Working with Baby Bank Assistant and session leads, empower and manage the volunteer team to deliver the Baby Bank operation at a hub level in a warm and caring environment.  

  
  


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  Liaising with Volunteer Manager on resourcing gaps and recruitment to ensure adequate resourcing levels. 

  
  


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  Working with session leads, ensure volunteers receive a daily briefing, including Health & Safety procedures and conduct risk assessments where required. 

  
  


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  Responsible for managing Session Leads, who are in turn: 

  
  

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  responsible for managing volunteer sessions within the hub. Ensuring volunteers remain engaged and motivated and understand Little Village values and objectives.  

  
  


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  responsible for inducting new volunteers, ensuring they are familiar with Little Village policies and procedures. 

  
  

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  Maintain and prioritise a list of stock related tasks to be completed and ensure volunteers have a good understanding of clearly defined tasks. With session leads, support and train volunteers to undertake tasks. 

  
  


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  Responsible for ensuring volunteer sessions are professional, productive and fun and that volunteers are appropriately thanked for their time. 

  
  


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  Line Management of Session Leads and Assistants. 

  
  


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  Line management of cleaner and/or management of contract cleaning. 

  
  


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  Maintaining good relations with the residents in the block.  Being an advocate and champion for Little Village, whilst respecting we are in a shared building. 

  
  


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  Being the primary contact for the Roehampton volunteers.  Supporting and encouraging them in their work.  Making regular (at least termly) visits to their operation to offer advice/support and to maintain engagement. 

  
  

Referrals Fulfilment  

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  Being the lead person on the ‘shop floor’ for the retail experience for visiting families.  Making sure the site is welcoming and tidy and that families feel they are having a personal and professional service. 

  
  


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  Working with colleagues across sites to identify and replicate best practice in service delivery to the families we support.  

  
  

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  With the session lead, ensuring volunteers are well briefed and efficiently deployed to support families during their visit to site. 

  
  


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  On a weekly basis, ensure relevant referrals are printed ready for packing or for the family visit to the shop, and scheduled in line with dispatch date.  

  
  


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  Ensure referrals are prepared and packed to best meet the needs of the family based on available stock. 

  
  


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  Updating database to allow management of workflow and delivery co-ordination.  Working with session leads to ensure data is uploaded in an accurate and timely manner – removing items not fulfilled, including items to be ordered, indicating any delayed deliveries. 

  
  

Quality Management:  

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  Overall responsibility for checking incoming stock and outgoing bundles, cots and buggies to ensure quality and safety standards are maintained. 

  
  


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  To ensure a clear quality checking process is maintained for key items and departments and to manage volunteers to ensure that:  

  
  

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  cot and buggies are checked, labelled, and ordering parts/mattresses. 

  
  


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  all equipment has a manual (where appropriate) or safety notice. E.g. stair gates, breast pumps, buggies, cots, slings. 

  
  

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  all equipment is clean, e.g., sterilisers, play mats, toys, bouncer chairs etc. 

  
  


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  all equipment meets safety standards. 

  
  

Health and Safety  

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  Responsible for all aspects of Health and Safety within the hub, ensuring safe working practices at all times and the safety of employees and volunteers. This includes but is not limited to; ensuring risk assessments are adhered to, hygiene control measures and manual handling processes are implemented and adhered to at all times. 

  
  

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  Drafting and managing site-specific and person-specific (e.g.. PEEPs and pregnancy RAs) risk assessments for baby bank related activity (training will be given). 

  
  


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  Responsible First Aider and Fire Warden on site whilst baby bank operational (training will be given). 

  
  

Facilities  

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  Responsible for management of the baby bank space and smooth running of the site, including zoning areas and arranging for appropriate shelving/storage where necessary.  Areas include stock room/s, main family and/or packing room, working with the site lead and leads for other site activities. 

  
  

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  Ensuring the space is kept clean and tidy by overseeing the cleaning schedule and ensuring that waste is disposed of safely and appropriately. 

  
  


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  Being the main contact for the visiting contractors and maintenance staff 

  
  


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  Keyholder.  Responsible for unlocking/locking up and site security. 

  
  


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  Managing delivery zone to ensure there is space available for drop offs/pick-ups. 

  
  

Transport 

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  Liaise with the Transport Manager and Warehouse Team Lead regarding weekly delivery schedules and ensuring drivers are fully briefed when they arrive on site in health and safety procedures and information specific to their deliveries. 

  
  


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  Manage the loading of delivery vans to ensure they are packed in a logical manner, troubleshooting on delivery day. 

  
  

Waste Management 

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  To manage waste safely on site. 

  
  

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  Pro-active research on sustainable waste solutions. 

  
  


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  Co-ordinate and control tip, recycling and charity runs, ensuring the correct resource is provided.  Keep track of waste materials, so that quantities are accurately recorded for sustainability metrics. 

  
  

General 

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  Ensuring compliance with GDPR policy and that sensitive information is kept secure and disposed of properly. 

  
  

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  Represent Little Village and our values and to work collaboratively with Little Village employees and volunteers. 

  
  


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  Occasionally speaking on our behalf at local community events eg school assemblies. 

  
  


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  To propose and implement ideas and solutions to improve the running of the stock flow and storage. 

  
  


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  Social Media.  Being a Little Village spokesperson/group admin on our local Facebook page for comments relating to stock and donations.  Replying to public comments and enquiries in a timely manner.  Upholding Little Village standards, as outlined in our Social Media Policy. 

  
  

About your skills and experience 

Essential 

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  Retail management, warehouse, logistics, community centre management, charity programme management or facilities management experience. 

  
  

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  Line management experience, including experience of working with volunteers. 

  
  


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  Excellent communication skills – both written and oral.  

  
  


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  Microsoft Office 365 skills (Outlook, Excel, Word). 

  
  

Desirable 

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  Experience of conducting risk assessments and managing Health and Safety. 

  
  


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  Experience of using social media to build community. 

  
  


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  Full, clean driving licence. 

  
  


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  Experience (direct or indirect) of living in poverty. 

  
  

What we can offer 

Salary and pension 

The salary for this role is £33,500 per annum FTE (this will be pro-rated to reflect your working hours if you work less than 35 hours per week and is subject to normal deductions). If eligible to join the pension, we will match your contributions by 3%. 

Annual leave 

You will be entitled to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays (these will be pro-rated to reflect your working hours if you work less than 35 hours per week). We usually give the team time off between Christmas and New Year that doesn’t come off your allowance. 

Hours of work 

We think this role requires 35 hours per week, but we’re open to discussions about flexibility. This is a 52 weeks per year contract. Usual hours are 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. To include a 30 minute unpaid lunchbreak. 

Location 

This role will be based at the Little Village South sites, which are located at: 

Vulcan House, 144-146 Tooting High Street, London SW17 0RT. 

Termly visits to the Roehampton volunteer-run donation hub at: Eastwood Children’s Centre, 166-168 Roehampton Lane, SW15 4HR. 

Contract 

This is a permanent contract, starting as soon as possible. You will have a probation period of 3 months. 

The application process 

Little Village operates in London, one of the most diverse cities in the world. We are working towards a goal where our team fully reflects that diversity and difference in lived experiences and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups including: people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with lived experience of poverty either personally or through family, experience of the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates. As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed without names and any protected characteristics. 

We want Little Village to be a place where our individual differences and contributions are truly recognised and valued. We want to support people with disabilities and are fully committed to make any reasonable adjustments so that everyone can apply to this role. We are serious about working with the right candidate to make this role work for them. To read our Equal Opportunities Policy please see here. 

We know everyone’s lives are different and that traditional working patterns may not be quite right for you. We think this job requires 35 hours per week but if you are interested in the role but cannot commit to the hours above, we are also open to discussing the hours you are able to do. 

The requisite eligibility criteria, or work visa to work in the UK are a requirement for this position and unfortunately, we are not able to offer relocation and/or sponsorship support. 

Please note that this position will require a DBS check. 

If you need additional support with your application or interview process, then please do let us know what you need and where we can help make this accessible. 

To apply, we would like you to complete this online application form by 9am on 27 September 2023. You will also need to respond to the following questions, using up to 500 words for each answer. You can also record your answers as voice notes or videos of up to 5 minutes per response. 

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  What skills and experience would you highlight that are relevant to this role and our work at Little Village?  

  
  


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  How have you successfully juggled multiple priorities and what strategies, systems and processes have helped you to do so?  

  
  


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  How would colleagues and friends describe you? What are your superpowers and how are you still developing?  

  
  

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  Which of our four values; love, solidarity, thriving and sustainability resonates with you most and why? 

  
  

You’ll be able to attach an anonymised CV. 

We will be looking for concrete evidence of the difference you’ve made in relation to the questions we’ve asked: this could be from our working, volunteering, community or personal life. It’s your chance to show us the skills and experience you’d bring to this role.  

We will also invite you to complete an anonymous equal opportunities form. The information contained in this questionnaire will be treated as confidential and will be used for monitoring purposes only. This information won’t be seen by any person involved in the selection process for this post. It will enable us to monitor how we are doing against our diversity and inclusion commitments.   

Applications should be completed by 9am 27 September 2023. Please note, applications not using the online application form and following the guidelines set out here will not be considered. 

Key dates 

Submission of application: 9am 27 September 2023 

All applications will be assessed on the match to the experience and skills set out here. We know we are asking for a lot and we are looking for your honest appraisal of where you are already high performing and where there is room for growth.  

First round interview: 5 October 2023 

This will be an online competency-based interview with two members of the Little Village team and a short desk-based task, which you do not need to prepare for. We will confirm who you’ll be meeting as well as the location when this interview is arranged. 

Second round interview: 13 October 2023 

This will be an in-person competency-based interview with three members of the Little Village team and a short role play exercise which you do not need to prepare for. We will confirm who you’ll be meeting as well as the location when this interview is arranged.