JOB TITLE: Club Development Officer, Club and Volunteer Support

Job Reference: FRGJOB_1214
AREA COVERED: Galway & Mayo
CONTRACT TYPE: Ongoing
RESPONSIBLE TO: Volunteer Development Manager
HOURS: 35 Hours per week
ANNUAL LEAVE: 29 Days Pro rata

About Foróige

Foróige is an independent, non-profit national voluntary youth organisation engaged in out-of-school youth development and education. The organisation aims to enable young people to involve themselves consciously and actively in their own development and the development of society. Foróige employs some 600 staff and involves thousands of volunteers in the creation and delivery of high quality services to young people through the operation of Foróige Clubs and over 200 General Youth Services and Special Projects. The organisation is a registered charity and is supported by a combination of statutory, philanthropic and corporate funding.

Foróige is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a policy of Equality of Opportunity in its employment practices.

About Foróige clubs in the Mayo/ Galway area

Foróige supports a national network of volunteer-led clubs; Foróige Clubs (for ages 12 to 18), Foróige Juniors (10 to 12) and Interest clubs (10 to 18). Some 130 of these clubs are in the Galway Mayo area. The volunteers are recruited locally and supported through a network of staff. Each club usually has about 8 or 10 volunteers on average.

The role of the volunteers is to enable young people to involve themselves consciously and actively in their own development and in that of society. All club volunteers are obliged to attend certain training courses in basic youth work skills and in Child protection, with other courses on offer too. The clubs usually meet weekly during the school year and engage in a range of programmes and activities chosen and planned jointly by club members supported by adult leaders, through a club meeting led by an elected youth committee.

Role information

There is currently a vacancy for a Club Development Officer in the club support team in the Galway/Mayo area. The successful candidate will support a number of Foróige clubs and provide training and programme development services to a larger number of clubs, both existing and in formation, across the counties in consultation with the Regional Youth officer for each county as outlined in the key responsibilities below.

The Club Development Officer will be employed by Foróige and will be given a contract of employment. It must be understood however, that if the position becomes redundant at any time during the period of the contract or if the funding for the post is discontinued or the post holder fails to perform satisfactorily, employment may be terminated.

Key Responsibilities

The duties of the Club Development Officer in carrying out any functions, which may be involved in or arise out of the appointment, shall be as notified by the board of Foróige and/or its Chief Executive and/or the nominee of the Chief Executive from time to time. These duties will include but are not limited to:

• Provision of defined supports ( see below) to a number of Foróige clubs in one or both counties
• Facilitation of mandatory training – Training of adult volunteers in Child protection and Foróige’s induction course for new volunteers called Starting Out in Foróige, totalling some 8 to 9 hours per volunteer. Courses to be provided during the day, in the evening and at weekends as needed, Online or in person as appropriate to the need and meeting the required standards for each course.
• Identification of other training, learning or development needs of adult volunteers and designing and facilitating programmes to meet these needs using a variety of methodologies and in line with the purpose, philosophy, policies and procedures of Foróige.
• Cooperating closely with the Regional Youth Officers and club administration officer in Galway and Mayo, including joint facilitation of training as needed.
• Consultancy with volunteers and individual clubs, including club visits, to improve quality of club programmes, and facilitate volunteers to implement the purpose of Foróige
• Facilitation with young people of manualised programmes for young people, such as Leadership for Life, Citizenship and Empathy, amongst others.
• Development of new clubs where necessary
• Organisation Development, such as supporting the planning and implementation of volunteer led events
• Contributing to further development/ redesign of our training for volunteers
• Evaluation of training, workshops and other learning experiences used.
• Any such other relevant duties as the Board of Foróige and/or the Chief Executive Officer or the nominee of the Chief Executive shall deem necessary for the effective implementation and the policy and programmes of Foróige.

Key Performance Indicators

• The continuation and quality of the assigned clubs
• Development of new clubs where appropriate
• The number of volunteers trained in mandatory programmes
• The ability of those volunteers to implement the training they participate in
• The number of volunteers engaging in higher level training

Professional Qualifications and Experience

 (E) = Essential, (D) = Desirable

• Education to National Degree standard (E)
• A minimum of 1 year relevant work experience (E)
• Access to car and full driving licence (E)
• Significant experience and understanding of the design and provision of training (E)
• Knowledge of community development and volunteer recruitment (D)
• Ability to facilitate the learning process (E)
• Knowledge of Foróige clubs (D)
• Excellent team working skills (E)

Person Specification 

(all Essential requirements)

• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with adult volunteers and young people
• Good interpersonal skills, including ability to build and maintain effective working relationships
• Excellent standards of accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to be proactive, use own initiative and work effectively within a pressurised environment
• Positive and flexible approach to working as part of a team
• Good written communications skills, including ability to draft summary information and correspondence, good report writing skills
• Ability to follow organisational guidelines and processes
• Good computer skills, including Word, Excel, Internet, PowerPoint and Social Media

Requirements of all Foróige staff

(all Essential requirements)

• Commitment to the purpose of Foróige and to work within the values, policies and procedures of the organisation
• To act consistently in a professional manner at all times
• To participate in regular supervision with your line manager
• Flexibility in relation to hours of work to meet the needs of the work.
• Identify training needs with your line manager and participate in training opportunities appropriate to the role
• To undertake other duties as may be requested by the Board of Foróige and /or the Chief Executive Officer of Foróige or their nominee from time to time

Additional Considerations for the Role

• Funding: It must be understood that if the funding for the posts is discontinued the post holders’ contract may be terminated.
• Medical: The successful candidate will be required to complete a medical questionnaire/undergo a pre-employment medical.
• Garda vetting: As the role involves contact with young people, candidates under consideration for employment will be subject to Garda vetting.
• References: The successful candidate will undergo 2 reference checks before commencing employment with Foróige.
• Annual Leave: The post holder will be entitled to 29 days annual leave plus public holidays. The needs of the job must be considered when applying to take this leave.
• Hours of work: It is expected that the post holder will work a minimum of 35 hours per week. Please note that the position will require flexibility in relation to working hours. It is expected that the Training and Programmes Officer will regularly work late evenings ( maybe up to 11pm) and some weekend work.
• Salary: Salary will be notified to the successful candidate upon appointment and will be based on the Foróige Youth Worker scale which is a nine point scale from
  €37,436, €38,994, €40,552, €42,113, €43,671, €45,235, €46,798, €49,127, €51,457
  Salary will be notified on appointment.
• Travel: This post will involve travel within Ireland. Travel and expenses will be paid in accordance with appropriate Foróige rates.
• Base: The employment base is likely to be at a Foróige office in Co. Galway or Mayo

Applications: 

Please complete the Foróige Application form online here.

Closing date: Thursday 26th June at 12pm.