Dementia Friendly East Lothian is committed to supporting people living with dementia and unpaid carers to have connected and meaningful lives; to exercise their rights, have choices and be respected and valued citizens.
What we do is determined by people living with dementia and unpaid carers with a focus on peer led support, dementia enabled communities and coming together as a community to share ideas and influence the things we care about. Our work led to the establishment of the Musselburgh Meeting Centre which we opened in April 2023. We are developing the Meeting Centre approach across East Lothian as part of the East Lothian Dementia Strategy. Musselburgh Meeting Centre is a ‘hub’ with an important role as a resource for practice and learning.
About the job:
We are looking for an experienced administrator to join our small and enthusiastic team to provide essential administrative support to both Dementia Friendly East Lothian's direct work with people living with dementia and the communities in which they live and to the critical behind the scenes work which makes everything else work. You will support the development of the existing administrative and financial processes and
design and initiate new processes as required. This role will work directly to both the CEO/founding Director and to the Musselburgh Meeting Centre Manager.
Main duties:
Management of finance
• Manage the quickbooks accounting system
• Set up routine payments and authorisation of payments in banking system
• Manage the application for and retrieval of all banking cards
• Process and record invoices and expenses claims, checking for accuracy
• Issue receipts for all income received.
• Ensure up to date, accurate financial information is available to the CEO, Directors and Musselburgh Meeting Centre Manager in line with agreed financial procedures to support grant reporting and applications.
• Manage and maintain the petty cash system, checking and coding transactions and preparing period end documentation and reconciliation.
Provide efficient general office administration
• Respond to enquiries and incoming mail/emails, ensuring appropriate redirection or action.
• Communicate in a professional manner with a range of people within and out with DFEL to provide information and signpost to the right person.
• Filing - support the management of DFEL filing systems. Implement daily, weekly, and monthly routines in filing.
• Monitor and manage stock and other DFEL assets.
• Research and obtain quotes from range of organisations and companies to support the work of DFEL
• Manage the administration of corporate services such as renewing IT licenses, insurance policies, servicing agreements, PAT testing and arranging for repairs or maintenance.
• Liaise with IT support providers, where necessary, to ensure smooth running of IT hardware and software systems.
• Support the administration of compliance systems and processes such as HR,
Health and Safety, and The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in conjunction with the Meeting Centre Manager.
• Prepare resources and documents - printing/scanning/collation of MC resources, training materials, Board papers and reports.
Management: There are no management responsibilities for this role
Finance: There are no budgetary responsibilities in this post
Reporting: You will report to the Musselburgh Meeting Centre Manager
About you:
You will share our vision and have the enthusiasm and commitment to work with us to make our aspirations a reality. You will be a ‘people person’, with excellent time management and organisational skills combined with excellent IT skills.
You enjoy working as part of a small team, working together to make a real change to people’s lives and you have a flexible, creative and positive attitude.
You can work independently with minimum supervision. A planner who looks ahead and does not solely focus on the day-to-day. You are a self-starter who takes ownership of their role and their development.
Skills and experience:
Essential: You should be able to demonstrate experience, skills and confidence in the following areas:
• You will bring at least 3 years’ experience of implementing and managing administrative support functions and procedures
• You will have excellent IT skills - you will be a confident user of Microsoft Teams, Word, Outlook, Excel and SharePoint.
• You will have experience of bookkeeping systems, ideally, QuickBooks or similar financial recordkeeping software, and strong numeracy and analytical skills. (If you do not have experience of Quickbooks you should be able to demonstrate that you can become competent over your probation period.)
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to multi-task and manage competing priorities to meet challenging deadlines.
• Excellent inclusive written and verbal communication skills, able to communicate with a wide range of people.
• Experience of handling personal and private information and an understanding of the values and ethics required
• Experience of supporting a geographically dispersed team, ensuring people are involved and up to date
You should also be willing to:
• Undertake training and learning in areas as required
• Join the Protecting Vulnerable Adult scheme if required
Desirable: We would like you to be able to demonstrate experience, skills and confident in the following areas:
• A good understanding of the challenges faced by people living with dementia, unpaid carers and friends and families
• A good awareness of Data Protection legislation and appreciation of the need for discretion and confidentiality in the workplace
• Experience of working in a small community or social enterprise.
• It would be useful if you were a driver with a clean current driving licence, access to a car for work purposes which is insured for business travel. You will be paid a mileage allowance at the current HMRC rate of .45p per mile
Personal attributes
• Creativity and flexibility
• Willing to learn and develop knowledge and skills
• Ability to work in partnership
• Ability to use own initiative
• Team player
• Positive, ‘can do’ attitude
• Confident
• Good timekeeper
• Honest, trustworthy & reliable
Qualifications:
We value your experience, your ability to demonstrate you have the skills and confidence for the post and are willing to learn and grow. There are therefore no essential qualifications for applicants. If we feel you have the skills, confidence and commitment to take this role on, we will offer you the role subject to successful completion of your probationary period which will involve mandatory training. We will agree a personal induction programme so the successful applicant can achieve the required qualifications/training.
We positively welcome applications from people living with dementia and unpaid carers/supporters and people with a wide range of experience, relevant to the requirements of the job.
About Dementia Friendly East Lothian CIC
Dementia Friendly East Lothian is a social enterprise focused on changing lives and communities. Our approach is inspired by the power of people with lived experience to lead and influence decisions that matter to them and the important role of communities in helping people stay connected and manage living with dementia. Our work is led by people with dementia and care-partners.
As a community-led social enterprise, started by an unpaid carer, we work in ways that build personal and community capacity and assets. We believe we go further together and that how we work is as important as what we achieve. Change happens when people coming together to talk, share and plan through community conversations, peer led support and Gatherings. You can read how we got here on our website: dfel.org.uk
We’re looking for the right person for this rewarding post. If this job inspires you, or you’d like to find out more, we would love to hear from you.
Please send:
• A letter of application, telling us in your own words why you want the job and why you think you’re the best person for the job. We have suggested headings to use to help you cover all the key areas.
• Contact details for referees - two people who know you and we can contact to ask about your suitability for the post. Often this will include an employer, but not always. You should not include someone who is a partner or family member.
• A covering letter with your name, contact details and stating that you are applying for the post
• Equality and Diversity form - Completing the equality and diversity form is optional. It helps us ensure that we promote equal access and opportunity and fairness.
Closing date: 8am on Monday 20th January 2025
Selection Process:
We plan to hold informal interviews week commencing 3rd February 2025 in Musselburgh. We may hold a second interview if required.
For an application pack or talk about the post, please contact Sue Northrop or Fiona Barrett
E Mail: mailto:Sue@dfel.org.uk Sue @dfel.org.uk or mobile: 07727 883 881
Email: Fiona@dfel.org.uk or mobile 07984 498870