The Peeblesshire Foodbank is looking for an engagement officer, someone who can research the key drivers of poverty in this area and work with local groups, charities, council and government agencies and politicians at all levels, working towards ending the need for foodbanks.

An engagement officer is responsible for building and leading a volunteer team to develop and deliver local influencing strategies in and with the Peeblesshire Foodbank, organising in your community to campaign for change and influence behaviours. You will be the link between the Peeblesshire Foodbank and the Organising and Local Mobilisation team at Trussell Trust, as we build a movement to end the need for food banks. Full training will be given.

This post is funded by the Trussell Trust.

Key Responsibilities:

• To develop and manage a team of volunteers, building and distributing leadership across the team, within the Peeblesshire Foodbank, to work on local influencing to reduce poverty and the need for food banks.
• To explore and understand the experiences that are bringing people to need the food bank’s support, working with food bank staff and volunteers, through listening activities and/or research.
• To map out and build relationships with the food bank’s partners, referral agencies and local anti-poverty organisations, and to engage them in identifying the local drivers of poverty.
• To identify a local issue driving poverty, build a campaign team and develop a strategy to build power and win change, working with food bank staff and volunteers.
• To deliver the local influencing campaign working with food bank staff and volunteers.
• To work with the OLM team and engage with the training and support on offer, including work with other local organisers in the Trussell Trust network
• To engage in Trussell Trust’s central priority campaign activities, working with the food bank and local community

About you

Technical skills and minimum knowledge:

• Experience of campaigning or organising to achieve a change.
• Experience managing and working with volunteers.
• Experience of community outreach in the local area.
• Good project management skills, able to balance a range of priorities.
• Behaviours and competencies:
• Confident in communicating and, able to seek and balance a range of views and stakeholders, influencing where required.
• Demonstrate a commitment to the values of the Trussell Trust /Peeblesshire Foodbank

Our Values

The Trussell Trust is a charity that works to end the need for food banks. Our values of dignity, justice, compassion and community, are central to all that we do and therefore supports our aim to be an organisation where the diversity of all employees is valued. We welcome people of all faiths and none and those that are committed to these values.

We recognise that we have under-represented groups within our workforce. As part of our commitment to diversity and equality of opportunity we are actively encouraging applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions and those with a lived experience of poverty as well as any other under-represented group in our workforce. We are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of our employees from all forms of harm.

Applicants should send a CV and covering letter to Fiona Dalgleish, info@peeblesshire.foodbank.org.uk