Community Engagement Officer

£30,000 - £34,000 p.a. (dependent on skills and experience) plus generous benefits. Location: Home-based, with occasional travel to Football Foundation offices and other sites

We are the Football Foundation - the Premier League, the FA and government’s charity that delivers outstanding grassroots facilities, more and better places to play, transforming lives and communities where it is needed most. 

To help us with this important mission, we’re looking for a Community Engagement Officer to join the team and play a key role in ensuring we achieve our objectives of engaging with and increasing physical activity levels amongst the four key priority groups facing the greatest inequalities: low socio-economic groups, women and girls, disabled people and people with long term health conditions, and culturally diverse communities.

This is an exciting time to be joining the Football Foundation and this is a great opportunity to use your knowledge and experience of place-based working and community engagement to make a real difference through community sports.
 

About the Football Foundation

Over the last 22 years, the Foundation has awarded more than 23,000 grants to deliver outstanding grassroots facilities across England worth more than £877 million. This year, the Foundation will be investing more money than ever into facilities across England and is committed to improving the experience of playing football for everyone. The Foundation’s goal is to unlock the power of pitches ensuring everyone has a great place to play regardless of gender, race, disability or place.

The role

As Community Engagement Officer you will play a key role in ensuring the Foundation achieves its objectives of engaging with and increasing physical activity levels amongst the four key priority groups facing the greatest inequalities: low socio-economic groups, women and girls, disabled people and people with long term health conditions, and culturally diverse communities. 

This will predominantly be achieved through the critical support you will provide to our ambitious PlayZones Programme, as we continue to roll the programme out across priority areas of the Country.

Community Engagement Officers will champion the benefits of great engagement, capturing good practice, identifying successful approaches, and share knowledge and learning across the Foundation and other stakeholders.

What are we looking for?

Your knowledge of place-based working and how to best reach and engage with local communities will be key for this role, as well as your understanding of the inequalities that exist in supporting active lives across socio economic groups, women & girls, individuals with a disability or a long-term health condition, and culturally diverse communities. You will be aware of and have experience of dealing with the operations and challenges faced by community organisations, charities, and the voluntary sector.

You must be highly organised, with working knowledge of different project management techniques and experience of managing multiple projects at the same time. While not essential, experience of producing robust reports and of using dashboards to monitor the progress of projects would be useful.

You don’t need to follow football to apply, but it is expected that you appreciate the power of sport to change lives and have a genuine interest in using your skills and experience to help the Foundation achieve our charitable and strategic objectives.

For full details of the role and requirements, please download our recruitment pack below.
 

Recruitment pack

What can we offer you?

The salary for this role is £30,000 - £34,000 per annum (dependent on relevant skills and experience). You will start on 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (which increases after 2 years), plus additional time off to volunteer. We also offer a generous pension scheme (8% employer contribution), collective bonus scheme, free health care provision, a monthly gym subsidy, interest-free season ticket loan, death in service benefit and access to selected match tickets

We are committed to helping our team members maintain a healthy work-life balance, so offer flexible working around core hours to help achieve that.

Equality and Diversity Commitment

The Football Foundation is committed to, and values the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion. We strive to provide an inclusive and supportive working environment where all our team feel respected and supported in fulfilling their potential. We encourage and welcome applications from all, regardless of background and are particularly interested to hear from individuals belonging to under-represented groups including diverse ethnic communities, individuals with a disability and those from the LGBTQI+ community.

Should you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either application or interview stage, please contact us at jobs@footballfoundation.org.uk
 

How can I apply?

To apply, please follow the steps outlined below:
1.    Please send the following to jobs@footballfoundation.org.uk

  • CV
  • Cover letter - please highlight briefly and clearly how your skills, abilities and experience equip you for the role, together with your reasons for applying.

The closing date for applications is: Wednesday 22 May 2024 at midday

Interviews are currently scheduled for 30 May 2024.

Due to the volume of applications received for most roles, the Foundation only contacts candidates if they are shortlisted for interview. If you do not hear from us within two weeks of the closing date, you should assume your application has not been successful.

Please note that you must be eligible to work in the UK to apply.