Co-operative Development Support Officer

Co-operatives UK; Greater Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 15,000 - 27,000

Job description

Co-operative Development Support Officer

We are delighted to share this new and exciting opportunity for a Co-operative Development Support Officer to join a dynamic organisation.

Position: Co-operative Development Support Officer

Location: Manchester

Salary: £26,218 per annum (pro-rated to 21 hours - £15,730)

Hours: Part-time, 3 days a week (21 hours), Hybrid

Contract: Fixed term contract until 31st December 2025

Closing Date: Midnight, Wednesday 16th April 2025

Interviews: Week commencing 28th April 2025, in Manchester.

Benefits: Flexible working options, pension scheme, discounted travel to work schemes, employee wellbeing assistance programme including free eye tests, personal and professional growth and development, including coaching and trade union.

We reserve the right to close the role early should a suitable candidate be found before this date. Applicants are required to submit an application form.

About the role:

As Co-operative Development Support Officer you will support our Community Shares work including the Booster Fund and the Business Support for co-ops teams. This role involves providing essential support to co-operatives and community organisations, guiding them through the process of setting up co-ops, raising and managing community shares. You will also help track performance against funding priorities, contribute to effective funder reporting, and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Key responsibilities include:

1. Take the lead on a caseload of enquiries from different organisations, triage their initial contact with us and help them progress successfully throughout their client journey with us.
2. Support our Community Shares work and work with two of our support programmes including the Booster Fund and Business Support for co-ops, to enable applicants to progress. This will involve initial enquiries, reviewing expressions of interest and application data and identifying gaps in information submitted, tracking and updating application data on Salesforce, identifying suitable support providers and assessors, issuing contract packages and monitoring for delivery of work.
3. Build a working knowledge of both programmes funding criteria, guidance, timescales, and internal processes.
4. Flag any technical queries on organisation's eligibility or proposed plans and address these internally.
5. Set up and carry out initial due diligence, following a defined process.
6. Act as a point of contact with applicants and handle their queries promptly and effectively, with a growing understanding of internal and external pathways of support and the wider funding landscape for applicants to explore.
7. Work flexibly with other part-time colleagues, and taking the lead and initiative covering for when they are out of the office.
8. Follow process maps and identify where relevant opportunities to streamline processes or update the process maps.
9. Raise purchase orders and track invoices.
10. Input into our grant making processes and contribute towards monitoring and closing down of support and grant packages, including identifying gaps in delivery.
11. Develop the knowledge to help communities navigate the development milestones and funding maze of setting up organisations and moving towards raising community shares.
12. Work collaboratively with individuals from other partner organisations and to build and maintain positive relationships.

About you:

To be successful in this role, you will be enthusiastic about the organisation and its mission, and you will have experience working as a Development Support Officer in another organisation.

• Strong systems and IT skills and experience, including Salesforce, SharePoint and other online systems.
• Confident in administering processes.
• Experience and confidence in working collaboratively as part of a small team as well as working with external organisations and partners.
• Ability to multi-task and handle an evolving caseload of clients, tracking their progress and keeping them informed as well as (when needed) making lateral connections to help applicants problem solve their next step forward.
• Strong client management and customer facing skills, being confident and empathetic on the front line of enquiries.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to communicate clearly and accurately with a variety of individuals inside and outside the organisation.

About the organisation:

As the voice of the UK’s co-operative movement, we empower and support co-operative enterprises with specialised knowledge and expertise, to grow the co-operative economy and create a fairer society. From football clubs and farms to convenience stores and pubs, there are more than 7,000 co-operatives in the UK, each owned and controlled by their members and based on a set of shared principles and values. By promoting shared wealth through member ownership, we are committed to enabling anyone in the UK to form, or join, thriving and sustainable co-ops.

As an organisation we are led by our unwavering values of solidarity, self-responsibility, equity, and honesty, therefore if you share these core values, we would be delighted to receive your application.

Other roles you may have experience in could include: Development, Operations, Development Support, Operational Support Officer, Admin, Project management, Project Manager, Operational Support, Operational Support Officer, Admin Support, Administration Support, Senior Administrator, Senior Admin etc.

PLEASE NOTE: This role is being advertised by NFP People on behalf of the organisation.