Senior Volunteering & Community Officer

We're looking for a Senior Volunteering & Community Officer to join the team at Somerset Coast and Countryside. This is an exciting opportunity to support delivery of our projects on the Exmoor Coast and Mendips.

If you have experience in community and volunteer engagement then we'd like to hear from you, focusing on our people led experiences and welcoming everyone to the outdoors, this role will maximize the long-term positive impact of this work for our local communities, including those facing barriers to access.

What it's like to work here

We are an ambitious team working at the forefront of landscape restoration and conservation. You'll report to the Volunteer & Community Manager and work closely with Project Managers, Visitor Experience and Ranger teams.

The Exmoor Coast project is a landscape scale project, restoring one of the longest stretches of coastal woodland in the UK, improving access to all and developing real inclusivity in the countryside. The Mendip project is working to improve biodiversity in our grasslands and increase access to nature. Working with volunteers and the local communities is vitally important for us to achieve our aims to enrich landscapes for nature and people.

What you'll be doing

As Senior Volunteering & Community Officer you'll develop opportunities for community and volunteer engagement, planning and delivering a coherent programme of work that reaches beyond our boundaries. You'll contribute to the project delivery by connecting our visitors and local communities to our places and the work we do, telling the story of nature restoration and inspiring people to care for the environment. As part of the role, you'll be responsible for carrying out stakeholder and community mapping, building relationships with partners, producing engagement materials and creating marketing collateral to share these stories to a wider audience.

To deliver this role successfully, you'll need an understanding of good practice in community engagement and involvement, experience of working with communities with unequal access to nature as well as broader participation and partnership working. An understanding of basic project management, from funding to delivery is desirable.

You'll need to be able to travel regularly across the region, also occasional weekend and evening working and the line management of volunteers is required. There is flexibility in office base, and you have the option to work from our Holnicote office, near Minehead or Fyne Court, near Bridgwater. Interviews will be held on Wednesday, February 5 th 2025 at Fyne Court, TA5 2EQ Contact: with any enquiries.

Who we're looking for

We'd love to hear from you if you're:
experienced in managing volunteers
experienced in community engagement and involvement, as well as broader participation and working with partners
adept at introducing volunteers to new approaches or products
an organised person with good planning skills
able to coach and support people, and used to managing, supervising and working alongside volunteers and community partners
a skilled communicator.

The package

The National Trust has the motto 'For everyone, for ever' at its heart. We're working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It's important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we're for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary

• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)

• Rental deposit loan scheme

• Season ticket loan

• EV car lease scheme

• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts

• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.

• Flexible working whenever possible

• Employee assistance programme

• Free parking at most Trust places

to find out moreabout the benefits we offer to support you.

Closing Date: 26 January 2025

To apply for this vacancy simply click the 'apply' button in the top right hand side of the page.

If you need any help with your application, i.e. due to technical difficulties, please call us on 0*** or email us at

If you require an adjustment to the application process, for example due to disability or medical condition, please call us on 0*** or email us at and we'll support you as best as we can. For examples of how, please see our supporting you page.

EqualOpportunities Statement

The National Trust celebrates diversity and is committed to creating a fair and equal society, free from discrimination. You can read more about our commitment to inclusion and diversity here .

Safeguarding Statement

The National Trust is committed to a safe recruitment processes to help the organisation attract and appoint the right staff/volunteer for the role and responsibilities as set out in the vacancy advert. We will not accept applicants who are not suitable to work with children, young people or adults at risk. If you have any questions around your suitability for this vacancy, please contact the people service centre.

Please note we reserve the right to close this advert early and therefore we encourage you to apply for this position early.
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