Job Advert Programme Director position available within LGBT Diversity

Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Please see attached Job Specification and advert for Programme Director position available within LGBT Diversity.

Programme Director Job Description and Person Specification

The programme has the following three objectives
1. In terms of Capacity Building, the programme provides existing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) groups/organisations with increased access to: capacity building supports, standards/guides to good practice, networking, supports for the potential to work on transgender issues and other specific thematic issues, support and advice on engaging with policy development, funding, fundraising, and working with mainstream agencies. In addition the programme includes a 're-granting' scheme to enable local level LGBT groups to access small grants to support them into developing their reach, impact, and sustainability.

2. Developing supports for LGBT people in targeted areas involves working with local people and organisations to develop new groups that provide supports for LGBT people, in geographical areas currently underserved. These include completely new groups, or existing groups with a low capacity, restarting groups that have ceased to exist etc. These are both stand alone groups, or groups which are part of a programme of existing voluntary/community work. The emphasis is on providing safe social and developmental spaces which are relevant to the needs of LGBT people, especially those who need support in relation to coming out.

3. In terms of strengthening the LGBT sector nationally, there are a number of national level pieces of work including conferences/seminars that help increase awareness of national and international legal, policy and practice developments; to enhance capacity building and advocacy work within the sector, sharing work that is happening at a local level, working in partnership with the wider sector and building relationships with other sectors, e.g. statutory and broader community and voluntary sector.
Some of these events have a thematic focus (e.g. lesbian women, bisexual people, older LGBT people, families etc).

There are also a number of key pieces of research which have been commissioned - including research on LGBT/rainbow families, and a scoping and feasibility study on establishing an LGBT community fund for longer term sustainable funding for the sector.
In addition, some research and consultation work will be undertaken to look at the feasibility and potential benefits and potential challenges of developing a national LGBT structure, umbrella body etc.

Programme Director
The Programme Director will play the key leadership role in the strategic development and operational implementation of the LGBT Diversity Programme. S/he will report to LGBT Diversity's Steering Committee, through the Chairperson. The group is currently comprised of 12 regional and national LGB and/or T organisations. LINC (Lesbians in Cork), is fiscal agent for the programme and the legal employer of the programme staff.

The Programme Director will be responsible for the successful implementation of the programme, day-to-day management and will lead a dispersed programme team of 3 regional development workers, and a part time administrator. The regional development workers have a regional development and thematic brief. The regional development workers and programme director will be a team with a mixture of complementary skills and areas of regional and thematic responsibility.

Principal accountabilities:
The programme director will be directly responsible for:
- Responsible with the Steering Committee for the strategic development of the LGBT Diversity programme.
· Responsible to the Steering Committee for leading the implementation of the programme, reporting to the Steering Committee on a regular basis.
· Support the work of the Steering Committee in its governance role and in its role of providing policy direction and support to staff.
· To plan, implement, monitor, report and review a work programme based on the three year programme as set out in the programme investment application.
· Effectively manage resources including overall responsibility for the day-to-day financial operations and financial management of the organisation' and liaising with the Fiscal Agent on a monthly basis.
· Coordinate, motivate, support, and supervise the programme team. Ensure that the staff are engaged in continual learning and/or training, feeding back ideas and using information for positive change.
· Responsible for external communication, in conjunction with the chairperson.
· Feeding into national policy development where appropriate and building a profile of the programme within the LGBT community.
· Facilitate process for discussion around a national umbrella type body for the LGBT sector.
· Identify synergies with other organisations e.g. GLEN, MarriagEquality and builds links, work closely with other organisations etc.
· Manage the evaluation process in conjunction with the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) Director.
· Set the tone (by example) and ensure inclusiveness in ideas as well as accountability for results.
· Fulfil any other tasks as directed by the Steering Committee.

The programme director will be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the following by the programme team:
- Ensure the development and implementation of regional development plans based on new and existing needs analyses.
· Ensure the development and dissemination of good practice guidelines and supports in the areas of LGBT support service delivery, building on the work done to date in the sector in this regard.
· Manage research that is commissioned - including rainbow families and LGBT community fund.
· Put forward recommendations, policy papers, event ideas etc to the Steering Committee.
· Work with TENI to develop awareness of trans issues for LGBT organisations.
· Translate the outcomes from the rainbow families research into practical actions for LGBT centres and groups and mainstream family resource centres.
· Work with parents' groups and organisations and explore the establishment of a Parents, Families and Friends of LGBT people model, including setting up 2-3 chapters at a local level in different regions.
· Support networking at a national level (e.g. annual national conferences and similar events).
· Support networking at a regional level (e.g. regional network meetings).
· Identify and apply for other sources of funding to support activities in the longer term
· Establish the small grant scheme mechanism in conjunction with Community Foundation for Ireland.
· Manage website maintenance.

The Salary will be in the region of €57,000. The post will be based in Dublin and the Director will be required to travel nationally. A significant amount of time will also be spent in the Cork office. The current phase of the programme runs from 2010 to 2012.

Building Sustainable LGBT Communities
Programme Director Person Specification
The role requires a person skilled in working with a wide range of organisations and capable of delivering significant change primarily by facilitating linkages and joint initiatives between organisations that are very different in size and culture. The person appointed will sometimes support small organisations that are focused on providing services to a local community. Other times they will work with large public sector organisations. A key aspect of their work will be seeking to bridge the gap between mainstream service planners and small LGBT service providing organisations.

The ideal candidate will have the following:

Motivation
§ Strategic and pragmatic, interested in change that is significant and sustainable.
§ Comfortable working with small and sometimes embryonic organisations that are focused on delivering services to relatively small groups of people locally.
§ Committed to matters such as equality, social inclusion and advocacy

Experience and Knowledge
§ Organising and handling meetings, negotiating, and working with others to develop and deliver strategic responses to challenges identified.
§ Development of presentations and delivering these to groups.
§ Programme and project implementation and management.
§ Managing research studies and projects and production of associated reports.
§ Managing evaluation processes and the dissemination of what is learned.
§ Team leadership
§ Working with steering committees
§ Working with senior statutory agency and departmental personnel and funders

Skills and Abilities
§ Excellent organisational and management skills
§ Ability to understand LGBT community issues.
§ Good ability at writing and communication.
§ Ability to lead a team effectively
§ Conceptualising, addressing issues strategically and ability to innovate.
§ Partnership development and working with consortiums to deliver change.
§ Dealing with the media and maintaining ongoing relations with them.
§ Dealing with people that are heading up small and local-focused initiatives, often voluntarily, often on a part-time basis.
§ Also dealing with people at senior level in policy making and implementation.
§ Identifying sources of new funding and accessing to meet needs that exist.
§ Producing wide-ranging correspondence and reports professionally.
§ Building large networks of contacts and to utilise these to progress matters.

Other:
· To be willing to work outside normal office hours.
· A driving license and own transport.

Application / Selection Process
In addition to the Person Specification, a Job Description has been drafted for this role. Both documents are on www.activelink.ie (and/or www.linc.ie ) and can also be obtained by e-mailing your request to: info@linc.ie or by telephoning LINC at 021 4808600
To be considered, applicants need to apply in writing and by e-mail - and to submit a CV with their application. Applications are required to arrive by the published closing date, Friday February 18th. Applications will be acknowledged by e-mail, or post if necessary, within 3 days of receipt.

Short Listing
After the closing date all application letters and CV's will be reviewed to see how each person's skills, experience and qualifications relate to the post - that is, how they match the person specification that has been prepared. Applicants judged to meet the specification most closely will be invited to attend for interview.

Interviewing
Interviews will be done by a panel, made up of 2 people at least. The panel will ask a number of pre-determined questions. Everyone will be asked the same basic questions with supplementary questions posed - based on the information provided in each person's application letter and CV. The questions asked will allow applicants expand on the information they have already provided, and to demonstrate to the panel how well they meet the requirements of the job.
A number of interview stages may take place before a decision to appoint is made. Everyone attending interviews will be given an opportunity to ask questions about the job, conditions of service and anything else they consider relevant.
People involved in short-listing and interviewing candidates will produce an account of their assessment of each candidate considered so that a record exists - that is clear and consistent - documenting reasons behind decisions that are made. Anyone who wants to discuss why they were not successful (after being ruled out of consideration) should contact Toddy Hogan (Fiscal Agent Co-ordinator) at LINC. They will then be provided with feedback.

Complaints
Anyone who feels that they have been treated unfairly should, as early as possible, write to LINC at the address provided below. The matter will be investigated without delay and action will be taken to rectify the situation if that is considered to be appropriate. LINC recognises that it has a duty to ensure every applicant is treated equally and fairly - and that rights, such as to confidentiality, are safeguarded. LINC has a documented Employment Equality Policy. Arrangements made regarding recruitment, selection and hiring must all comply with the standards set out in that policy. Copies of the policy can be obtained by telephoning LINC or by e-mailing a request for it to: info@linc.ie

Address For Applications
Letters of application with a CV attached to: Toddy Hogan, LINC, 11A White Street, Cork. Also, a soft copy is required; e-mail your letter and CV to: info@linc.ie