Volunteer Manager

Mind Over Mountains; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK charity is seeking a Volunteer Manager to lead and strengthen their volunteer programme. This role involves recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers to ensure effective delivery of nature-based mental health support. Candidates should possess strong communication skills and previous volunteering experience. The position offers opportunities for personal development and making a significant impact within the community.

Benefits

Development of leadership skills

Supportive team environment

Opportunity to make a difference

Qualifications

• Experience of recruiting, supervising, or coordinating volunteers.
• Some familiarity with outdoor events/activities.
• Understanding of safeguarding and health & safety in outdoor settings.

Responsibilities

• Define volunteer needs and develop role descriptions.
• Recruit volunteers whose values align with MoM.
• Coordinate training and development opportunities.

Skills

Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Organised with good attention to detail

Empathetic and values-driven

Growth-mindset

Comfortable with data/spreadsheets

Previous volunteering experience

Job description

Overview

You\'ll lead & coordinate Mind Over Mountains (MoM’s) volunteer programme - as a volunteer yourself. You’ll build & nurture a strong volunteer community, ensure volunteers are supported, developed and integrated into MoM’s mission.

What difference will you make?

By stepping into the Volunteer Manager role, you will play a pivotal part in strengthening our capacity to deliver nature-based mental health support across the UK.

MoM’s mission is to provide professional counselling and coaching, combined with walking in nature and mindfulness, so that people struggling with their mental wellbeing can rediscover resilience, connection and hope.

As Volunteer Manager you will build and nurture a high-quality volunteer community that can enhance our reach and impact.

Volunteers mean we can deliver more. Their commitment directly enables MoM to meet our ambitious strategic goals of making nature- and activity-based interventions \u0027the norm rather than the exception\u0027 in mental health care.

Your work will also enable greater sustainability by coordinating the volunteer programme, you help ensure consistency, quality and volunteer retention, reducing the strain on our small staff team and freeing time to focus on innovation, partnerships, and service delivery. In turn, this means that more participants - especially those from under-represented communities - gain access to transformative outdoor therapeutic experiences. Ultimately, the volunteer manager role amplifies our impact more people well-supported, more lives changed, more momentum towards systemic change in mental health support.

What You’ll Gain

• A meaningful opportunity to lead and shape the volunteer dimension of a growing and innovative UK charity in the nature-mental health space.
• Development of your leadership, coordination and community development skills, especially within an mental health + wellbeing context
• The satisfaction of seeing volunteers flourish, participants benefit and your role contributing directly to the charity’s impact.
• Being part of a supportive, passionate team, connecting with others and making a difference.

What are we looking for?

Skills & Attributes

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills - able to engage, motivate and support volunteers in a friendly, inclusive way
• Organised, with good attention to detail and able to coordinate multiple things across time and space (remote coordination + face-to-face events)
• Empathetic and values-driven you understand and appreciate the ethos of MoM (nature + wellbeing + empowerment)
• Growth-mindset you’re committed to learning, adapting and improving volunteer experience and organisational practice
• Comfortable working with data/spreadsheets/volunteer-database tools (or willing to learn)
• Previous volunteering experience, especially in a community, charity, remote, or outdoors/mental-health context.

Desirable

• Experience of recruiting, supervising or coordinating volunteers
• Some familiarity with outdoor events/activities (or willingness to work closely with event-leads)
• Understanding of safeguarding, health & safety in outdoor/natural settings
• Experience of storytelling or communications (volunteer voices, case-studies) to help amplify volunteer value.

Values & Behaviours

• You live MoM’s values compassionate, empowering, adventurous, committed, evidence-based, collaborative.
• You lead by example as a volunteer you will be part of the volunteer community, contributing but also supporting others.
• You take a solutions-focused approach you help remove barriers for volunteers, foster an environment where volunteers thrive, feel valued and can grow.
• You are proactive about continuous improvement - you seek feedback and help shape the volunteer programme for greater impact.

What will you be doing?

• Volunteer Programme Strategy & Planning
• Work with MoM’s leadership team to define volunteer needs in line with our mission and values (compassionate, empowering, adventurous, committed, evidence-based, collaborative).
• Develop and update volunteer role descriptions (for event-support, peer-walking leaders, participant buddies, admin support etc)
• Help shape volunteer policy, handbook and induction framework that reflects walking in nature + counselling/coaching context.
• Recruitment & Onboarding
• Design and implement volunteer recruitment campaigns targeting people whose values align with MoM (i.e. love of outdoors, mental-health awareness, inclusive, service mindset)
• Manage onboarding application, informal interview/intro chat, induction (including awareness of MoM’s nature-based approach, safeguarding, confidentiality)
• Match volunteers to roles based on skills, availability and interest.
• Volunteer Support, Development & Retention
• Serve as a key contact for volunteers regular check-ins, encouragement, listening, removing barriers
• Plan and coordinate training / development opportunities (for example volunteer walk-leader training, mental-health awareness, peer-buddy training etc…)
• Foster culture of recognition and peer-support (i.e. volunteer ‘buddy’ system, informal peer check-in, celebration of volunteer contributions)
• Monitor volunteer satisfaction, collect feedback and work with MoM team to refine the volunteer experience.
• Coordination & Oversight
• Maintain volunteer records roles & skills, hours contributed, availability, training completed, feedback & impact
• Coordinate volunteer scheduling and allocation for MoM core functions (i.e. research, training, media, marketing and impact and evaluations) and events (i.e. day walks, weekend retreats, public showcasing events) ensuring volunteer coverage and proper matching to participants
• Liaise with staff & event leads to integrate volunteers smoothly into MoM’s programme delivery (ensuring clarity of roles, support, communication)
• Identify and flag risks (safeguarding, health & safety in outdoor context, participant/volunteer fit) and support robust practices in line with MoM’s policies.
• Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting
• Collect and analyse volunteer contribution data (numbers, hours, roles, feedback) to help illustrate volunteer impact on MoM outcomes
• Provide insights and suggestions to MoM leadership for improvement of volunteer engagement and programme delivery
• Lead or support volunteer recognition initiatives (e.g., annual volunteer review, celebration event, sharing volunteer stories internally/externally)
• Assist with volunteer-related content for MoM’s communications (newsletter, website, social media) showcasing volunteer impact and motivating others to join.

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Other

Industries

• Mental Health Care

Wendover, England, United Kingdom – Location noted in posting