Job Description - Director Member
* Hours: 30 per week. Must be able to work weekends and evenings.
* Rate: £30,000 pro rata, with the possibility of rising to £35,000 pro rata dependant on business health
* Duration: Permanent
* Holiday Entitlement: 31 days (6.2 weeks) pro-rata ??
* Pension: 3% employer contribution
* Location: The postholder will work primarily at our sauna site at Kirkstall Valley Farm, Leeds, with the option to work from home one day a week.
Benefits:
* 31 days (6.2 weeks) pro-rata Holiday
* 3% employer contribution
· Free sauna sessions for yourself
· One free guest-pass sauna per month
Background:
We are creating Leeds' first community-oriented sauna space, where people will be able to relax and unwind in the heat of two high quality saunas, and the cold of our plunge pools.
Leeds Community Sauna formed as an idea in 2024, and has been shaped so far by 3 founder members, who are motivated to bring the huge benefits of sauna culture to Leeds, whilst creating an ethical and enjoyable workplace that provides good livelihoods to our workers.
We are in the final stages of the project build phase and we are hopeful that we will fully launch at our site within Kirkstall Valley Farm in November. In order to do this we are seeking two more Director Members and one part-time Sauna Co-ordinator. This is an exciting moment for this start-up business and an opportunity to add meaningfully to the systems, culture, and business processes we create. There will be a lot of learning opportunities as we work at a high pace to ensure that we open smoothly and enter the operational launch phase of the business.
Leeds Community Sauna is a cooperative, meaning the business is owned and run by its members. These members are made up of it's employees, and our community investors. You will join as a probationary member of Leeds Community Sauna, working towards membership of the Co-op. Each employee member is expected to participate in the overall management and administration of the co-op, as well as the day-to-day operations of the sauna including welcoming customers, lighting the fire etc.
All employee-members sit on the Board of Directors, and we operate using a collective management model. This means:
· Day-to-day decisions are made collaboratively by the employee-members.
· Major decisions are brought to the wider membership at General Meetings.
You will join as a probationary member of Leeds Community Sauna, working towards membership of the Co-op.
About this role
Each of our director members will take the lead on one of five teams in the management and administration of Leeds Community Sauna. Alongside this role, they are expected to spend a minimum of three shifts per week at the Sauna, partaking in the day-to-day tasks of opening the site, lighting the fires, welcoming customers, cleaning the saunas etc.
We expect that ca hours per week will be spent on administrative duties, half of which will be carried out at the Sauna site. The remaining 22 hours per week will be spent on operational duties.
We are hiring one more director member and are flexible about which of the teams that this director will lead on. Please choose the role you wish to apply for and specify this in your application. The teams eligible for this job advert are:
· Operations
· Comms & Marketing
· Community
· Governance and Policy
Additionally we are hiring a Finance officer. If you are interested in this role, please see that job advert.
We will be a small team working closely together, and at pace and can expect our first year to contain bumps along the way. We have developed a comprehensive business plan and have currently been leading on all areas between three founder members. However, due to the quick paced start-up nature of LCS, we are aware that there will be gaps that went unaddressed in the project build phase. We are looking for a new member who is resilient to this level of uncertainty and responsibility.
We require someone who is well organised, able to use their initiative and manage their time well, and who is able to ask questions, learn, and take leadership. We need someone who is able to work both independently and be a flexible, responsive and positive team member, and who is prepared to work hard within both their chosen team and one other team in LCS.
Each Director Member will lead on their working team, and work on another team within LCS, with roughly a 2/3 – 1/3 split. At a minimum in your secondary team this would involve sharing oversight of responsibilities in order to deputise in case of illness. We expect team members to share tasks and responsibilities so that each can build a shared understanding of the business to aide collective decision making and collaboration.
We would encourage you to think about the secondary team(s) you would be interested in being involved in, even if you don't have much experience in that field.
Job purpose:
To open and manage the site, and customer experience. To lead within your chosen Team and contribute to collective management and administration of the business.
Application Instructions:
Apply by email to with an email that contains:
· A 1-page Cover letter setting out your suitability for the role and ability to meet each of the Essential Requirements (and any Desirable Requirements you can meet), using any relevant experience to demonstrate this. Please include a paragraph on your experience and appetite for working within a co-operative business. We recommend writing your experience under headings to explicitly link your experience with the requirements.
· A C.V. (max 2 sides) with your work history.
· The job title and team you are applying for, and your name in the subject line of your email.
Operations
Team duties and responsibilities:
The information given on this job description is intended to provide an understanding and appreciation of the work of this particular role and its purpose within the organisation. The job description outlines main duties and responsibilities under broad headings only, as it is not possible to specify every item in detail.
Operations Team (50%):
· Manage the weekly staff rota.
· Work with HR and Governance to coordinate staff holidays and sickness, and ensure sauna is well staffed throughout.
· Manage the site, instituting and commissioning repairs to showers, plunge pools, changing rooms.
· Overseeing the cleaning procedures and filtration systems of the plunge pools, and cleaning procedures around the site generally
· Make site improvements and work with other team members to implement long-term strategic build projects such as our outdoor dancefloor, our solar array, and the grove area.
· Work with Marketing on the design, creation, and logistics of new merchandise and stock.
· Manage the purchase of merchandise, stock and towels.
· Manage the towel wash system.
· Managing and improving systems relating to health and safety and the site environment.
Operational Management (50%)
· Staff the daily operations of the sauna site to ensure smooth functioning and experience for our customers
· Manage the sauna environment to ensure a safe, clean, and relaxing space for both customers and our staff
Customer Experience
· Sustain the warm, welcoming, and friendly atmosphere of the site
· Advocate to customers about the positive benefits of Sauna and guide them through their visit
· Ensure all customers adhere to the rules and policies of the space, while still maintaining positive community relations
Comms and Marketing
Team duties and responsibilities:
The information given on this job description is intended to provide an understanding and appreciation of the work of this particular role and its purpose within the organisation. The job description outlines main duties and responsibilities under broad headings only, as it is not possible to specify every item in detail.
Comms and Marketing Team (50%):
· Keep digital platforms such as our website and social media up to date.
· Working with Community to market our workshops and special events so they are well attended.
· Finding stories of empowerment, health and connection around the sauna, and communicating them to our community.
· Working with Operations to create and then stock our merchandise.
· Working with artists to create promotional material.
· Managing our newsletters to volunteers, members, and general customers.
· Ensuring our tone is present in all communications.
· Running further promotional campaigns including discounts and gift vouchers.
· Ensuring the booking system is running smoothly
· Responding to general queries and booking queries
· Leading on running the membership scheme, in liaison with other Officers.
· Finding partnerships with other businesses and community hubs for co-promotional activity.
Operational Management (50%)
· Staff the daily operations of the sauna site to ensure smooth functioning and experience for our customers
· Manage the sauna environment to ensure a safe, clean, and relaxing space for both customers and our staff
Customer Experience
· Sustain the warm, welcoming, and friendly atmosphere of the site
· Advocate to customers about the positive benefits of Sauna and guide them through their visit
· Ensure all customers adhere to the rules and policies of the space, while still maintaining positive community relations
Community
Team duties and responsibilities:
The information given on this job description is intended to provide an understanding and appreciation of the work of this particular role and its purpose within the organisation. The job description outlines main duties and responsibilities under broad headings only, as it is not possible to specify every item in detail.
Community Team (50%):
· Managing our workshop offering e.g. sound baths, yoga, singing etc.
· Acting as the key contact for our workshop leaders and engaging with possible new workshop leaders to improve our offering.
· Organising and leading regular volunteer days.
· Liaising with other saunas around the country and the Community Sauna Network to inspire best practise in us, and to share our learnings with others.
· Acting as key contact for Kirkstall Valley Farm, ensuring our relationship remains positive and healthy.
· Liaising with our Investor Members, and finding ways to engage them in the organisation
· Leading on the creation of our social prescribing programme, using either our community fund or grants.
· Search for grants we may be eligible for and lead on grant applications.
· Work with Finance on grant activity and overseeing the use of grant funds.
· Connecting with other community organisations in the city and seeing how we can support each other, and how we can support their patrons.
Operational Management (50%)
· Staff the daily operations of the sauna site to ensure smooth functioning and experience for our customers
· Manage the sauna environment to ensure a safe, clean, and relaxing space for both customers and our staff
Customer Experience
· Sustain the warm, welcoming, and friendly atmosphere of the site
· Advocate to customers about the positive benefits of Sauna and guide them through their visit
· Ensure all customers adhere to the rules and policies of the space, while still maintaining positive community relations
Governance and Policy
Team duties and responsibilities:
The information given on this job description is intended to provide an understanding and appreciation of the work of this particular role and its purpose within the organisation. The job description outlines main duties and responsibilities under broad headings only, as it is not possible to specify every item in detail.
Governance and Policy Team (50%):
· Keep policies organised and up to date within our digital folders.
· Manage and regularly assess the competency of our policies.
· Organise staff meetings and maintain records of our meetings minutes and decisions.
· Leading on the hiring and induction of new staff (subject to need).
· Ensuring that we are meeting our legal responsibilities
· Creating regular reports on non-financial data points that tell us how we are doing e.g. footfall, customer engagement, team engagement
· Influence and maintain a supportive, happy workplace culture and ensure everyone can be proud to work at LCS
· Organise regular team trainings, both on first aid and safety, and in cooperative skills.
· Ensure cooperation is embedded and pragmatically acted out in our governance.
· Identify opportunities for improvement in our governance, management systems, and knowledge base.
· Perform skills audits and ensure the team is addressing skills gaps.
Operational Management (50%)
· Staff the daily operations of the sauna site to ensure smooth functioning and experience for our customers
· Manage the sauna environment to ensure a safe, clean, and relaxing space for both customers and our staff
Customer Experience
· Sustain the warm, welcoming, and friendly atmosphere of the site
· Advocate to customers about the positive benefits of Sauna and guide them through their visit
· Ensure all customers adhere to the rules and policies of the space, while still maintaining positive community relations.
Job Type: Part-time
Pay: From £30,000.00 per year
Expected hours: 30 per week
Benefits:
* Work from home
Work Location: In person