107.5 Switch Radio broadcasts to North East Birmingham, which encompasses some of the most deprived communities in the UK. Despite regeneration efforts, 49% of the population in our service area live in regions that still feature amongst the top 10% most deprived wards in the UK. Almost three-quarters of our service area live in regions that feature amongst the top 20% most deprived regions in the UK. As such, the objective for Switch Radio is two-fold; firstly, to use the platform of community radio to entertain, inform and engage and involve the local community with us and each other. Secondly, we provide hands-on training and media experience to help local people do something practical about unemployment, skills training, education and social isolation. We provide live and locally relevant daytime programming, delivered by entirely by local volunteers and encouraging listener interaction. In the evenings, we hand the station over to our capable specialist presenters whose shows cover musical genres that are currently underserved by local commercial and BBC radio operations.
Purpose of post: Bring in small grants and micro-/programme sponsorships and embed Switch more deeply in local networks (councils, boards, forums, large local organisations) so that opportunities are picked up early and converted into predictable, renewable support. The role does not fund or deliver paid programme production; it organises the relationships, paperwork and evidence around what we already do.
Key responsibilities
Small-grants pipeline
Maintain a live calendar of realistic funding opportunities including both locally and nationally relevant funders and micro-commissions (neighbourhood, public health, employment/skills).
Generate and submit competitive funding applications that maximise our community benefit whilst utilising the skills and expertise within the station
Work month-by-month through targets: check fit to existing strands (community info; skills/education; health & wellbeing; youth), draft short plain-English bids, gather letters ahead of deadlines.
Set up light monitoring volunteers can complete; track restricted income/spend; submit claims and reports on time
Micro-/programme sponsorships
Manage a portfolio of well-matched local organisations; meeting the right contact (community investment/sponsorship leads).
Generate clear offers and agreements with simple deliverables and renewal points.
Log fulfilment and maintain communication channels so renewals are straightforward and more likely
Community embedding & relationships
Be a consistent presence at meetings with local stakeholders and relevant council/sector forums; follow up promptly.
Identify funding opportunities and partnership opportunities related to these contacts
Hold regular check-ins with local stakeholders and teams such as councils and housing associations (comms/engagement, public health, employment/skills) and large local organisations to spot small, funded pieces of work aligned to our strands.
Keep a light rhythm of listening sessions and on-air invitations (within existing strands) so community groups can share information easily.
Systems, compliance and reporting
Run a basic CRM (prospects, deadlines, deliverables) allowing management at the station to keep on top of progress and activity
Produce a brief quarterly pack for the management committee: bids submitted, awards won, pipeline, fulfilment status, reporting due.
Ensure safeguarding, GDPR/data protection, company obligations and other rules are observed.
Person Specification
Essential
Bid writing (small grants): track record of drafting short, plain-English applications with clear outputs and light monitoring; on-time claims and reporting.
Partnership experience: experience packaging simple, compliant partnership offers and seeing them through to fulfilment.
Stakeholder engagement: confident working with councils, public bodies, housing groups, NHS, colleges/universities, and larger employers; able to book and hold productive follow-ups.
Organisation & management: can run a live calendar/CRM, juggle deadlines, and keep tidy notes, budgets and audit trails.
Communication: strong written/verbal skills; plain English; comfortable presentation skills
Compliance basics: working knowledge of GDPR/data protection and safeguarding; willingness to follow rules and regulations.
Values/fit: community-minded, practical, reliable finisher; comfortable working alongside volunteers and not adding admin to their plates.
Local knowledge: good understanding of the Birmingham/Solihull community landscape (or clear ability to build it quickly).
Desirable
Stakeholder experience: Experience working with or within local authorities (Birmingham/Solihull) or combined authority/ICS networks.
Local knowledge: Familiarity with Castle Vale and neighbouring wards.
Light finance skills: tracking restricted funds, building simple budgets, producing short "sold/delivered" summaries.
Basic tooling: spreadsheets, platform experience, document templates; comfortable standardising templates/rate cards.
Community Radio: Understanding of community radio purpose and constraints (e.g., sponsor credit compliance; no paid production).