About us and our charity
gunnercooke is the blueprint for the future of legal services, a firm that is passionately, obsessively focused on brilliant service for its clients. A law firm, with a difference.
We've taken away lots of the constraints that prevent lawyers from giving a brilliant client service and we've replaced them with a model that attracts the best legal talent to join us, giving them the freedom to invest fully into their client relationships.
At the heart of our culture is the gunnercooke foundation which for over 10 years has been fully funded by gunnercooke and has supported charities, social enterprises and community projects nationwide.
One of our proudest initiatives is House of Books & Friends, a Community Interest Company, independent bookshop, cafe and event space in central Manchester (just a stone's throw from our office) which is designed to tackle loneliness and build communities through books, conversation and share experiences.
Please visit our website and to find out more about the exciting projects you would be supporting.
The Role:
Reports to: the gunnercooke foundation Manager
Help us bring people together, build stronger communities, and create lasting impact.
We're looking for a foundation Community Builder, a people person with passion, energy and imagination to help grow the communities we support by designing, delivering, and building on our current and future projects across the gunnercooke foundation and House of Books & Friends (HOBAF). This is a brand-new role that you can truly shape and make your own. You'll split your time between supporting the foundation's projects and campaigns (primarily our inspire* project) and developing and delivering our social mission at House of Books & Friends. The successful candidate will be an excellent communicator, with a proven ability to engage with people from all backgrounds. You will have strong interpersonal skills, with experience building online and in-person communities into inclusive and friendly spaces.
We are looking for someone well organised, confident and with very strong administrative skills, and attention to detail. Time management and the ability to juggle different deadlines and requirements is absolutely essential.
If you thrive on bringing people together and want your work to have a real social impact then this might just be for you.
Responsibilities:
This role will work closely with our foundation Director, foundation Manager and the HOBAF team to support the delivery of a variety of projects and campaigns. You will need to be a complete self-starter, taking your own initiative and managing your time effectively.
Mindset and attitude are big ones for us We need someone with a 'can-do' attitude who can run with new ideas, think big and deliver on exciting initiatives
Building relationships:
• Working with colleagues, volunteers, professional partners and local communities, you will make connections between audiences and projects. You will need to identify and build relationships with charities, social enterprises and community organisations.
Engage & Connect:
• Researching and engage with communities, across both workstreams, to understand our audiences and what matters to them. Facilitate conversations and forums (online and in-person) to help people connect, identifying and overcoming barriers.
Events & Activities:
• Assist in organising, producing and delivering events, from our presence at gunnercooke's annual Symposium, through to International Women's Day, our annual Wrap Up London and Berlin (and beyond) events, through to 1-2-1, Hub and Big Meet Up meetings online and in person.
• Co-design, promote, and deliver community-focussed events and activities, coordinating with the HOBAF and supporting them at events.
Volunteering & Support:
• Support the foundation manager with recruitment, training and coordination of volunteers to support projects and campaigns within the foundation and HOBAF. Provide a point of contact for HOBAF volunteers and support their involvement in community activities.
Marketing & Communications:
• Support the foundation manager and collaborate with the wider bookshop team on social media content, newsletter and promotion of events and stories across a range of platforms. Support the foundation manager to deliver a schedule of content internally and externally.
Measuring & Reporting Impact:
• Working with the HOBAF Director and foundation manager and/or partners to ensure suitable impact assessment measure are in place for projects. Use feedback to tailor and change activities to ensure projects are continuously evolving and improving.
• Keep up to date with emerging trends, changes in policy and the wider factors affecting the third sector.
• Continuously promoting the Foundation and House of Books & Friends externally to raise the profile of the work we do within the third sector.
• Any other tasks as necessary.
The Person
Skills and Abilities - Essential
Community engagement and relationship building
• A friendly, welcoming approach with the ability to build excellent relationships.
• Experience facilitating inclusive groups, online and in-person.
• Experience working with diverse communities and groups (professionals, charities, local community and volunteers)
Events and project delivery
• Experience organising, promoting and delivering events (from small meet ups to larger campaigns, sometimes out of hours)
• Ability to co-design and deliver community-focused activities
Communications and Marketing
• Experience creating and maintaining website content, using Wix and WordPress
• Strong Canva skills (or similar)
• Confidence in presenting and facilitating groups and representing the foundation/HOBAF
Admin / IT Skills
• Experience maintaining excellent records; using online CRM systems and developing and maintain databases.
• Excellent skills in all Microsoft packages: PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Outlook, social media platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn.
Personal qualities
• Ability to adapt quickly and embrace change in a fast-paced organisation
• Outstanding organisational and interpersonal skills.
• Clear and concise written and spoken communication skills, with great attention to detail.
Skills and Abilities - Desirable
• Volunteer recruitment, co-ordination and support would be advantageous
• Experience working in the voluntary sector, with knowledge of the challenges it faces.
• Willing to travel occasionally if business need dictates, and work unsociable hours when necessary.
• Multilingual skills are a plus, but not necessary (as we grow our work globally)
This is more than just a job, it's a chance to be a part of something bigger, with opportunities in a high growth firm and charity for someone with the right mindset and approach.