Overview
We are looking for a customer-focused individual who is good at building relationships to join us as a Community Business Officer. This role is at the heart of the support we provide to communities across the UK.
Role: Community Business Officer
Reporting to: Relationships Team Leader
Line Reports: n/a
Contract: Full-time and permanent
Location: Office based, Woodstock, Oxfordshire
The Community Business Officer supports established and trading community businesses to strengthen their operations, improve sustainability, and maximise social impact.
This is a proactive role, where your support will help community businesses to identify challenges, access professional advice, and develop resilience, excellent governance, and long-term plans.
You will need to be someone who has brilliant attention to detail and is comfortable keeping accurate records and information up-to-date.
You will have the following knowledge, experience, skills and attributes:
* Relationship focused: you enjoy working with people and are confident building positive, professional relationships. You’re approachable, responsive, and comfortable supporting a wide range of contacts, including community businesses, community groups, voluntary organisations, and small businesses. You work collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation, sharing information and contributing to a joined-up approach.
* Customer centred: you have experience working with the public and take pride in providing a helpful, friendly service. You listen carefully, respond thoughtfully, and aim to ensure a positive experience for everyone you support.
* Empathetic and patient: you take time to understand the situations and needs of the people you work with, responding with care and without rushing. You remain calm and supportive even when conversations are difficult or complex, and you’re able to read a situation and adjust your approach accordingly.
* Proactive and confident: you take initiative, approach tasks positively, and are comfortable acting independently within your role. You’re confident engaging with others, raising issues when needed, and following things through to completion. You use your own judgement to determine when it is appropriate to escalate matters to your manager.
* Communicative: you’re a confident and clear communicator, comfortable managing multiple interactions by phone, email, video call and in person. You adapt your tone and approach to suit different people and situations. You are confident presenting to groups and facilitating discussions or workshops.
* Community minded: you bring an interest in community business and an understanding of community business models and the challenges facing rural communities. You’re curious about how locally rooted enterprises operate and create impact.
* Tech comfortable: you have a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office and are confident using everyday digital tools to stay organised. Experience of using CRM systems — particularly Salesforce — is an advantage, and you’re comfortable keeping accurate records and information up to date.
* Problem solving: you’re practical and solution focused, able to think issues through, handle queries calmly, and find effective responses when challenges arise. You are able to understand complex information and translate it into clear, accessible advice for a range of audiences.
* Organised and adaptable: you are able to prioritise your workload effectively, managing competing demands on your time without losing focus or quality. You remain calm and productive when juggling multiple tasks or shifting priorities.
We are committed to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and our approach goes beyond ‘protected characteristics’ to thinking more broadly about inclusion. Every individual will think and feel differently and we believe that these differences should be embraced, and individual needs taken into account. Additionally, the makeup of the rural communities we work with leads to their own particular diversity and exclusion challenges and opportunities compared to urban areas. Our commitment to EDI, both internally and externally, has been tailored to Plunkett and the communities we serve.
We ask that you complete a diversity monitoring form in order to monitor the effectiveness of our policies. The completion of this form is voluntary.
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