ACORN – Community Organiser

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Term: 1 year, with the possibility of renewal dependent on funding
Hours: 35 per week
Salary: £17,290
Location: Liverpool

ACORN is looking for a community organiser to build power to fight for social and economic change in Liverpool, to start work on 23 August 2021.

ACORN is a mass membership organisation: a vehicle for collective action. By taking action on issues, we build the hopes, expectations and experience of our members and the communities they come from.

Our organising is premised on two simple truths: problems affecting working class communities—from unhealthy, unaffordable and insecure housing, to cuts to public services—stem from a lack of power, and; the most effective means of building power is for people to get organised.

We know that there are no shortcuts to building an effective, powerful organisation of everyday people, which is why we hire organisers to knock on doors, day in, day out, whatever the weather, to proactively seek out community members to bring together to make positive change in our cities, towns and neighbourhoods. If you are up for putting in the real leg work to build strong, diverse, resilient communities, door by door, street by street, then this might be the job for you!

About the job:

As a community organiser with ACORN, you will be responsible for recruiting, supporting and working with members to take action on issues affecting them and the communities they come from.

ACORN is a union in the community. Like any union our members pay membership dues so that they can have a sustainable independent organisation to fight for their interests.

You will be the organiser for ACORN in Liverpool. Your daily work will involve:

– Recruiting individual ACORN Members through door-knocking, social media and other means (door-knocking takes up around 50% of our organisers’ time),
– Managing organising drives to build new and maintain existing ACORN branches, groups, and teams,
Identifying issues of common concern at the neighbourhood and wider level,
– Identifying and supporting potential leaders to enable them to take on leadership roles in the organisation, and
– Supporting elected leaders to enable them to carry out their roles.

Qualifications:

No formal qualifications are necessary. We’re primarily looking for someone with a strong work ethic with good listening skills and the ability to motivate others.

Experience, skills and abilities:

The successful applicant will have:

– Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
– The ability to recruit dues-paying members to ACORN
– The ability to support the development of groups and teams
– The ability to motivate people
– The ability to work independently and manage a team of volunteers
– The ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment and be detail-oriented
– A willingness to work sometimes long and irregular hours, including evenings and weekends (usual working hours are 35hrs/week, 7hrs/day between 1000-2000 Mon-Fri, not including an hour’s unpaid lunch break)
– A willingness and enthusiasm for knocking on doors and talking to strangers year-round

In turn, ACORN is committed to investing in the continued professional development of our organising staff. Training and support will include:

– First week: ACORN Foundations of Community Organising training (5 days)
– During probation: Weekly 1:1 management supervision; daily recruitment practice with fellow organising staff; weekly group team call; on-call daily management support.
– After probation: bi-weekly 1:1 management supervision; daily recruitment practice with fellow organising staff; weekly group team call; on-call daily management support.
– Ongoing continuing professional development opportunities where identified.

To apply:

(1) Open this Google docs file to download the job description, person specification & selection criteria
(2) Open this Google docs file to access the application form
(3) Make a copy and complete the full application form, referring to the sections marked (A) in the job description, person specification & selection criteria
(4) Save your completed application form as a PDF with the file name e.g. JANE SMITH Liverpool CO.pdf
(5) Submit via email to workforacorn@acorntheunion.org.uk with ‘Application: Liverpool CO’ as the subject heading.

If you require paper versions of this application form and diversity monitoring form please write to info@acorntheunion.org.uk.

Deadline:

The deadline for applications is 11.59pm on Sunday 11 July 2021. Late applications will not be considered. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@acorntheunion.org.uk.

Interviews:

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an assessment day, involving an interview and two tasks. Currently due to the Government’s social distancing advice we are conducting assessments over Zoom video call. This may be subject to change if the Government’s guidelines change.

Assessment date: Thursday 22 July 2021.