THE ORGANISATION

Founded in 2013, West Welcome Wagon was born in response to the discovery that some local asylum seekers had been living without beds or electricity in an empty apartment for six weeks. We quickly grew with enormous help from the local community.

Currently serving more than 800 client households, West Welcome Wagon continues to grow on the back of enormous support from the local community and its strong volunteer workforce, who proceed to serve and support the organisation and their clients.

We are guided by our fundamental pillars within our purpose;

• We identify and respond to the needs of local asylum seekers.
• We build community connections.
• We provide altruistic opportunities for locals.

THE ROLE

Due to increasing demand for our services by our clients, West Welcome Wagon requires a strong leader and administrator to continue to increase the impact which West Welcome Wagon delivers to our community. This will be achieved through day to day operational and strategic leadership, fostering and leveraging current and future relationships with community partners and supporters, and continuing to define & refine who and where we operate and our business & delivery model in conjunction with the Board.

THE OPPORTUNITY

This position is based at the West Welcome Wagon office and warehouse in Sunshine West and is expected to direct and lead the team of paid employees and unpaid volunteers to administer and deliver the objectives outcomes of the organisation.

West Welcome Wagon has experienced a rapid growth and development phase since its inception in 2013. The Board during this time has proudly steered the Wagon to achieving major milestones including:

• Recruiting and developing a strong team of core volunteers who commit to regular activities and times with WWW, as well as an efficient Management Team.
• Ensuring legal obligations and legislative requirements are met.
• Developing great local community connections and relationships with key stakeholders.
• Establishing financial income to support our operations.
• Assisting 500+ local asylum seeker and refugee households in Melbourne’s west (current figure does not include previously assisted households).
• Acquisition of a warehouse base for our operations.
• Refining our vision, mission and goals.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Community Engagement

• Engage with the community to drive sustainable supply of used goods, aligning with our values - being, supporting our clients through collection and repurposing of material goods that would otherwise be destined for landfill.
• Develop marketing and communication plans, in conjunction with volunteer coordinators to drive engagement with potential donors (both financial and non-financial) and volunteers.
• Foster strong working relationships with our clients and their communities along with other suppliers of complimentary services to enhance the settlement journey of our clients.

Stakeholder Relationships

• Report to and work with the Board to develop/ refine the organisation’s vision, mission, and goals, and the corresponding strategies, plans, policies, procedures and budgets to achieve them.
• Advocate for and promote the organisation with stakeholders, funding bodies and the general public.
• Identify potential philanthropic, corporate and private donors and cultivate relationships for the growth of West Welcome Wagon in accordance with the Strategic Plan.
• Work with funding bodies to establish innovative and effective models for service delivery and guides courses of action in operations by staff.
• Provide confident and convincing public messages, in line with the mission.
• Provide leadership to the staff and volunteers of the organisation, facilitating professional development, team building and collaboration to achieve the organisation’s goals.
• Motivate employees and volunteers to create and maintain a proactive, positive and productive work culture and deliver the best possible solutions and services to our clients and stakeholders.
• Ensure excellent customer relationships and service delivery, act as a decision maker and point of escalation for the customer service team.

Leader of Change

• With the Board, determine which new business development opportunities to pursue and the most appropriates means of pursuing them.
• Ensure systems are in place to ensure that staff, volunteers and the Board have sufficient, accurate and up-to-date information to undertake their duties and obligations, including necessary support structures for staff.
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the sector and the current issues to anticipate emerging opportunities and risks for the organisation.
• Take proactive steps to ensure that risks are managed and opportunities capitalised on.
• Act as the interface between the organisation and the community.
• Act as the spokesperson for the organisation.
• Oversee promotion activities; including overseeing the production of the annual report.

Manager

• Implement strategic and business plans and oversee all consultation and other projects.
• Manage all staff to ensure effective performance management and professional development processes, in accordance with policy and the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement or Award to ensure a positive and productive workplace.
• Manage all financial operations in conjunction with the Board’s Treasurer and volunteer bookkeeper, including development of the annual budget, ensuring availability of adequate resources and building and diversifying the organisation’s asset base to support service delivery.
• Review financial performance, identifying issues promptly, and prepares monthly financial report in conjunction with the Board’s Treasurer and volunteer bookkeeper for the monthly Board meetings.
• Ensure the collection and reporting of all information required for acquittals to ensure accountability to funding bodies.
• Ensure compliance with West Welcome Wagon’s OH&S policy and procedures and with OH&S legislative requirements.
• Initiate quality improvement activities to support continuous improvement.

REQUIREMENTS

• That you take initiative and act responsibly, as well as exercising powers and discharging duties with reasonable care and diligence, in good faith in the best interests of the association for a proper purpose.
• That you do not make improper use of your position or information acquired by holding your position.
• Understanding of and keen following of policies, procedures, and guidelines, as well as understand and be familiar with the Rules of West Welcome Wagon Inc. and the Act.
• Provide leadership, strategic direction, and vision to our organisation.
• Model best practice.
• Strong understanding of standard business IT tools such as Word, excel etc.
• Holistic problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate them effectively.
• Current and valid working with children check.
• Understand that you hold responsibility for providing direction for the organisation.
• Comprehensive understanding of the organisation, our clients, and our supporters.
• Occasionally appointing key organisational volunteers to positions of delegated authority.

If you don’t currently have these skills, a willingness to learn will be highly regarded.

WHAT WE PROVIDE

• Remuneration in line with experience and similar NFP Position.
• Ongoing support from other Board Members, Management team, and the CORE group of volunteers.
• Regular social events with the CORE team of WWW.
• Experience with an effective grassroots charity in Melbourne’s west.
• You can see more about West Welcome Wagon here: www.westwelcomewagon.org.au

A position description is attached.