goodmoves

Reporting to:Operations Manager

Responsible for: Shop team and volunteers

Edinburgh Furniture Initiative is an established second-hand furniture store. Located in the centre of Edinburgh, EFI is one of Scotland’s largest re-use social enterprises.

Operating as part of Four Square, a charity supporting people who face homelessness, EFI provides an independent income stream for Four Square and operates with three main aims:

• to provide low cost, high quality furniture to people on low incomes;
• to provide employment and training opportunities for people who have been homeless or who are at risk of homelessness;
• and, to promote the re-use economy and prevent useable goods going into landfill.

Following a restructure as a result of changes to our business during Covid-19, we are looking for a creative, dynamic store manager who can combine good people and business skills with an eye for design and an entrepreneurial approach. We want to make EFI a flagship for the re-use economy and build a sustainable social enterprise that will integrate and support the wider charity as we progress towards our vision of supporting everyone to have a home and their place in the community.

The right person is someone who has the vision and capacity to plan the service; set and meet targets; and motivate and support a varied staff team; and work in partnership with likeminded organisations.

The person appointed will also be joining at an exciting time where we are planning a move to a new store and a large-scale refurbishment programme at our storage warehouse. You will have the opportunity to input into how the store looks and how it is set out and really see EFI grow into the business it can be.

The job

Day to day, you will manage the shop staff; office staff; shop warehouse team; and volunteers. You’ll work closely with your colleague the Team Leader in the warehouse to ensure the shop is filled with the right stock; and the collections are being managed well. You’ll oversee our team of volunteers; our sales team; warehouse staff; and phone team; as well as young people coming into the organisation through the Kickstart Jobs Scheme. Your team will be 4 full time staff across a weekday and a weekend; up to 4 young people; and up to 4 volunteers a day. The main functions of the role are:

1. Plan the work of the team to ensure the targets are met; the team are supported and provide excellent customer service and high performance
2. Be an ambassador for Four Square and build relationship with key external organisation including regulators and accreditors, partners, funders and the wider social enterprise community.
3. Oversee the stock, ensuring enough stock is coming into the store; is of high quality and sells well; and that stock is managed on the shop floor;
4. Oversee the collection and communication around Gift Aid donations and sales;
5. Maintain the look of the store ensuring it is inviting welcoming and displays our furniture and white goods encourage sales and make best use of the floor space;
6. Oversee our online sales, ensuring we offer high standards and have excellent procedures in place for communicating and delivering on eBay, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms;
7. Monitor and report on store performance to funders, regulators and to the Leadership Team;
8. Analyse and interpret performance information to support improvement and development;
9. Work closely with the Team Leader - Warehouse to take advantage of opportunities to increase stock donations and explore new suppliers;
10. Be responsible for the health and safety of the building and the staff;
11. Manage staff performance, rotas, duties, holidays and absences;
12. Work with external partners and colleagues to create opportunities within the store for volunteering and employment for people using our services;
13. Review systems, processes and procedures across the social enterprise including brining in a new till system;
14. Seek out new opportunities to improve the store; attract new donors; and create productive partnerships;
15. Be an active member of national membership organisations to ensure you keep in touch with new policies, developments and training;
16. Ensure our store meets the Revolve standards for the sale of re-use goods;
17. Create and up-date standard operating procedures;
18. Create a marketing plan for the store to encourage donations and shoppers;
19. Plan events in the store to increase the profile of EFI and to reach new shoppers and volunteers;
20. Participate in organisation wide managers meetings and improvement projects.

The person

If you are the right person you will:

1. Have values which complement our values as an organisation and you must demonstrate that you live them everyday;
2. Have the right experience: a solid background in retail is essential; a design background; experience of digital marketing and a knowledge of furniture sales would be a bonus.
3. Enjoy and be good at managing people: motivating, encouraging and having the difficult conversations;
4. Get all the compliance stuff right: attention to detail, reporting, gathering evidence and using it for improvement;
5. Be a leader: know what you want to do and take people with you;
6. Be a great team member and feel passionate about what you do;
7. Spot the gaps and come up with creative ways to fill them;
8. Be good at planning and help your team be good at planning;
9. Be good at relationships with people you agree with and people you don’t agree with;
10. Value attention to detail so that your procedures, processes and reporting are accurate, make sense and anyone can access them;
11. Know how to use technology to improve your work and help others to see the benefit.
12. Have an eye for strategy: working out how to improve the current set-up for future development and growth.

Four Square Scotland is an Edinburgh charity working for more than 40 years to prevent homelessness and promote inclusion. We provide services directly to people who are homeless, or who are at risk of homelessness to overcome any barriers they may face in creating a stable life for themselves in their community. At the core of Four Square are the values on which the organisation is based. These are equally applied to the people we support, our colleagues and our partners and are: Integrity; Excellence; Dignity; Support.

We are driven by our mission to ensure everyone has the opportunity to have a home and a place in their community.

The role

We are recruiting a Night Practitioner for our young women's supported accommodation project in Edinburgh.

We are seeking a qualified and professional person who:

• Is proactive, highly organised, a problem solver, has a positive outlook, approachable, friendly, patient, and confident and has a flexible approach to supporting people;
• Is confident in loneworking;
• Has strong personal and professional values that align with our organisational values of integrity, excellence, dignity, and support;
• Can demonstrate they have excellent interpersonal skills with people who use our services, colleagues, and partners;
• Has an in-depth understanding of youth issues, homelessness, trauma, and adversity and how it impacts people's life outcomes;
• Can assist in support planning and work alongside people to help them achieve the goals they set;
• Is honest, trustworthy and respectful to colleagues, people they support, and all other stakeholders;
• Has a good standard of English and maths and is proficient with using IT systems and databases.