Are you passionate about bikes and have excellent communications and design skills? Do you have experience developing content for marketing and fundraising campaigns?

We are looking for a proactive, talented, adaptable Communications Officer to lead on our internal and external communications.

Based in any of our branches across Perth and Edinburgh and with some home working, our Communications Officer will be responsible for providing support across a range of communications functions including responding to customer enquiries, PR, marketing, online media, advertising, fundraising and internal communications.

Strong communication and interpersonal skills are essential as you will work with key staff to source, create and collate content for various audiences and channels to make our stories stand out. Although part of a talented and supportive team, you will be expected to work independently as well as across teams to deliver the priorities of The Bike Station.

You will have a proven track record of delivering excellent communication products in multiple formats and a thorough understanding of the full spectrum of communication channels. Importantly, you will be passionate about being part of a well-loved charity and ensure our brand values are reflected in all that we do.

Are you passionate about sustainability, cycling and helping the most vulnerable in our communities? If so, the Bike Station is looking for new board members and we would like to hear from you!

The Bike Station is a social enterprise and charitable company based in Edinburgh and Perth, with a mission to develop environmentally sustainable communities by empowering people to have greater freedom to move by bike. We are focused on improving access to bikes for those who are traditionally underrepresented or excluded from sustainable travel initiatives. We do this through refurbishing and recycling donated bikes. We make refurbished bikes available free of cost to those who might not otherwise have access to them or sell them to fund our other activities, including our flagship community programme Shifting Gears which provides skills development, both cycling and repair, and employment opportunities.

Responsibilities:

• advocating for the Bike Station;
• overseeing the management and development of the Bike Station, which is delivered on a day to day basis by the CEO supported by other key employees;
• supporting the CEO of the Bike Station in managing operational risk;
• approving the priorities for the Bike Station and overseeing delivery of these priorities;
• overseeing legal and financial compliance and ensuring good governance in accordance with the Bike Station’s constitutive documents;
• evaluating performance against priorities.

Time commitment:

• attendance at board meetings approximately every six weeks face to face or via video call. Meetings are usually held on weekday evenings and last about 1.5-2 hours. Board papers, including financial papers, are circulated around [] days in advance for review prior to the meeting;
• attendance at the AGM;
• attendance at meetings of special focus groups (participation is voluntary and usually reflective of specific interests or skills of the relevant board member);
• attendance at occasional strategy or team building events, usually no more than twice a year.

Requirements:

• excellent interpersonal skills;
• ability to work collaboratively as a team;
• ability to constructively challenge;
• excellent and independent judgement and integrity;
• commitment to the Bike Station’s mission;
• willingness and ability to commit the time required and share knowledge and experience.

We are particularly interested to hear from those with finance, business or marketing experience or training. We would equally like to hear from those in our communities who might have previously used our services. Previous board experience is not essential as training will be provided.

We are keen to recruit trustees from diverse backgrounds and welcome applications from students or young people, women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

Reports To

The Cycling Friendly Awards Coordinator will report to the Communities Manager

Job Overview

The postholder will oversee the successful delivery of the Cycling Friendly Employer (CFE) and Cycling Friendly School (CFS) award programme in partnership with Cycling Scotland.

The postholder will directly support workplaces and employers and schools across Edinburgh and the Lothians (with occasional work in the Borders) to successfully achieve the CFE Award. They will lead in the development and cooordination of skills development activity for employers in a wide range of settings. Developing strong partnerships with businesses, community based services and individuals are key to this role.

Responsibilities and Duties

1. Coordinating and delivering the Cycling Friendly Employer (CFE) and Cycling Friendly School (CFS) programme in Edinburgh,the Lothians, and Perthshire
2. Identifying organisations that would like to engage with the Cycling Friendly Award programme, supporting them through the award process, and ensuring award criteria is met.
3. Re-assessing previous award holders to ensure compliance with the CFE/CFS Award.
4. Build strong working relationships with stakeholders.
5. Ensuring the project delivers its stated outcomes/impact.
6. Providing advice and support to employers/schools on funding opportunities.
7. Updating Cycling Scotland on programme progress monthly.
8. Attendance at regular Cycling Friendly assessor meetings and workshops hosted by Cycling Scotland.
9. Attendance at relevant conferences and networking meetings.
10. Finding creative ways of engaging with potential Cycling Friendly employers by utilising social media to support the delivery of the programme with support from our Communications Lead - e.g. using Linkedin or developing a quarterly e-newsletter to all Cycling Friendly Employers.
11. Contribute to the strategic development of the The Bike Station and its skills development programme.
12. Assist with the coordination and delivery of community based events.
13. Monitor and evaluate the social impact of the programme.
14. Produce detailed quarterly reports for the project funder.
15. Support the development of case studies from notable Cycling Friendly organisations..
16. Perform any other duties considered relevant to the post e.g. CFE schools.
17. To comply with all current legislation, GDPR and organisational policies.

EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• A qualification and/or equivalent experience in managing and delivering projects.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage time accordingly.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a small team
• Excellent oral and written communication skills to support project delivery
• Experience marketing services with a strong social impact
• Experience in working to targets
• Experience of report writing and delivering presentations
• Experience of dealing with the public in a professional environment and providing excellent customer service.
• Flexible, self-starter with an enterprising attitude
• Ability to network and present a positive image when representing The Bike Station and Cycling Scotland at external events.
• Passionate about cycle promotion and development.

Desirable

• Experience of delivering a cycling project
• Experience managing budgets
• Experience of social impact monitoring
• Qualified Cycle Trainer/ Velotech or other cycle maintenance qualification.

The postholder will oversee the successful delivery of the Cycling Friendly Employer (CFE) award programme in partnership with Cycling Scotland.

The postholder will directly support workplaces and employers across Edinburgh and the Lothians (with occasional work in the Borders) to successfully achieve the CFE Award. They will lead in the development and coordination of skills development activity for employers in a wide range of settings and will include on road cycle training, group rides, maintenance and other cycling workshops. Developing strong partnerships with businesses, community based services and individuals are key to this role.

As part of the Senior Management team you will be responsible for the successful development, coordination and delivery of our communities based programmes.

You will develop and maintain strategic partnerships across health, education and third sector organisations to ensure The Bike Station activity compliments and adds value to other community based activity.

You will be responsible for continually reviewing and developing our activity, demonstrating quality and impact.

In collaboration with the Senior Management team, provide direction and support to the on-site Community Outreach Officers to ensure the effective coordination of day to day activities.

ReportsThe Communities Manager Reports to CEO.

We are seeking an engaging, dynamic and creative individual with exceptional communication skills, a flair for design and the ability to achieve our income generation goals.

A a key member of the Senior Team, you will contribute to the overall strategy and objective setting for the organisation.

As a strategic thinker with hand on experience you will also be responsible for the development and implementation of our Communication and Fundraising strategies and support internal communication.

You will be able to tell our story and highlight the impact of our work across to all our stakeholders including producing our impact reports, content for our website and digital platforms. As well as providing content for conferences and local press.

You will lead on promoting our sales, training programme, membership and communities programme and will establish an effective CRM system. You will have strong design skills and be responsible for the design of our publications and develop our brand guidelines.

You will line manage our branch Coordinators providing support to them for the day-to-day communication with our customers and provide support to our Student Placement.

And finally, you will develop the external communication of our 20 year anniversairy, creating a celebration of our journey and making best use of the opportunity.

This role is responsible for coordinating service delivery for The Bike Station in the Edinburgh branch. Supported by the Senior Management team, you will ensure the successful day to day delivery of The Bike Station activity including: information management regarding the refurbishment, reuse and recycling of donated bikes; supporting activities to enable the effective sale of bikes both in our branches and online; coordination and administration of skills development and communities activities.

As part of the Senior Management team you will be responsible for the successful development, coordination and delivery of our communities based programmes.

You will develop and maintain strategic partnerships across health, education and third sector organisations to ensure The Bike Station activity compliments and adds value to other community based activity.

You will be responsible for continually reviewing and developing our activity, demonstrating quality and impact.

In collaboration with the Senior Management team, provide direction and support to the on-site Community Outreach Officers to ensure the effective coordination of day to day activities.

We are seeking an enthusiastic and creative individual with exceptional communication skills and senior level strategic fundraising experience to raise our profile and achieve fundraising goals.

You will play a key role within the Senior team, contributing to overall strategy and objective setting for the organisation.

You will be responsible for the development and successful delivery of The Bike Station’s communication and fundraising strategies and enable us to clearly demonstrate and communicate the impact and value of our activity.

You will develop and deliver our communications and marketing strategy covering external communications and media relations, including a digital marketing plan tol ensure we are taking full advantage of new media.

You will effectively lead and direct fundraising, achieving revenue targets, by establishing, monitoring and developing quality opportunities.

To find out more about this role, please download the Job Description below.