The Role

The Pantry Officer will be responsible for managing and leading on the day to day operations of the Green House Pantry based in Craigmillar. The Pantry will work with the Your Local Pantry franchise scheme.

The Pantry Officer will be expected to:

• Organise and manage the day to day operations of the pantry
• Deliver excellent customer service
• Manage and work with local suppliers and Fareshare to ensure the pantry is well stocked at all times
• Leading and managing a team of volunteers
• Working in partnership with local organisations and supermarkets
• Working alongside the Community Alliance Trust’s Craigmillar Community Food Hub team to engage with residents of Craigmillar and neighbouring communities to uptake memberships with the pantry and participate in other community food activities

The Pantry

Our intention is for The Green House to open as a Food Pantry three days/week, and be used as a community food space outside of these times, providing a location for workshops, classes etc which would be delivered by our Community Food Officer. Our goal is for the Pantry to have a regular membership of approximately 200 within six months of the start of the post, such that it becomes a self-financing social enterprise.

The Green House is a shop unit leased by the Community Alliance Trust (CAT). It has a good central location on Niddrie Mains Road. We intend for the Green House to play a large role in the Community Alliance Trust’s community food hub project developed in response to food insecurity/poverty in the Craigmillar area.

The Community Alliance Trust

Community Alliance Trust (CAT) is a development trust, and is a non-profit distributing organisation set up by the Community Regeneration Forum in 2011 to develop community assets and new social enterprise initiatives in the Craigmillar area and improve the quality of life of Craigmillar residents.

We are currently running a community food hub project which seeks to support households in food insecurity. The project has several strands including local food growing, community food work and the pantry.

Charity No: SC043998

Background

The Community Alliance Trust (CAT) is an independent registered Scottish Charity and the Development Trust for Greater Craigmillar. It was established in 2011 in response to the stalled regeneration programme in Craigmillar. It currently runs the White House, a beautiful art deco building which is a community hub that has two sitting tenants one, the café (White House Kitchen) and the other an educational organisation (IntoUniversity). It is also the head office for the Trust. CAT has a social enterprise arm, the Community Alliance Trading Enterprise (CATE). The other building CAT has is “The Green House” which is the home of the Craigmillar Pantry, a co-operative that supplies affordable food and goods to its local members. In addition to that CAT manages a 3G pitch and also looks after several community growing projects. The Trust is governed by a board of Trustees and employs a team of staff to manage the facilities and projects, to deliver the Trusts strategy. CAT has 8 staff currently funded through grant awards from the Scottish Government or the Local Authority.

Our vision is that Greater Craigmillar is a good place to be; has a quality of life that can be enjoyed by everyone, with a thriving community and opportunities for all. Our mission is to support the community by providing necessary funded projects that also contribute to community life, with good quality affordable facilities providing space for community participation.

Role

Due to retirement CAT is now searching for its next Trust Manager to build on, and further evolve the services and footprint of CAT. This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic individual who is willing to sustain and develop our portfolio of projects and social enterprises as part of the ongoing regeneration process in Craigmillar. The ideal candidate will have a track record of business delivery including managing a social enterprise and properties, as well as a sound understanding of community development/regeneration in Scotland.

Key Skills and Experience

• A confident, engaging and influential self-starter with a passion for making a difference in the social development sector.
• A strategic thinker, with experience of operating at a senior level within the Third Sector. A passion for developing and nurturing relationships both within and outside of the organisation.
• An organised, flexible and target-driven individual with experience of setting, maintaining and reporting on budgets and financial plans with well-developed project management skills and experience of managing the operations and facilities of buildings occupied by third parties (tenants).
• An ability to oversee effective management of the organisations day to day financial affairs along with experience in setting, maintaining and reporting on budgets and financial plans.

Main Tasks/Key Responsibilities

• To work with the Board to develop and implement the Strategic Plan and associated policies of CAT and set, manage and report on budgets and financial performance, including interpretation and application of key financial information. In addition, provide information/advice to the Board in developing and changing strategy and draw up and monitor specific project plans and proposals with clear budgets and timescales, reflecting the longer term objectives of the Strategic Plan. To prepare papers for the Board, Advise the Board on Policy issues
• To seek external funding and grant opportunities for future growth and development of CAT; ensuring that CAT’s financial guidelines and practices are adhered to, as well as keeping abreast of current policy, political and social issues likely to affect the workings of CAT.
• To manage and lead staff of seven colleagues and develop internal structures for staff support and management, promoting a team/community culture. To maintain awareness of staff in key areas such as health and safety and cyber/digital security
• To efficiently and effectively oversee the operations of the Trust buildings and facilities as well as developing and overseeing the management of the facilities ensuring the security of the building/facilities at all times. In addition seek continuous reductions’ in carbon, improvements in environmental performance and work towards achieving net zero target.
• To take responsibility for reviewing, monitoring and evaluating the core and project work of the CAT. To develop links with the community to play a positive role in enabling their full participation in civic life and promote and market the organisation, its success and facilities. To maintain and develop a digital presence.
• To maintain up-to-date knowledge of changes in legislation and policy which affects the organisation and the management of staff/ volunteers and write and review policy and practice guidelines for the organisation. To draft written responses to government documents and policies on behalf of the Board.

Salary commensurate with background and experience.

Initially the post is for 4 days per week.

About the Community Alliance Trust:

Community Alliance Trust (CAT) is a development trust, and is a non-profit distributing organisation set up by the Community Regeneration Forum in 2011 to develop community assets and new social enterprise initiatives in the Craigmillar area and improve the quality of life of the people in the greater Craigmillar area.

Job Summary and Purpose:

We are seeking to appoint a well-organised, self-motivated, and flexible professional, with strong administrative and finance skills, to assist and support the Trust Manager with a broad range of administrative and

financial duties and to support colleagues across the wider organisation.

The post holder will be responsible for ensuring transparent and efficient office administration and financial activities contributing to the achievement of Community Alliance Trust’s overall objectives.

A full Job Description is available in the Candidate Pack which can be downloaded below.