Community-Led Housing Engagement Co-ordinator

September 19, 2024

Cwmpas

Cardiff

CONTRACT & FULL TIME

About us: Cwmpas believes our economy and society should work differently, putting people and planet first. We are a co-operative and a development agency, working for economic and social change.
We create a fairer and greener economy by growing the number and scale of social enterprises, co-operatives and employee-owned businesses. These social and democratic business models can address the challenges our communities face to decarbonise the local economy, create good quality jobs and reduce inequality.
We provide support to communities that are left behind to improve services and facilities in their local area. We help make society more equal by improving the skills of those that are excluded or at risk of being excluded.
We work alongside public, private and third sector organisations to help them make a positive difference for their customers and communities.
Our Culture and Values: Co-operative, supportive, fair, integrity, positive, inspirational. These are the values that guide how we do things.
We recognise our responsibility to reduce our environmental impact. We involve people in the work we do and recognise that we can only achieve our missions and goals by working with others. We apply the culture and technologies of the internet era to make us more resilient and responsive to the changing expectations, needs, and behaviours of the people we support. We learn from good practice around the world, influence public policy and the practices of others, and maintain the highest standards of governance and customer service ourselves.
As an employer we will value diversity and take a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination. We will be an anti-racist workplace.
About the project: The Communities Creating Homes programme supports the delivery of community-led housing in Wales. Community-led housing involves people coming together to decide the kind of homes and communities they want to live in. In line with our strategy, the team will work to double the number of groups taking forward community-led housing in Wales by 2027. They will support the delivery of 150 new homes in this period and establish a development pipeline for a further 250 homes.
Purpose of the role: The Community-Led Housing Engagement Co-ordinator’s principal purpose is to bring communities together to take action on tackling the housing crisis - which sees a shortage of good quality affordable homes in communities - through establishing community-led housing projects. The Engagement Co-ordinator will develop and maintain a pipeline of community groups who are engaged and informed about community-led housing and motivated to deliver their own affordable housing, This will be achieved by reaching out, listening and connecting people in communities, running and attending events to promote community-led housing, direct liaison with interested community groups, organisations and stakeholders, facilitating groups to come together to take action, and supporting the Communities Creating Homes team with a range of marketing activities aimed at community groups and anchor organisations.
Location: Home based in South East Wales, with some travel across South East Wales and occasionally beyond, but in line with our aim of being carbon neutral, remote delivery or sustainable transport options should be prioritised.
Contract: Fixed term to 31st October 2025.
About you:
Qualifications:
You will have a good standard of general education.
Knowledge/Experience:
You will have demonstrable experience of engaging and working directly with community groups, including those from diverse backgrounds, to take action on issues that matter to them.
You will have experience of effectively presenting information directly to audiences with varying levels of pre-existing knowledge.
You will be able to show understanding of the housing challenges in Wales.
You will be able to show some understanding of community-led housing (which may come from lived experience), to include: differing forms of CLH (such as co-housing, community-land trusts; how CLH differs from other forms of housing; the challenges faced by those seeking to deliver CLH and the benefits it can bring to communities. Training can be provided.
You will have experience of using a range of communications tools (such as social media, traditional media, film, etc.) to successfully promote a message.
You will have experience of designing and developing a range of marketing materials utilising online / digital programmes such as Canva, or others.
You will have demonstrable experience of event organisation.
You will be able to show knowledge of co-operative principles.
You will have demonstrable experience of working in a community-facing role.
You will be able to demonstrate knowledge of how to collect and present data which show progress toward your objectives.
You will have demonstrable experience of working in a co-operative, supportive environment, where you and your team-mates have helped one another to achieve shared outcomes.
Skills:
You will have developed communication skills; you will listen and show genuine interest and connection, be able to develop trust and relationships with community groups and motivate them to take action.
The process of delivering CLH can be demanding; you will be able to positively communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and situations and you will need to be able to demonstrate that you have the skills to effectively present information to groups but also to motivate them to take the next step and embark upon the process.
You will have developed skills in public speaking: the role requires presenting to a range of stakeholders with a variety of levels of understanding of CLH, so it is important to be able to effectively modulate your delivery to suit the group.
The ability to communicate fluently in Welsh is desirable but not essential for this role
All staff are expected to be able to work independently and as part of a team and organise work to meet multiple deadlines, build effective relationships and use MS Office and online meeting tools.
Closing Date: 10pm, Sunday 13th October 2025.
Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 12 months
Pay: £31,799.00 per year
Benefits: