Operations Officer

This is an exciting opportunity to support the essential functions of a dynamic and progressive charity. We’re seeking a proactive individual looking to utilise adept problem-solving skills and spreadsheet mastery while getting stuck in with our daily shared lunches, care for our garden cat, and the daily challenges of working in a community site that is open to the public. If you might be able to jump between ordering supplies and raising invoices, to fielding questions from students and customers, to contributing to the ethical debates that drive our collective decision making – all in support of an ambitious charity for people and planet – we want to hear from you. This is a varied and cross-functional role that helps unify our Education, Finance, Environmental Landscaping, and Therapy teams to ensure all our staff and stakeholders thrive.

We particularly welcome applications from those identifying with groups currently under-represented within horticulture. Walworth Garden is an actively anti-racist and anti-oppressive organisation.

About Us

Walworth Garden is a charity dedicated to knowledge and nurture.

We aim to improve lives by providing excellent learning and gardening therapy in a community garden that’s open to all, 7 days a week. Our main charitable work includes horticultural training for people not in work or education and gardening therapy for vulnerable and disabled adults. We also provide goods and services that individuals or other organisations pay for in order to generate surplus income to support our charitable work.

Walworth Garden works with some of the most vulnerable in society and safeguarding is of paramount importance. All staff will undergo a DBS check.

Purpose of The Role

The Operations Officer will use their analytical and problem solving skills while providing administrative support to managers and other staff by handling a variety of tasks in order to ensure that all interactions between the organisation and its stakeholders are positive, productive and efficient.

Main tasks and responsibilities

• To carry out general administrative duties for all departments as necessary so that the organisation continues to move towards an increasingly organised, efficient, digitised way of working that embraces new technologies
• To assist with the creation of web pages, newsletters and posters within a set style/format using Squarespace CMS and Canva
• To attend, with other staff, to the needs of visitors to the Garden
• Monitor and order inventory and consumables using the procurement policy and ‘The seven Rs of Sustainability’ as a guide.
• Act as a point of contact for suppliers to the Garden, escalating issues to the CEO as necessary
• Intermittently review service and supplier contracts at appropriate intervals with the Finance Manager to ensure best value for the Garden
• Stay abreast of and adhere to all new data protection matters when handling data so that the Organisation remains within the law

Further responsibilities include:

• Working with the Finance Manager to create a variety of reports (including financial) and to correspond with suppliers and others as requested and ensure all transactions are correctly recorded in the accounting system (Quickbooks) in a timely manner
• Working with HR to maintain training records etc relating to employees, volunteers and trustees, ensuring all employees are compliant with training requirements.
• Manage the payment of vehicle insurance and road tax for vehicles, including timely renewal and ensuring best value for vehicle insurance.
• Send and monitor invoices, record payments and liaise with clients as necessary
• Organise, manage and collate registers and feedback forms for funders and so that interdepartmental communications are used to best effect for the organisation and the stakeholder.
• Assisting the Plant Centre Manager with volunteer management, updating booking slots and inductions on the website, creating registers for inductions and managing automations to send new volunteers relevant information
• Successfully administering all aspects of the Level 1 and 2 City and Guilds Horticulture training, including liaising with funders, creating digital registers, recruiting and enrolling students, arranging and monitoring payments using the GoCardless system and collating payment information for accrual in accounting software.
• Liaise with workshop practitioners and staff to launch workshop programme, including creating booking pages and managing the booking system.

A full job description and person specification can be found on our website.