Operations Assistant
Goods for Good (Global)
Background to Goods For Good
Established in 2014, Goods For Good mobilises UK businesses and communities to donate overstocked, unsold or unwanted essential goods like clothing, footwear, bedding, toiletries, and hygiene goods so that they can improve the lives of vulnerable people. The goods we source are needs-led and are distributed via frontline support organisations to older people, refugees and asylum seekers, young people who are leaving care, people who are homeless or insecurely housed, and those in assisted housing with dementia or mental health issues, and families on low incomes.
Since its inception Goods for Good have responded to events such Afghan refugee crisis, Covid, Ukraine war and the Turkey/Syria Earthquake. Providing essential goods to families and vulnerable people here and overseas. In the UK we have seen an increase in refugee families being settled here, particularly from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine. We have distributed £4.3m worth of essential goods since Covid.
We also continue to respond quickly and efficiently to humanitarian crises overseas. Since the beginning of March 2022, working with our Dutch charity partner, we have sent over 60 trucks of aid to support those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023 and into 2024, the cost-of-living crisis is likely to force more UK households into poverty and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine will continue to be felt across the entire region. Meanwhile, we know that retailers and manufacturers are still sending overstocked or unsold goods to landfill or incineration.
Our vision is of a world where all unsold and unwanted goods are distributed to people who are in need rather than being sent to landfill. By redistributing surplus goods to those in need, Goods For Good aims to improve lives, restore dignity, and protect the environment.
Job Summary
This new Operations Assistant role with Goods For Good is an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to make a big difference to people who are living in impossible circumstances.
As we’re a small charity with a big impact, no two days are ever the same. You’ll contribute to all areas of the charity, ensuring its smooth daily running, and helping us get more essential goods out to people who need them the most. The role encompasses administration, general operations, logistics, donor care and volunteer support. You will be exposed to all aspects of working in a charity and the role will suit someone who is a positive people person and happy to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in!
Key responsibilities
You will be working closely with our Operations Coordinator to ensure that the essential goods which are donated to us by businesses, communities and individuals reach the most vulnerable people in the UK and around the world as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The list of responsibilities given below is a list of “must do” tasks, but there is a huge amount of scope for growth and additional responsibility depending on the successful candidate’s own personal strengths and interests.
Operations (50%) – working with the Operations Coordinator
Support our efforts to get goods in and out as efficiently as possible by:
- Receiving deliveries of donated goods and assisting with the unloading as needed.
- Logging deliveries onto our CRM database.
- Keeping the storerooms in good order and managing stock held, keeping it in order and labelled.
- Keeping accurate stock records with regular stock counts.
- Be of suitable fitness to move boxes within a maximum weight limit 12kg so that the stockroom can be kept in good order.
- Manage secondhand donations and manage volunteer sessions sorting and packing of these goods.
- Compile stock orders for our 112 UK charity partners. Liaising with the charities about the delivery or collection of the orders. Arranging deliveries where necessary. Doing all this in a timely manner.
Admin (40%)
Support our the office with day-to-day admin including:
- Support the office with day-to-day administration.
- Answering the phone and forwarding any queries to others as necessary
- Welcoming visitors, volunteers and donors to our building
- Initiate volunteer packing sessions as needed.
- Managing the volunteer time sheets.
- Updating Beacon with information about grants and financial donations that have been received so that we can thank people and keep them updated on our work.
- Packing goods that need to be sent out by post.
- Taking goods to the Post Office and running local errands as required
- Any general requests as needed
Communications (10%) – working with the Fundraising and Marketing & Comms team
- Taking photos of Goods for Good activity–with the permission of the people, to be used on social media and funding reports.
- Create a library of photos and videos and maintain it for use my other team members for publicity and fund raising & grant application reports.
Person specification
Essential:
- Previous administrative experience and excellent organisational skills.
- Skilled with all programs within Microsoft Office Suite especially Word and Excel and preferably including Outlook and Teams
- Confident with data
- Good communication skills to engage with a broad variety of people including trustees, donors, corporates, charity partners, the local community etc.
- Dynamic, able to handle and ever-changing workload and prioritise tasks well, with a willingness to learn and work on own initiative.
- Excellent written and spoken English is essential.
- Hold a clean driving licence.
Desirable:
- Office administration experience
- Previous experience with a CRM charity database
- Experience in the charity sector.
- Understanding of logistics and warehousing and stock management
All applications should include a CV and a cover lettering highlighting how you meet the job role description. These should be sent to judy@goodsforgood.org.uk.
Deadline for applications is 30th September 2023 – however, candidates will be considered on a rolling basis so the earlier the better.