We’re hiring: Community Engagement Worker
Midsteeple Quarter (MSQ) is an exciting community-led project for the town of Dumfries to buy back its High Street and for local people to lead on developing a contemporary living, working, socialising, learning and enterprising quarter in the heart of the town.
We are looking for a Community Engagement Worker to lead our new Creative Community Engagement Programme. You will be joining a highly motivated and experienced team which is planning to expand over the coming year and be part of one of the most exciting community regeneration projects in Scotland.
MSQ Community Engagement Programme
The programme has received support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for 3 years from Spring 2021. It is intended to deliver the following outcomes:
To help local people build a vibrant, confident Dumfries where they can fulfil their creative, human, and economic potential.
To ensure the local economy in Dumfries works better for the people who live there.
To engage the community in creating a thriving economic future in which a resilient town centre is well placed to recover from the impact of Covid-19
These outcomes will be achieved through the delivery of a programme of engagement which will include:
Creative engagement including Cultural, Heritage, Environmental and Civic Activism events
Skill sharing workshops
Pop-up retail / hospitality / enterprise / cultural opportunities
Consultation activities
Purposes
You will be expected to promote community engagement and increase participation in MSQ opportunities by building long lasting relationships with a variety of stakeholders.
There are two key elements to this:
organising events and activities which attract people into MSQ, bringing the High Street alive and animating our buildings.
gathering intelligence through needs assessments and consultations to influence local decision making.
Summary of main responsibilities
To lead on the delivery of our Community Engagement Programme and support the involvement of the wider MSQ team, board, members and project/community partners.
To oversee our engagement budget to commission and develop creative ways for the community of Dumfries to engage with MSQ as we redevelop, refurbish and bring new users to our properties.
To attract participation from people experiencing disadvantage and/or inequality using targeted approaches to identify and remove barriers to participation.
To work directly with community groups and partners including local businesses, creative practitioners and third sector projects to identify and support potential participants and opportunities.
To maintain and build on existing relationships with partners as well as seeking and developing new partnerships and relationships across communities in Dumfries.
To support those who have an idea for social change and are looking to involve others in making that idea happen using the MSQ meanwhile spaces and engagement budget.
To develop and increase MSQ’s membership through consultation and new initiatives e.g. reward schemes.
To work with the MSQ project team and the Communications, Membership and Community sub-group to ensure learning is incorporated into subsequent activities.
To ensure comprehensive documentation, monitoring and reporting of all activities.
Person Specification
MSQ is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community. We particularly encourage applications from young people, those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities.. We would also like to increase the numbers of people involved who currently live or work in the town centre and people from working-class and low-income backgrounds.
Please download the full job description here: Midsteeple Quarter Community Engagement Working Job Description.
How to apply
This post is open to both direct applications from individuals and tender applications from organisations.
We require:
· A CV / company profile – maximum 2 pages
· Why are you interested in this position? Maximum of 300 words
· A brief description of two recent projects / activities which demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the post.
· Two referees
Please apply by email to info@midsteeplequarter.org no later than 5pm on Friday 21st May.