Development Officer Tlnt1_Ni

Job Overview

Development Officer – a key role within the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland focused on the Stronger Together Building Community Resilience programme. The role involves designing, delivering and developing community-based activities that strengthen resilience, build local leadership, and promote inclusion across Northern Ireland.

• Reporting to:
  Programmes Manager
• Hours:
  
  35 per week, flexible with occasional evenings and weekend work
• Salary: NJC points 2628 (approximately £37,280 – £39,152)
• Duration:
  Fixed term, 3 years from appointment
• Location:
  
  Hybrid (Belfast office and home‑based working), extensive travel across Northern Ireland

The Stronger Together Building Community Resilience programme is a grassroots, capacity‑building initiative for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations. It seeks to empower community leaders, combat misinformation, promote inclusive narratives, foster collaboration, and drive policy change around hate crime prevention, race equality and digital rights.

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with community groups, grassroots leaders, statutory, government and partner organisations.
• Support delivery and management of core programme strands: community leadership development, media literacy and misinformation awareness, storytelling and narrative change, advocacy training and community campaigns, and peer learning initiatives.
• Recruit, develop and engage Champions for Change, and facilitate their practical action in local communities.
• Plan and coordinate workshops, events, round tables and learning activities.
• Promote inclusion, challenge racism and misinformation, and strengthen social cohesion through programme delivery.
• Support advocacy activity focused on hate crime prevention, race equality and digital rights.
• Collaborate with voluntary, community, statutory and other stakeholders to support joined‑up responses and cross‑sector coordination.
• Contribute to research, evaluation and evidence gathering on racial justice and community resilience.
• Support the development of practice‑to‑policy outputs and policy papers.
• Build the programme’s visibility and profile in partnership with the Policy, Public Affairs and Communications Directorate.
• Represent the organisation through events and visits that showcase programme learning and impact.
• Contribute to effective communications, including report writing, presentations and stakeholder engagement.
• Support programme evaluation, impact reporting and funder monitoring returns.
• Capture and share learning internally and externally to inform policy and practice.
• Manage workload effectively, maintain confidentiality, and comply with all organisational policies and procedures.

• Relevant third‑level qualification and at least five years paid experience in a similar role, or five years experience in a voluntary role.
• Experience using community development or participatory approaches, including working with lived experience.
• Experience of partnership working and building positive relationships with a range of stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience working with diverse communities, particularly those experiencing inequality, exclusion or disadvantage.
• Significant experience of working on sensitive or complex issues in a community development context.
• Experience of designing and delivering community‑based programmes, events or workshops.
• Proven experience of building and maintaining effective partnerships across the voluntary, community and statutory sectors.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including report writing and presenting to different audiences.
• Experience of monitoring, evaluation and capturing learning or impact.
• Ability to organise and manage multiple priorities, work independently, and collaborate as part of a team.
• Competent in Microsoft Office and general administrative systems.
• Committed to the Foundation’s vision, mission, values (Ambition, Passion, Integrity, Kindness) and behaviours (Active Listening, Non‑judgemental, Collaborative).
• Proactive, self‑motivated, well organised and committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.