Work with Age in Spain.
Age in Spain – the first national charity in Spain to be dedicated to the welfare of English-speaking older people - aims to empower older people to lead fuller lives in their adopted country. We provide information to help people of all ages to plan their life in Spain and integrate, plus direct support to people in later life who need help in overcoming barriers to independence and access services.
We are a small, independent organisation, which is run by 50 volunteers and a small staff team of three. We get involved because we care about creating a humane society where everyone is valued and supported.
Sorry, we have no current job opportunities
Applications for the recently advertised Infoline Manager post are being considered and the applicants will be contacted directly.
Want to volunteer? Click here to view our current volunteering opportunities.
Infoline Manager (20 hours per week)
Use your people centred management skills to develop our successful Infoline Service which helps English speakers to plan for and live their later life in Spain to the fullest.
The service provides
-
accurate and accessible information resources on living in Spain
-
timely and client focused one to one email and telephone support
to
-
English speakers age 45+ who are moving to Spain and wish to plan their long term integration and continued independence in later life
-
older English speakers and their families already in Spain who need help in accessing welfare services and support
-
family members from afar who need to help their isolated, vulnerable relative in Spain
As our Infoline Manager you will bring your professional experience to a truly worthwhile cause - where success is measured by our quality of service and the impact of our support to people who need help to enable them to stay living in Spain independently. You will manage a team of trained and dedicated volunteers to deliver this vital service.
Salary circa €11,000 gross (including home office allowance) for 20 hours per week over 4 days (hours to fit with Infoline opening hours) with up to 5 working weeks holiday per year.
Location: The postholder will be resident in Spain and work from home (equipment provided)
About the service
Infoline is the first point of direct contact for access to Age in Spain’s services.
The service is provided by a team of up to 12 volunteers, led by the Infoline Manager, all working from home.
Together, they provide
-
A client centred contact centre service (by telephone and email), directly advises up to 3,000 people annually.
-
Online information resources to aid integration and support people with health/welfare support questions, which are used by over 30,000 people annually.
-
Signposting to local support networks and services
-
Referral to Age in Spain’s other services for people who need more intensive support, including the Casework Support service which provides welfare guidance and assistance to older, vulnerable people and their carers
The post
The Infoline Manager is responsible for the effective delivery of the Infoline service, through the management and support of volunteer Infoline Assistants, the quality and accuracy of information they provide and overall, meeting call centre targets.
The Infoline team typically consists of two to four volunteer Infoline Assistants per shift, drawn from a pool of up to 12 volunteers, helping them to respond effectively and sympathetically to enquirers, whilst reviewing performance, quality of service in terms of the user experience and providing coaching and support. The role requires a professional but light management approach, which recognises that the volunteer/organisation contract is based on goodwill and involvement in a good cause - not on payment. This requires the Infoline Manager to have excellent and intuitive people skills as well as the professional skills to deliver the project targets.
Responsibilities:
-
Lead and inspire a team of Infoline Assistants to deliver excellent levels of individual/team performance and customer satisfaction
-
Arrange volunteer shifts to cover opening hours (currently Tuesday - Thursday, 10am - 2pm CET but due to expand) and anticipated levels of enquiries
-
Train, motivate and coach Assistants to ensure a high quality service
-
Host 1-2-1’s and team meetings
-
Manage day-to-day online activities, prioritise and make risk/impact assessments within existing processes and procedures towards achieving goals
-
Design and deliver training for the Assistants and ensure that there is a sufficient number of trained Assistants to provide the service, in collaboration with other staff team members responsible for volunteer recruitment and training
-
Develop opportunities for Assistants such as ‘expert’ in information fields, daily shift management roles
-
Support other Age in Spain service managers by forwarding relevant enquiries to them and liaising on complex welfare information requests with the Casework Manager to determine the Infoline/Casework roles
-
Keep up to date with any information changes affecting the service and ensure knowledge is shared, also between Information Assistants
-
Together with the staff team identify operational risks and areas for improvement, delivering positive change and business efficiencies
-
Escalate any appropriate problems to the Chief Executive
-
Help promote the service and Age in Spain generally, which may include online question and answer sessions, liaison with other welfare organisations which support English speakers, press, radio and social media, supported by the in house media team and Chief Executive
Practical daily tasks on the Infoline
-
Ensure that the telephone and email systems function correctly
-
Assign enquiries to on-duty volunteers
-
Quality check emails and calls to enquire accuracy and consistency, that respond fully to the enquirer’s circumstances.
-
Ensure that customer profiles are completed and appropriate follow up is made, including referral to other services as required
-
Maintain the customer management system to ensure accurate record keeping and reporting
-
Review feedback ratings, action any follow up and recognise Assistants for their input
-
Maintain an overview of information resources and regularly update them
-
Identifyand oversee the creation of new information resources in response to customer need
Essential Requirements:
-
Customer service experience
-
Experience of working in a customer focused social welfare setting
-
Excellent leadership and communication skills
-
Strong coaching and people-development skills both in workshop and on the job environments
-
Ability to manage, motivate and support voluntary (non paid) Infoline assistants on a daily basis
-
Ability to deal with demanding customers and escalations
-
Ability to manage the contact centre, email and telephone software
-
Ability to research, document and catalogue information resources and support colleagues in this process
-
Advanced level English (written and spoken)
-
The postholder will be required to have a criminal record check covering the previous 5 years
-
Have a suitable homeworker space that will meet health and safety requirements
-
Have a high speed internet connection
Desirable Requirements:
-
Intermediate Spanish
Timeline
Closing date - 27 February 2023
Start date - as soon as possible subject to reference and safeguarding checks
Please use the short application form - button below .
Include in the application form a link to your CV and a response to a task we have set to help us to ensure that we invite the very best candidates for an interview.
The task: please record a short video, aiming for less than 3 minutes, and upload it for our hiring panel to view. Please note that applications without the video will not be accepted.
You are not expected to have any special knowledge about the project other than the information already provided in this information pack. This is about capturing your ability to communicate in a clear way and come up with solutions.
The scenario:
Your Infoline team consists of a bank of up to 20 volunteers who are recruited and trained online before they start as Infoline Assistants. They currently work on 2 hour shifts, maybe a couple of times a week, maybe more - depending on their availability. The Infoline is currently open three days a week but plans to expand. Volunteers commit to staying for a minimum of six months, but some don’t stay so long because they secure employment or have other new commitments. The system works well, but as the number and complexity of enquiries have increased, many requiring follow up, it needs you, the Manager - to ensure continuity and quality of service.
-
What would be the first three things that you would do if you were the Manager?
-
You are given a newly trained Assistant, how would you arrange their first shift?
-
After several shifts the Assistant is still struggling to manage the technical aspects of the system and needs more support than you think is appropriate. How would you handle this?
-
How would you ensure balance between ensuring a caring and supportive response to vulnerable, distressed callers, yet keeping the support within the limits of the service? Give an example of how you have achieved this in a similar role?
Sharing your video with us
Once you’ve created your video, please upload it to a suitable channel such as WeTransfer Youtube, Vimeo or another video platform and submit the link to the video on your application form. If you need us to use a password to access your video, there is a space to add this on the application form.
We’re not asking you to create a blockbuster so please don’t worry about scenery, dressing up or ultra high resolution. We just want to see you presenting naturally and ensuring the file you upload works as intended.
Deadline for sharing: please submit your application and attachments by 27 February 2023
Any questions?
If you have any questions for us or, for any reason, you are not able to send us a video response, then please get in touch. We will endeavour to think of how we can evaluate your application without the need for a video recording.
And finally, thank you. We recognise that we are making great demands of you at this stage of the process - this is because the role is in itself demanding and we need to be sure we select the very best applicants for the role, within a short space of time!