International Placement Officer

The Post:

It is an exciting opportunity for anyone who has a passion for volunteering and is interested in learning about international issues; peace and social justice issues; development issues; working for an NGO.

This opportunity will enable someone from a wide range of disciplines to further their professional and personal development and gain valuable professional skills.

Description of the organisation:

International Voluntary Service promotes peace, justice and understanding between people and nations through voluntary work, at home and abroad. IVS projects bring together volunteers of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicity, faiths and none, and from many different countries and cultures, to live and work together for a period of time – benefiting local communities around the world. We help support small, local community projects by recruiting, supporting and sending volunteers to provide practical work to support them, on a wide range of tasks, e.g. environmental tasks, supporting people with disabilities, young homeless people, heritage sites, intercultural projects, interfaith projects, community development projects and many more.

We are the British branch of Service Civil International, a worldwide network of voluntary organisations promoting peace and justice through voluntary work.

Task description:

Volunteer Management

• Process outgoing and/or incoming volunteers (both long- and short-term)
• Assist incoming volunteers with VISA applications, if required; signpost and support outgoing volunteers with VISA applications, where necessary
• Prepare outgoing volunteers (both long- and short-term)
• Support and facilitate training sessions for incoming and/or outgoing Camp Leaders
• Support and facilitate Peace Educator training sessions
• Support and facilitate Student Peace Ambassadors across the UK
• Support the development of Electives programmes
• Contribute to the management of SCI and other internal databases
• Liaise with volunteers, the SCI network and other international partners

Event Management

• Maintain, develop and evaluate IVS presence at all events across the UK
• Ensure office is resourced with materials for all publicity for events and products
• Distribute IVS publicity material throughout the UK to appropriate locations
• Follow up after each event

Administration

• Ensure surveys and evaluations take place
• Maintain SCI statistics
• Deal with telephone and e-mail inquiries
• Assist with promotion of IVS through social media (Facebook, Twitter, and website)

Other Duties

• Take part in team meetings
• Engage in other team duties if applicable/necessary or as directed
• Depending on interests and skills, project proposal design and writing as well as assisting in project management

Person Specification  

• Good interpersonal and communication skills, written and verbal
• Good organisational and time-management skills
• Good IT skills (MS Office, email, and the Internet)
• Good attention to details
• Interest in volunteering and social justice
• Be able to work both independently and in a team
• Be positive and committed
• Be able to work under pressure

Additional Information

Regular supervision will be provided. The intern will also have the occasion to gain knowledge and develop skills in specific areas of interest.

This opportunity is not remunerated, although bus reimbursement within the city will be offered. Please only apply if you have access to an Erasmsu+ or similar bursary. 

We prefer placements of 6-12 months, but we may in special circumstances consider slightly shorter placements (e.g. 4-5 months).

Internship patterns are flexible: ideally, we would like someone who can be in the office for at least 5 hours a day, 4 or 5 days a week, but we may consider other arrangements.

Application arrangements

Apply with CV & motivational statement through erasmusintern.org. 

Thereafter an informal interview followed by 2 successful references.