START NETWORK

Start Network is made up of more than 50 aid agencies across five continents, ranging from large international organisations to national NGOs. Together, our aim is to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action, and localisation.

 We're tackling what we believe are the biggest systemic problems that the sector faces. Problems including slow and reactive funding, centralised decision-making, and an aversion to change mean that people affected by crises around the world do not receive the best help fast enough, and needless suffering results. Our work focuses on three areas to change the system:

• Localisation: shifting power to those closest to the front line for more effective response.

• New forms of financing: providing fast, early, and predictable funding to improve community resilience and preparedness. .

• Collective innovation: sharing expertise, insights and perspectives to shape a more effective humanitarian system.

We became an independent company and charity in May 2019. The Start Network was previously hosted by Save the Children UK, with whom we continue to work closely as hosts of some of our programmes.

Start Network is committed to protecting people, particularly children, at-risk adults and affected populations from any harm that may be caused due to their encountering the Start Network as well as responding effectively should any harm occur.  We are also committed to safeguarding staff from any forms of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse of power as outlined in the Dignity at Work policy. 

Start Network embraces diversity, promotes equality of opportunity and eliminates unlawful discrimination. We are an equal opportunities employer and treat every application on merit alone.  We particularly welcome applications from disabled, black, indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC), and LGBT+ and non-binary candidates.  We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet our minimum selection criteria. 

Our roles are open to discussion about flexible working.  While our team is office based, home working is part of our culture.  For part-time working and job-shares, please get in touch with us for a conversation about possibilities.

JOB PURPOSE

Start Network is at a critical point in its journey. Having grown and diversified its membership over the past 10 years, it is now set to evolve into a decentralised “network of networks” by 2025. We have been working with national and regional networks (hubs) including Pakistan, DRC, Guatemala, India ,the Pacific, as they develop locally-owned models and change initiatives under the wider Start Network umbrella. The ultimate ambition is to devolve leadership, membership, programmes and decision making to the hub level, while the London team transitions into a service provider role.

Within this context, the Membership Engagement and Knowledge Management Officer will support one of the core functions of the network, which is the day-to-day knowledge management, engagement and growth of our membership, working with the Senior Membership Manager and the Member Engagement Advisers. They will have a supporting role in helping to manage how Start Network teams engage members, annual invoicing for membership fees, and member communications, the role will provide critical support in managing up-to-date member information, supporting different teams from across the organization in member engagement activities and supporting the roll out of a centralised digital platform.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Digital and knowledge management (40%)

• Ensure our internal knowledge management systems, such as Box, Sharepoint and Salesforce are organised appropriately and efficiently.

• Collaborate with different teams, ensuring access to up-to-date member information.

• Support the Member Engagement Advisers and the Communications and Digital team to scope and roll out a digital platform solution to increase member engagement, improve communications between members and Start Network and be a repository for useful resources.

• Liaise with the Communications team and relevant hubs to develop messaging and advertise the announcement of new members (website, newsletters).

• Administer member data in Salesforce, ensuring it’s kept up-to-date and accurately displayed on the website.

• Collate and disseminate Membership Newsletter. Work with Digital Officer on keeping the contact lists up-to-date, analyse and report back on engagement, suggest solutions to improve open and click rates. (Familiarity with using Mailchimp or another mailing platform beneficial).

Membership team coordination and administration (40%)

• Ensure relevant documents and tools are accessible to members. This includes coordinating the translation of key documents into other languages.

• Acting as a focal point for any member enquiries or complaints, for example, looking after the Membership Inbox.

• Coordinate internal and external communications on membership, including the monthly Assembly Briefing newsletter, ensuring teams and members have relevant information.

• Work with the Finance team to improve and manage the annual invoicing process for membership contributions.

• Support the Membership team to coordinate any follow up on member queries and issues, and organise meetings, calls and interviews with members as needed - for example as part of the annual member survey.

• Undertake any other relevant tasks as required to support the work of the Network and Funds teams.

 Membership engagement support (20%)

• Support the Member Engagement Advisers, when needed, on member engagement activities such as working with the hubs on decentralised intake processes and inductions.  

• Working closely with the Senior Membership and Relationship Manager, coordinate with teams across the organization on key member engagement activities such as the Annual Assembly, member engagement initiatives led by Senior Leadership Team and other teams across the organization.

PERSON PROFILE

Key competencies

• Administration and management

• Adaptability/flexibility

• Attention to detail

• Creative thinking

• Cooperation and collaboration

   Essential skills and experience

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to deal tactfully and sensitively with a wide range of people in a large organisation, often at a distance

• Experience of using a CRM system such as Salesforce or equivalent

• Strong relationship building skills

• Proficiency in managing administrative tasks.

• Strong IT skills, particularly in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience working in a membership organisation, network or multi-stakeholder environment.

• Working knowledge of French and/or Spanish.

• Experience of working in the development, peacebuilding or humanitarian sector.

Start Network culture

• To carry out the responsibilities of the role in line with the Start Network Code of Conduct and with a commitment to safeguarding adults and children

• A commitment to the Start Network vision, principles, values and approach

• The Start Network team is an agile group of individuals who use their experience and skills across the network, so flexibility to work in and with different teams and functions is a part of our culture.

KEY COMPETENCIES

Communication

• Flex communication style to convey complex information concisely to different audiences, avoiding jargon and using simple language

 Strategic Thinking

• Actively seek to understand how your role fits into the work of the team and network by asking questions and working on cross-team initiatives

• Able to plan and deliver flexibly to take account of changing internal and/or external factors by reprioritising and asking for help

 Collaboration

• Clear on own role and responsibilities and can communicate this with others during day-to-day interactions, seeking clarity where needed

• Embrace diverse perspectives by using collaborative language, recognising and taking account of power dynamics

 Leadership of self and others

• Seek to understand and act upon own areas for growth, reflecting and learning from things that have not gone so well by showing vulnerability and openness to change

 Ability to adapt and learn

• Able to reprioritise and shift focus in response to changing needs of the organisation or network by being aware of how your role sits in the system

 Getting things done the Start Network way

• Overcome obstacles by taking initiative to identify issues, seeking help to address them and escalating appropriately 

• Make best use of all of available resources, including people, technology and money to enable increased automation, digitisation and value for money