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Job description

Concern Worldwide (Northern Ireland) is looking for a highly motivated and dynamic Assistant Shop Manager on a part time, 12 month fixed term contract basis for our Boutique charity shop on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. About Us: Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental, international humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries. Our mission is to transform the lives of people living in extreme poverty. We work with 25 million people each year, in some of the hardest to reach and most fragile places. Places prone to conflict, natural disasters, climate change and extreme hunger. When an emergency strikes, we are among the first on the ground. We use our voice to bring the stories of extreme poverty to world leaders. About the role: To support the shop manager with all aspects of managing the shop, including recruiting and leading the volunteer team in order to maximise the income generated for Concern’s work. You will be instrumental in making sure the shop is at the hub of the local community, ensuring a steady flow of donations for the boutique and acting as the face of Concern Worldwide and raising public awareness of our campaigns. You will lead by example and be confident working within a fast-paced retail environment. You will contribute towards the success of the shop by: Ensuring a high standard of customer service Achieving targets to maximise income Maintaining a high standard of visual merchandising Supporting the store manager to actively recruit volunteers Working with the manager to generate stock Achieving expectations within campaign activities About you: As Assistant Shop Manager, you will have the opportunity to be part of a small, but dedicated and successful retail team. You will be a highly motivated self-starter who takes full ownership of your role. You will support the Shop Manager to lead and motivate your shop volunteers in maximising the fundraising income for the shop. It will be your chance to demonstrate and further develop your existing strong commercial awareness, relationship management, sales and customer service skills. This is an exciting time for you to join Concern Worldwide (NI) as we seek to engage more with local communities and increase support for our work in tackling hunger and transforming lives in some of the poorest places in the world. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Concern Worldwide encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity and origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organisation. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations, and is committed to promoting equality.

Responsibilities

• Support the Shop Manager with all aspects of shop operations in order to achieve and exceed shop income targets and all retail KPI’s
• Foster a creative and entrepreneurial environment to maximise income in new and innovative ways
• Ensuring the Boutique sustains a steady stream of quality donations to support this new, elevated shop proposition in our business portfolio
• Motivate the volunteer team in maintaining links with the local community and generating additional income
• Set exceptionally high standards of shop cleanliness, display and visual merchandising, including shop windows, while ensuring shop volunteer team take on similar tasks
• Establish and maintain efficient and commercially successful stock processing systems, including; pricing, quality standards, stock density and stock flow to the shop floor
• Plan and implement on-going and seasonal stock donation appeals to ensure high levels of good quality stock at all times
• Assist the Shop Manager to actively recruit a strong volunteer team
• Maintaining the shop rota in the managers absence, communicating all changes as necessary
• Provide ongoing training and support for the shop volunteers
• Support the shop team in providing an excellent customer and donor experience
• Ensure volunteers promote seasonal/topical retail initiatives and Concern UK appeals and campaigns
• Assist the Shop Manager in ensuring volunteers are fully trained in all shop related policies and procedures and that relevant training records are kept up to date
• Provide a safe and healthy working environment and report any H&S issues to the Shop Manager or Retail Development Manager
• Ensure compliance with all statutory requirements regarding donated stock
• Play a key role in enabling the shop team to represent Concern and increase the knowledge of the local community about Concern’s work
• Ensure the integration of the shop into the local community with the shop volunteers
• Support volunteer team when responding to all appeals and fundraising opportunities

Skills and Qualifications

Essential Skills

• Experience of stock control and replenishment
• Management of staff/volunteers
• Delivery of excellent customer service
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to communicate effectively with customers, donors and volunteers
• Able to use own initiative, effectively organise and plan
• Cash handling / banking
• Good IT skills
• Flexible approach to working hours and days including weekends and Bank Holidays as appropriate and when required

Desirable Skills

• Experience in charity retail management

Further Information

Please follow the link to the Concern website to apply for this role direct. Salary: £23,107 - £25,674 per annum, pro rata.