National Greyhound Centre Manager

Job Role:

Taking responsibility for our Flagship Greyhound Homing Centre, you will be an experienced animal homing professional; with a proven ability to manage and lead staff and volunteers to deliver a highly performing homing centre. You will need an excellent balance between leading and managing and getting actively involved in operations as required.

You need to be a strong, proactive and positive manager, focused on the success of the charity, ensuring all possible strategies are deployed to facilitate improved outcomes for greyhounds whilst ensuring staff, volunteers and supporters feel valued, engaged and proud to be part of Greyhound Trust.

Reporting to: Reporting in a matrix manner to the Head of Finance & Resources and the Chief Executive

Responsible for: National Greyhound Centre Staff and Volunteers

Key responsibilities:

1. Managing the NGC to be a high performing homing centre, which is sufficiently staffed using an effective balance of staff and valued volunteers.
2. Ensuring compliance across all key areas as required by Greyhound Trust: I.e. Financial, Brand and Communications, Homing (kennelling and welfare in line with ADCH and Greyhound Trust standards), Fundraising, H & S and general charitable compliance.
3. Recruit, lead and manage the homing centre in all its goals. Setting team and individual objectives, targets and KPIs, formally managing and developing the team through supervision, appraisals and mentoring.
4. Ensuring full staff cover and an appropriate out of hours on call / support is available.
5. Take full responsibility for development, implementation and maintenance of all relevant day to day standards, policies and procedures relating to Centre operations and the wider charity’s governance needs, whilst ensuring consistent quality of the greyhound journey.
6. To creatively design and deliver new initiatives to support homing and awareness, in line with the wider strategy and in collaboration with senior colleagues.
7. You must take great pride in showcasing the NGC; ensuring that the site, facilities and equipment is managed to ensure a high standard of maintenance and presentation, and that statutory legislation (e.g. H & S) is rigorously adhered to, keeping staff, volunteers, the public and of course our greyhounds safe.
8. Full budgetary responsibility for the NGC; ensuring continuous operational improvement and maximise all resources within the centre, through detailed and thorough budget management of both income and expenditure.
9. To ensure a full calendar of fundraising and community engagement activity, to maximize income and impact, homing opportunities and awareness. This will include developing new income streams and diversification.
10. Ensure compliance across all areas for staff management, Boarding licence registration etc.

Skills and experience

Essential

• Proven success of managing an animal centre (or similar) and delivering high standards of welfare and animal related homing activity.
• A strong team manager and Leader, with the proven ability to maximize the success of a varied team; with experience of full line management (supervision of performance and attendance, objective setting and reviews, through formalized 1:1’s and team meetings).
• Budgetary understanding and experience; able to understand budgets and management accounts, manage expenditure and forecast costs.
• Experience of writing reports and presenting to at both internal and external meetings, supported by an excellent level of experience and competence of relevant office packages and the ability to learn to use in house databases.
• Enthusiastic and empathetic to the Vision, Mission and Values of the Greyhound Trust.
• Hold a full valid UK manual driving license.
• Strong communicator, with a “can do” attitude, who is able to move seamlessly from operational matters to strategy and back, depending on priorities, whilst maintaining discretion and adhering to professional standards and confidentiality.
• Experience of volunteer management and volunteer support / development.
• Ability to develop and oversee appropriate behaviour training and modification programmes, and the confidence to make euthanasia decisions in line with Greyhound Trust policy.
• Flexible and respectful approach to working with senior managers, with the skill and commitment to deliver senior colleagues expectations through your management of the homing centre, its staff and volunteers.

Desirable

• Evidence of managing health & safety in the workplace
• Animal welfare qualification / canine training qualification.
• Experience of managing a boarding establishment and the maintenance of a boarding licence
• Experience of facilities management

Detailed (non-exhaustive) example of responsibilities:

• Implement the highest standards of best practice relevant to Greyhound Trust homing activity.
• Development and compilation of compliance reports for all key areas of the homing centre.
• Investigate and resolve complaints relating to homing centre activity and centre Staff / Volunteers both internally and from supporters / homers / stakeholders.
• Proactively working with Greyhound Events Ltd to ensure that retail products and messaging are appropriate, and that the centre complies with policies on buying and selling of goods at centre level.
• Generating a strong centre brand locally, to ensure regular positive media coverage for homing and awareness.
• Develop and oversee a volunteering programme which trains volunteers to support staff team and brings excellent value to the greyhounds in our care.
• Creative and innovative use of short-term fostering and time off site for greyhounds, helping them to transition in a timely and effective way.
• Managing greyhound intake from trainers, Branches and other sources to ensure the centre assists the maximum number of greyhounds at all times.
• Ensuring robust assessment, training / behaviour modification, and matching of greyhounds and homers, with a timely and strong post homing support programme to maximize homing success.
• Ensure you and your team keep abreast of any changes to best practice, relevant legislation and governance that impacts on Greyhound Trust activity.
• Ensure full GDPR requirements are met and always delivered across centre activity.

This role will develop with the needs of the charity, and this document should not be seen as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, nor seen as precluding future changes. Additional tasks will be reasonably requested by your Line Manager and Senior colleagues.

To apply for the role, visit the Indeed website where the vacancy is posted.