Job Title: Community Organiser
Working For: Yuan Yang MP (Earley and Woodley)
Location: Earley and Woodley Constituency
Salary: £30,000 – £33,000 FTE
Length of Contract: 1-year fixed term
Working Pattern: Full time (1.0) or Part time (0.9/0.8) available.
About the role
Labour Party MP Yuan Yang seeks a great community organiser to help her build relationships with groups in the community in her Earley and Woodley constituency. The successful applicant should be local to the area Yuan represents and be able to make visits to various places around the constituency easily, either by car or bike.
Yuan aims to rebuild trust in politics and increase democratic engagement locally. The new member of staff will be integral to this, leading community organising initiatives, working side by side with local organisations, and working on exciting local projects. Additionally, they might occasionally support with other tasks in the MP’s office, such as casework.
Yuan recently won the Patchwork Foundation’s New Labour MP of the Year Award – a testament to the quality of her staff. Her staff team is friendly, fast-paced, high-performing, and mutually supportive.
This is a unique opportunity to join Yuan’s team in a role where you can work with a high level of autonomy and build brilliant connections across communities.
Previous political experience is not necessary; we are more interested in your emotional intelligence, imagination, and communication skills. We are particularly keen to solicit applications from those from underrepresented backgrounds in politics such as women, people of colour, and those with current or previous caring responsibilities.
Yuan is particularly keen for staff to help her office innovate, by developing better ways of tracking impact and changing old-fashioned ways of doing things in politics.
Yuan’s current team have come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, and we value diverse experiences and perspectives. We are open to applicants looking for a change in career, a return to work, or who are beginning their careers. We are looking for the right person rather than the right CV.
The exact responsibilities of the role will be partially agreed in collaboration with the successful applicant, however as a rough guide, a day in the life of our new team member might look like this:
- Attend a local community cafe open morning, speak to visitors, network with different groups, and pick up any casework for the MPs office.
- Just before lunch, visit a local community venue to check whether it is suitable for an upcoming event that you are organising, and build relationships with the staff working at the venue.
- Get in touch with local charities to ensure that they can attend the event, potentially calling a contact you met at a previous event to get her thoughts on the format.
- After returning to the office, take a call from a constituent who is very distressed and confused about their benefits being stopped unexpectedly; empathetically hand this case across to a caseworker in Yuan’s team.
- Focus on finishing the agenda for an upcoming neighbourhood safety forum and work on a communication plan to get as many residents as possible to attend.
- Accompany Yuan to a local ‘Supermarket Surgery’, which you have previously organised. At the surgery, you will approach residents coming into the store in a friendly way, offering a conversation with Yuan. While Yuan is speaking to residents, you will network and chat to other customers.
A provisional list of responsibilities might look like this:
- Work on projects with tangible goals to improve the local community, alongside other organisations and friendly groups
- Attend events, visits and meetings with Yuan; take notes, follow up with people that Yuan meets
- Conduct structured 1:1 door-to-door conversations
- Build strong relationships with local institutions (faith groups, tenants’ associations, neighbourhood watch, businesses)
- Identify & train local community leaders
- Test and document the effectiveness of different organising tactics
- Coordinate constituency meetings, surgeries and events
- Support with other general administrative tasks in the MP’s office, with guidance from the Constituency Support Manager
- Plan specific local campaigns in the constituency to increase community engagement with the MP’s office
Essential criteria
- Based in the constituency of Earley and Woodley (preferably South Reading) or excellent working knowledge of the constituency.
- Has access to a car and is able to use it for work purposes
- People-facing and community focused experience; whether professionally or in a committed voluntary role
- Organised and independent working style; able to manage a busy workload without anything being missed
- Excellent written and verbal communication; professional phone manner and very good interpersonal skills; naturally bring people together!
- Confident, empathetic approach to constituents; able to handle difficult or emotive situations sensitively
- Proficient IT skills (Microsoft 365/Outlook); comfortable with databases and quick to learn
- Discretion, sound judgement and strict adherence to GDPR/data protection
- Commitment to Labour values
We’re committed to creating a supportive and flexible working environment. If you have specific access needs, we’ll work with you to ensure you can thrive in this role.
Upon appointment you will be required to comply with the Baseline Personnel Security Standard, undertaken by the Members’ Staff Verification Office (MSVO). See Members’ Staff Verification Office (MSVO) page for further info.
Application Process:
To apply, please email your CV and cover letter (no more than 750 words) to [email protected]. In your cover letter, please outline what you think success would look like in this role, and why you’d be the right person for the role.
It would also be great to send across a short one-minute video, introducing yourself and explaining why you are interested in the role. This is optional but encouraged!
Successful applicants at the first stage will be invited to interview. Interviews will be held in person, in the Earley and Woodley constituency. Below is a timeline of the process:
- Application deadline: Tuesday 19th May – 12:00 (midday)
- Interviews held: Friday 29th May
- Ideal start date: Monday 29th June
We know that a standard process doesn’t work for everyone, and we want you to have the best opportunity to showcase your abilities. If you’d like us to make any adjustments – such as sharing interview questions in advance, providing a sign language interpreter, ensuring mobility access, or supporting the use of assistive technology – please email us at [email protected]k or call 0118 324 0847 to discuss.