Programme Co-ordinator for A Lust for Life’s primary and secondary School Programmes.

Context

A Lust for Life is an award winning youth mental health charity with a focus on early prevention education. The impact we wish to achieve is to create a generational circuit breaker in how we talk about and treat mental health in Ireland, by giving children and young people tools and skills to enhance and protect their mental health from the earliest age. Our vision is a world where every child and young person mentally, emotionally and socially thrives. Our mission is to empower and educate all young people in Ireland through early preventative mental health programmes driving positive changes in their lives and our world. We have spent the last few years focused on the development & phased launch of our primary school wellbeing and resilience programme, which from September will be available for junior infants – 6th class pupils.

A Lust for Life is currently developing a new mental health education programme for secondary school students to help them build a robust sense of their own identity and to equip them with tools and skills to enhance and protect their mental health in order to successfully cope with the challenges of adolescence and school . The programme will consist of a digital platform including high end, multi formatted content including videos and teaching materials that will be expertly curated and delivered in class by teachers.

The aim is to create a whole school offering for secondary schools with programme levels catering from students in 1st-6th year. At present we are focusing on developing a programme for 1st year students and transition year students, with the view to pilot in early 2025.

This year, A Lust for Life is developing this new programme, drawing upon the expertise of our Mental Health Advisory Panel and a dedicated Steering Committee, bringing together expertise and evidence from a wide range of disciplines and professions to inform this programme. In addition, we are continuing to grow and adapt our primary school programme, while also undergoing continuous evaluation. To this end, A Lust for Life would like to hire a suitably qualified and experienced programme co-ordinator to coordinate the A Lust for Life mental health education programmes.

Role opportunity:

We are seeking a highly motivated, detail-oriented, and innovative programme co-ordinator to support the development, delivery and roll out of A Lust for Life’s primary and secondary Schools Programmes. The programme co-ordinator will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day operations of the programmes, supported by A Lust for Life’s Head of Programmes. This person will work well as part of a team but also independently, this role will provide fantastic opportunities to develop creative, organisational, administrative, and project management skills.

The ideal candidate:

• An extremely motivated self-starter with a deep commitment to and passion for A Lust for Life’s vision, mission, and values, and highly motivated to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people
• Excellent organisation skills, and a high level of attention to detail
• A confident, effective, personable and excellent communicator, with experience of liaising with stakeholders such as teachers, students, and suppliers
• Flexible and adaptive to the specific needs of the role and the workstreams
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills with the ability to work independently and take a proactive approach to work
• Experience using MS Office for data recording, analysis, admin and reporting.

Advantageous experience:

• 1-2 years’ experience in a similar role
• A qualification in psychology, education, health promotion, public health
• communications, marketing or project/business management
• Experience with stakeholder, and supplier liaison
• Experience of working with young people / a youth advisory panel
• Knowledge of the primary and secondary school sector in Ireland
• Experience of CRM & Mailchimp or similar systems
• Research experience including focus group facilitation

Key role responsibilities

• Operate as positive, authentic and passionate Ambassador for the primary and secondary schools programmes and for A Lust for Life
• Primary role is to support Head of Programme with delivering on the existing critical paths for the primary and secondary schools programmes, ensuring timelines are managed and deliverables are produced to a quality standard and within budgets
• Support and manage engagement and communication with the diverse group of programme stakeholders; including internal stakeholders, third parties, as well as the programme beneficiaries (children, young people, parents, teachers, schools) and a wider stakeholder group of partners and others
• Engage and manage all aspects of the Youth Advisory Panel (communication, facilitation, arranging meetings, budget etc)
• Manage programme queries and feedback communications.
• Manage communication campaigns including targeted emails, large scale mail outs, and phone calls.
• Engage in school recruitment for programme engagement, as well as programme evaluation, maintaining communications with evaluation partners and acting as the point of contact for schools.
• Engage in, events and workshops, representing the programmes at any relevant committees and events
• Assist with event preparation, management and attendance, including programme promotion and awareness activities
• Support the programme’s steering committees, including attending regular meetings, reporting and supporting follow up actions in a timely manner
• Create and maintain records and databases to a high standard, in accordance with GDPR legislation.
• Regularly report on progress to A Lust For Life management
• Perform any other job duties as required and /or directed by Head of Programmes & Managing Director 

Contract Information

• Contract role - 9 months
• Salary range €30,000 - €35,000 for a four day working week (Monday - Thursday)
• 21 days annual leave + public holidays in accordance with the terms of Part III of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997
• Place of work: Hybrid, must be based in Leinster and willing to travel to Dublin for meetings and events
• Start date: As soon as possible

Requirements for Submission

Please submit your CV and a short cover letter outlining your expression of interest by 5.00pm on 22nd of July2024 via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfz9ocAQMGua_7eKhaeqNb9vc5X4snrkmlF4aT3xytvTPM5aQ/viewform

Depending on the number and quality of submissions received, candidates may be shortlisted and called for a round of two interviews.

Please note that we are a very small team and therefore you will only be contacted if invited to interview. Late submissions will not be accepted.

If you do not have Google account please email your CV and short cover letter with the subject line: Cover letter for Programme Co-ordinator role to alflschools@alustforlife.com