Community Engagement Officer (supporting our northwest England community and establishing our service delivery hub in Wigan and local areas)

We are searching for a Community Engagement Officer to join our existing community in the northwest of England to bring people with disabilities and dogs together, enabling life changing differences. 

As our Community Engagement Officer, you will support and grow Dogs for Good’s impact across the northwest of England, building strong relationships with our staff team, communities, partners and volunteers and growing our presence. You’ll also support the establishment, delivery and promotion of high-quality animal assisted interventions and activities in and around the Wigan area, helping more people benefit from the life-changing power of the human–dog bond. 

We have a proud and passionate community of volunteers, clients and supporters across the northwest and we asked them what type of person they would like to see in this role. They want someone enthusiastic about dogs and Dogs for Good, who can passionately talk about what we do and its impact and build great relationships with organisations across the region. Someone who knows the northwest so can quickly build rapport, trust, and authentic relationships with our existing community across the region and can find their way into the right local networks, forums and conversations.

They also want someone with great people skills — approachable, empathetic, with a sense of humour and able to work well with a diverse range of people. Someone who will listen to volunteers, value their years of experience and the ideas they bring and can help people feel connected and part of a team, even without a physical base. And, as one volunteer put it, someone who can ‘look both ways’: championing the needs and ideas of our northwest community, while also helping everyone stay connected to the wider priorities of Dogs for Good.

Your initial focus will be to link in with our existing community and develop relationships and ways of working that ensure our volunteers, clients, supporters and staff feel connected, both locally within and across the northwest and with the Dogs for Good central teams in Banbury, Oxfordshire. The second priority will be identifying and establishing opportunities and settings we can link in to with our community dog services in Wigan and the surrounding area, creating a Service Delivery hub. Partnering with specialist services and settings such as mental health, schools, stroke rehabilitation, social care or dementia support, our dogs, handlers, and practitioners can help individuals overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

Please see the Dogs for Good website for more information about the role including responsibilities and the key skills relating to the role: Community Engagement Officer (northwest England/Wigan) - Fixed Term Contract - Dogs For Good