We are hiring!

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Saturday Retail Assistant to join the team at our Lighthouse charity shop on Gloucester Street on a six month fixed term contract basis until April 2025! If you would like to find out more, please read the role profile below which includes details on how to apply. The closing date for applications is Friday, 4 October.

Helping Hands – Saturday Retail Assistant – role profile

Responsible to:                              Shop Manager 

Based at:                                          The Lighthouse, Gloucester Street, Leamington Spa 

Hours per week:                             7 hours per week on a 6 month fixed term contract until April 2025

Last updated:                                  September 2024 

About The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse is our charity shop on Gloucester Street, near the bottom of The Parade, in Leamington, is a vital fundraiser for Helping Hands – but also much more than this. It is a friendly, welcoming venue which lives and breathes the supportive ethos of Helping Hands.

While the shop is a valuable source of revenue to help power all our other projects, it is also a vibrant community hub and a place where people using our services can gain volunteering experience.

Run by manager Sue and assistant manager Jamie, with support from their fantastic team of staff and volunteers, a warm welcome is offered to all visitors, whether they come to donate, or to buy, or just to drop in to find out more about Helping Hands!

About the role

As our Saturday Retail Assistant, you will be overseeing the shop’s retail activity on Saturdays, with support from volunteers, to help generate further income for the charity while enabling our supporters to drop off donations at weekends and find out more about the charity and its mission.

Key responsibilities

·      To cover the opening hours of the shop (10am – 4pm) on a Saturday and provide excellent customer care to the shop’s customers, while maintain excellent relationships with the shop’s donors/supporters. 

·      To ensure that the shop premises are clean and tidy on a Saturday, and that goods are displayed in an attractive and presentable manner.

·      Helping to embed the ethos of Helping Hands and promote the charity’s mission and services.

·      Processing customer payments at the till.

·      Accepting donations from the charity’s supporters and sorting through these donations.

·      To act as key holder; to open and close the shop for agreed trading hours and ensure that the premises are secure upon leaving.

·      Ensure that any issues or complaints in the shop are resolved quickly and effectively. 

·      Signpost any queries about Helping Hands’ services to the charity’s head office team.

·      To support with training new staff and volunteers on a Saturday.

·      To ensure Gift Aid is promoted within the shop and Saturday volunteers are fully aware of Gift Aid processes.  

·      Work positively and effectively with other members of the team.

·      To attend where appropriate, training courses relevant to the development of your role and the work of the charity.

·      Adhere to all relevant policies and procedures including those relating to Health and Safety and Safeguarding, ensuring that all accidents and incidents are recorded.

·      To carry out any other duties as agreed with the Shop Manager that relate to the aims of Helping Hands Community Project and The Lighthouse Charity Shop. 

Person specifications

·      Excellent customer service skills and experience of working in a customer facing environment.

·      Strong organisation and communication skills, with the ability to relate to a wide range of people and resolve issues or problems, pragmatically and fairly.

·      Able to handle money and keep basic financial and administrative records.

·      Dependable, reliable and honest, with an enthusiastic and confident manner.

·      Good IT skills including using Outlook.

·      Good timekeeping skills to ensure the shop maintains regular opening hours on a Saturday.

·      Creative flair to help ensure the shop’s displays remain attractive and fresh.

·      Ability to work well independently and as part of a team.

·      Retail and merchandising/window dressing experience beneficial but not essential.

Other requirements

·      The postholder will at times deal with difficult and emotive situations or meet and build relationships with challenging individuals with complex needs.  They will need to respond empathetically with individual guests, and to form supportive, non-judgemental relationships.  It will at times be necessary to challenge disruptive or unacceptable behaviour but in a sympathetic yet assertive way.  

·      The work of Helping Hands is unpredictable and developing, and as our Saturday Retail Assistant, you will need to be able to maintain the routine workings of the shop amongst the diverse events happening with individual guests and also volunteers. As our Saturday Retail Assistant, you will also need to be able work independently and autonomously, while being able to problem solve and make decisions.

·      This post requires some level of physical effort, and is a combination of office work, shop floor work, drop in work and some attendance at meetings. Use of a computer forms part of the working day.  Some manual handling is required of shop stock and bagged donations.  

·       Safeguarding - The charity is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the people using our services.  All staff have a responsibility to adhere to the charity’s safeguarding policy, and to report any identified concerns of abuse or exploitation through the appropriate route.

·       Confidentiality - This role will encounter confidential personal data and is expected to follow charity policy (informed by data protection legislation) in handling this information, and to sign a confidentiality agreement.   

How to apply

The deadline for applying for this role is Friday, 4 October. Please submit your CV and covering letter to shop@helpinghandscharity.org.uk 

Job Terms & Conditions 

Normal hours of work: 9.30am – 4.30pm on Saturdays - 7 hours a week (excluding the statutory breaks) on a six month fixed term contract basis until April 2025. From time to time you may be required to work such additional hours as are necessary to meet the requirements of our Charity.  

Line management: You will report into the Shop Manager/the Assistant Shop Manager.

Salary: £11.44 per hour  for 7 hours per week. 

Terms & Conditions: Helping Hands Community Project has Terms and Conditions of Employment which are available upon request. 

Holiday entitlement: 25 days (pro rata) as well as Public Holidays. Any holiday must be taken at a time that has been agreed with your manager.

Equal Opportunities - Helping Hands has an equal opportunities policy and works to support equal opportunities, statutory requirements and principles of best practice.  No job applicant or member of staff will be discriminated against on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, sex, marital status, gender or on the grounds of disability or sexual preference, unless the role in question has a genuine occupational requirement.  Selection for training and development, and promotion, will be on the basis of an individual’s ability to meet the requirements of the job.  The post holder has personal responsibility to ensure they do not discriminate, harass, or bully, or contribute to or otherwise condone such behaviour by others.