Hackney Fixing Factory Workshop Manager

Hackney Fixing Factory Workshop Manager

Location: Primarily Hackney, with occasional travel to our head office in Brixton and other Fixing Factory locations in Camden and Haringey

Hours: Part-time - 30 hours per week

Working pattern: Four days per week

Exact hours will be agreed with the successful candidate, but you will need to be available from 9.30 to 5.30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, one regular weekend day and at least two regular evening per week.

Compensation: £31,945 per year full-time equivalent, (£25,556 pro-rata) with a probable pay increase after 6 months

Contract: 12 months with a strong likelihood of extension

Start date: Early April

What is a Fixing Factory? Fixing Factories do what they say on the tin! We help people fix their broken electricals and learn new fixing skills, shifting us from our current take-make-waste linear system towards a repair economy fit for the future. They generate public interest in repair. Through a series of stepping stone activities, we take people from never having looked inside an electrical item towards, if they wish, fixing for others.

The Fixing Factories is a partnership between The Restart Project and Possible, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. It launched in April 2022 with two initial sites in Brent (temporary site that is closed) and Camden. After the initial development grant we have secured funding for three years to open and mature three additional sites in London with a proportion of our focus being on long-term financial self-sustainability.

Each new Fixing Factory site will grow and nurture a community of repairers, be strongly linked with local residents and stakeholders, and be driven by engaged teams of volunteers. There will be a range of offers; from free community repair events to paid workshops and retail - as we develop a replicable model which will support our long term goal of 'a Fixing Factory in every high street'.

About The Restart Project: The Restart Project helps people transform their relationship with electronics by supporting groups to teach repair at community events, developing fixing spaces and campaigning for a Right to Repair and better waste policy. We are a team of 8, based in the UK with staff in Belgium and Italy. We started as an all-volunteer organisation and volunteers still play a crucial role in our work.

About project partner, Possible: Possible is a UK based climate charity working towards a zero carbon society, built by and for the people of the UK.

About the role

Passionate about repair? Love working in the community to help people embrace low-waste lifestyles? Ready to manage a team of volunteers to get our Hackney Fixing Factory up and running? We want to hear from you!

As our Hackney Fixing Factory workshop manager, you'll be responsible for the day-to-day operations of our newest Fixing Factory, helping members of the public to fix their broken items, and managing a successful team of volunteers and freelancers to support along the way. You'll deliver a programme of activities to teach people the basics of repair and change their mindset around electronic waste.

You'll be based mainly onsite at the Hackney Fixing Factory, working with a passionate Fixing Factory team including workshop managers for other sites, and a central development and project management team. You'll also work closely with Possible, our partner on the Fixing Factories project.

If you're a fixer with the skills and enthusiasm to manage a welcoming, safe and impactful repair hub in Hackney, this is the role for you!



Key responsibilities



Activity and delivery

• Take responsibility for overseeing onsite repairs and maintaining the process of logging incoming items at the Hackney Fixing Factory, ensuring these are done safely, effectively and to a consistent standard.
• Deliver a regular programme of activities at the Hackney Fixing Factories, including community drop-in repair sessions, workshops for the general public and for businesses, training to support volunteers to develop their repair skills, and sessions for volunteers to repair damaged electronic goods for onward sale (training and support in delivering these sessions will be provided at the start).
• Delivering other repair activities where requested.
• Work with the Fixing Factory Lead to make changes to the Hackney Fixing Factory in response to feedback and project needs.
• Participate in first aid training (to be organised by Restart) and act as an onsite first aider.
• Participate in safeguarding training (to be organised by Restart) and act as onsite safeguarding officer for the Hackney Fixing Factory, responding to any safeguarding disclosures and recording and reporting these to our Designated Safeguarding Lead at Restart as required.
• Take responsibility for ensuring health and safety, safeguarding and first aid protocols are implemented on site at all times and at external events where relevant.
• Ensure that Hackney Fixing Factory is a clean, safe, effective, inclusive and pleasant environment for staff, volunteers and members of the public
• Implement processes to manage the inventory of equipment, consumables, spares, and repaired items at Hackney Fixing Factory.
• Ensure workshop, tools and equipment are maintained and well organised.
• Be a keyholder for the workshop site.

Volunteer supervision

• Supervise Hackney Fixing Factory volunteers and freelancers, including leading volunteer inductions, regular work and wellbeing check-ins and volunteer team meetings and celebrations with support from the Fixing Factory Lead.
• Create an open, welcoming, inclusive environment for volunteers, encouraging collaboration and skill sharing
• Implement our onboarding, recruitment and anti-oppression processes for volunteers and freelance fixers at the Hackney Fixing Factory.
• Ensure there is a sufficient and growing pipeline of volunteers and freelancers, including leading recruitment for specific roles, to run activities laid out in the business plan, with support from the Fixing Factory Lead

Relationship management

• Build and maintain positive relationships with local stakeholders including members of the public, local repair businesses, local authorities, volunteers and community fixing initiatives with support from the Fixing Factory Lead.
• Maintain an open and honest line of communication with the Fixing Factory Lead, other workshop managers, operational group and Possible colleagues

Monitoring and evaluation

• Collect, and train volunteers to collect, monitoring and evaluation data related to the Fixing Factories to support measuring the projects impact, with support from the Fixing Factory Lead
• Take part in team-wide monitoring and evaluation workshops where requested

Income generation

• Work with the Fixing Factory Lead to track and grow onsite income generating activities to ensure that the shop meets its objectives for financial sustainability. This includes overseeing:

- Paid workshops and training sessions, including generating bookings from the public
- Sales of refurbished items
- Development of a repair club subscription
- Other income generation activities as agreed with the Fixing Factory team.



Budget management

• Follow agreed Fixing Factory finance processes, including correct and timely categorisation of regular project income and expenditure (training will be provided) with support from Fixing Factory Lead
• Manage Hackney Fixing Factory day-to-day finances: petty cash, buying materials, workshop consumables and reimbursing volunteers' expenses.

Communications

• Respond to enquiries about Hackney Fixing Factory via email with support from Fixing Factory Lead
• Update the Fixing Factory website and Eventbrite page with events where needed (training will be provided if needed)
• Manage booking systems for events with support from Fixing Factory Lead and Possible comms team (training will be provided if needed)
• Publicise workshop activities and off-site events locally with support from Fixing Factory Lead
• Respond to press and comms requests where requested (for example, providing quotations or facilitating visits from journalists). This does not necessitate acting as a 'live' press spokesperson unless you are comfortable with this.
• Where requested, facilitate comms team interactions with Hackney Fixing Factory volunteers, including requests for interviews and comms training requirements with support from the Fixing Factory Lead when needed

Organisational and partner involvement

• Attend monthly workshop manager meetings with the other Possible and Restart workshop managers. Hosting and chairing of these meetings will be on a rotating basis.
• Attend weekly Fixing Factory team meetings, monthly 1:1s, local partners group meetings and any other meetings requested that contribute to the effective running of Fixing Factories.
• Maintaining a good working relationship with a range of local stakeholders including Hackney Fixers and Hackney Council
• Represent Restart at public events and meetings where appropriate.
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