Over 14,000 

Background

U-turn is a thriving non-profit that exist to give homeless people the skills to overcome homelessness. Founded in 1997, we believe in life after homelessness. We believe that every homeless individual should have access to an effective pathway that addresses their physical, spiritual and emotional needs so they can leave the streets and become a long-term productive member of society.

To help homeless people overcome homelessness we operate a phased approach that includes rehabilitation from substance abuse, counselling, life-skills training and work placement in one of our social enterprises. This allows candidates to test and apply the training they’ve received. In the process, the programme inculcates a healthy work ethic, furnish modern job skills and give 18-24 months of real work experience so that individuals can graduate and be gainfully employed in the modern South African economy.

The programme is yielding wonderful results. Our candidates typically graduate into open market employment and show an 83% long term success rate! We are actively working to expand the programme to more locations in Cape Town and across South Africa.

Service Centres

U-turns Service Centres provide services to people living on the streets, to prepare them for and to support them on a journey of change. This includes providing food and clothing, therapeutic and development based interventions, and providing recovery support for those struggling with substance abuse. The ultimate aim of the Service Centre is to prepare individuals to participate in our work-based rehabilitation programme.

Work-readiness program

The work-readiness department forms part of the Life Change Journey and is tasked with providing work-based rehabilitation and skills development training that prepares clients for graduation into the open labour marker and reintegration into community. One day a week, each client attends a training day where they access group therapy, counselling, and input using a specially designed curriculum. This cycle of learning and then application follows a graded approach and continues for as long as needed. It takes an average of 18 months. Case-managers coordinate the entire intervention programme for the clients and work in close-collaboration with the worksite managers.

The position

U-turn is looking for a Strategic Partnership and Communications Team Leader.

The ideal candidate will be a committed Christian with at least three years of management experience in fundraising and communications, and a thorough understanding of the non-profit sector. The successful candidate will need to demonstrate a proven track record of visionary leadership; keeping up with trends, laws and relevant information; seeing new opportunities and breaking new ground.

The 2022 annual budget is R24m, half of which is raised by the communications team. The team consists of six staff with skills that include: fundraising, content creation, graphic design, web development, social and mainstream media, and donor stewardship.

Key areas of responsibility

• Develop and oversee the implementation of U-turn’s communication and fundraising strategy.
• Line manage the stewardship & communications team
• Oversee the creation of content and promotion through various platforms including website, newsletters, video, mainstream and social media
• Identify and create new donor / supporter leads.
• Develop and maintain important stakeholder relationships.
• Research funding opportunities and oversee the timeous writing / compilation and submission of funding proposals.

Experience and Skills

• Leadership of staff and volunteers in an intercultural environment
• Ability to identify and maximise communication and funding opportunities
• Keeping up to date with trends, laws and relevant information
• Excellence in written and spoken communication
• Ability to manage and diffuse tension
• Public Speaking
• Networking
• Creativity
• Data-analysis
• Mainstream and social media
• Video and web development
• Driver’s license

Personal attributes

• Resourceful individual that is not easily flustered
• Ability to self-motivate, and work with minimal supervision, and supervise a multidisciplinary team
• Collaborative team player – concerned with the team success as well as individual performance
• Emotionally mature individual
• Problem solver who is open to change and able to take initiative
• Willingness to learn and grow personally

Next Steps

Candidates interested in this position must submit a letter of motivation and CV to recruitment@homeless.org.za. The letter of motivation should be approximately 1 page in length and include information on why you would like to work at U-turn and how you fulfil the required knowledge skills set outlined above. Please note that applications without a letter of motivation will not be considered.

Background

U-turn is a thriving non-profit that exist to give homeless people the skills to overcome homelessness. Founded in 1997, we believe in life after homelessness. We believe that every homeless individual should have access to an effective pathway that addresses their physical, spiritual and emotional needs so they can leave the streets and become a long-term productive member of society.

To help homeless people overcome homelessness we operate a phased approach that includes rehabilitation from substance abuse, counselling, life-skills training and work placement in one of our social enterprises. This allows candidates to test and apply the training they’ve received. In the process, the programme inculcates a healthy work ethic, furnish modern job skills and give 18-24 months of real work experience so that individuals can graduate and be gainfully employed in the modern South African economy.

The programme is yielding wonderful results. Our candidates typically graduate into open market employment and show an 80% long term success rate! We are actively working to expand the programme to more locations in Cape Town and across South Africa.

The position – retail with purpose

There is an opportunity for a person with strong retail skills and experience to join the U-turn team as Shop Manager thus giving them the opportunity to apply their professional retail skills in a development setting.

Reporting directly to the Retail Area Manager, the candidate will apply their retail skills to run our retail store in Fish Hoek to grow sales and profitability. At the same time, the person will be managing a team of sales assistants who were formerly homeless and are currently on the U-turn work- rehabilitation programme.

The ideal candidate is someone who is happy to work in an organization with strong Christian motivations, displays a passion to see people grow (i.e. to work developmentally) and is excellent at customer service. This is a full time position.

Key areas of responsibility

• Manage a U-turn charity store to meet sales targets, including motivating staff to do so.
• Provide excellent customer service, dealing effectively with complaints and queries, and encouraging customers to join the U-turn loyalty programme.
• Ensure cash and stock handling at the store is done as per instructions
•  Preparing promotional materials and displays
  • Ensure the store is a therapeutic space for those on the U-turn Life Change Programme.
• Provide training for and day to day management of store assistants, including task allocation, leave days, adherence to the disciplinary code, and supporting the unique growth journey of each person.
• Maintain, update, and enforce safety and security procedures.

Experience

• Previous experience in the retail sector (essential)
• Experience as a duty manager/ assistant manager or a manager in a retail setting (desirable)

Skills

• Excellent communication skills – verbal and written
• Well-developed interpersonal skills
•  Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise
• A collaborative team player – concerned with the team success as well as individual performance
•  Ability to motivate, coach, and develop people
•  Commercial awareness

Personal Attributes

• Self-starter – high energy levels, able to self-direct their work to hit targets.
•  Enthusiastic and confident
• Resourceful
•  Trustworthy – works with integrity
•  Good Listener – will challenge constructively and respond well to feedback

Organisational Fit (where applicable)

• If in Recovery – actively engaged in own ongoing recovery, accessing accountability support and practicing recovery behaviour
•  If employed as a Professional – affiliation with professional board, continued personal development and accessing supervision
• Gospel orientation – connected to a local fellowship of believers, reading the Bible and grounded in Gospel-motivated Social Action

Next Steps

Candidates interested in this position must submit a letter of motivation and CV to recruitment@homeless.org.za. The letter of motivation should be approximately 1 page in length and include information on why you would like to work at U-turn and how you fulfill the required knowledge skills set outlined above. Please note that applications without a letter of motivation will not be considered.