Project Coordinator (Community Activity Facilitator)

The post holder will provide one to one support and signposting for Converge participants and work both with the team and independently to design and deliver a range of opportunities as part of the Converge offer. This will include codesigning personal progression plans for individuals, seeking and securing volunteering roles within the community. The role also includes collaboration with external partners across sectors to identify and create and extend the offer beyond the university.

To be successful in the role you will have a strong awareness of the local political landscape and social economic factors that impact the wider community. Have experience of contributing to successful service delivery, showing initiative in improving service delivery to meet the needs of key stakeholders. At Converge Northumbria we have a vision to empower individuals and provide opportunities, a vision we would want the role holder to share. We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic individual to apply their expertise and experience to work effectively and positively across different sectors, with a confident ability to work independently on own initiative, and as part of a team

A small but expanding team; the post holder will work closely with the Project Director, Student Engagement Coordinator and wider staff team and will be principally located in city campus east, within the Design school in the centre of Newcastle. However, they will be expected to attend all University Sites including Coach Lane Campus. The role can be fast paced, challenging at times whilst also being very rewarding. We work within a small team environment as part of the larger ADSS team across the university. The successful candidate will engage within our University & Converge community across numerous faculties & external partners & agencies.

About Converge

The Converge model was founded by York St John in 2008 and established with a pilot at Northumbria University in 2016. It is a unique creative education programme that connects people with mental health challenges with their local university and community partners to become Converge Northumbria Students.

Converge Northumbria students are adults (18 and over) who study non-accredited courses and access the same academic staff, learning resources, and well-being services as university students. Creative courses are taught by staff, students, creative practitioners, and former Converge Northumbria students, on campus and in local cultural venues, with progression into further study, volunteering or work as directed by the individuals themselves.

Converge Northumbria works with students not patients, offers education not therapy, with the whole person. It is community-led and always in partnership. Above all, the overall aim is for every Converge student to be ordinary, extraordinary, and to be themselves.

Converge Northumbria is dedicated to the delivery of university based educational opportunities for individuals who use mental health services. We do this through an innovative partnership across the public and voluntary sectors across the region. Our purpose is guided by the following principles of a community of learners, Northumbria University is a research-intensive university that unlocks potential for all. We change lives regionally, nationally, and internationally through education and research, tackling the global challenges of our age to transform society and the economy. Find out why we were named Times Higher Education's University of the Year in 2022 and Modern University of the Year in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.

Northumbria recorded the biggest rise of any UK university for research power in the Research Excellence Framework for the second time in 2021 and is now ranked top 25 in the UK for this measure.

One of the largest universities in the UK with over 37,000 students from more than 140 countries, filled with world-leading research, award-winning partnerships, and students at the heart of an outstanding experience.Discover more about us .

Northumbria University is a great place to work. We empower our exceptional people to achieve shared ambitions and promote a positive work life balance. We offer a wide range of benefits including excellent pension schemes, flexible working, a generous holiday entitlement, continued commitment to your learning and development and more.

Our Northumbria Values are guiding principles that define who we are, what we do and what is important to us. Our Values are: Academic Excellence;Innovation;Inclusivity;Collaboration; andAmbition.

Our Behaviours describe how we do things and how we work together at Northumbria, reflecting our culture and our decision-making. Our Behaviours are: We listen and learn, we support one another to success, we respect everyone and their contributions, we trust in ourselves and each other and we are bold.

Our Values and Behaviours were co-created by colleaguesfrom a range of roles across the University, whoworked collaboratively to consider what it feels like to work for Northumbria, and where we need to continue to transform together to achieve what's important to us.

This is a fixed term role that is currently funded until the end of March 2027, we will endeavour to secure further funding during this time period.

It's 14.8 hours, preferable days between Tuesday -Thursday as this is when our main activity takes place.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 therefore the successful candidate will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check