Could you be Baby Bank’s new Service Manager?

Our current Service Manager, Katy, (left) working with one of our fantastic volunteers in the Baby Bank Network storage hub.

We’re hiring! 

Baby Bank Network Bristol is looking for two dynamic individuals to share our Service Manager role.

Our Service Manager makes sure everything in our storage hub runs smoothly, so we can support as many families as possible. 

Broadly, the key tasks are to:

• Coordinate our hub making sure it is organised and well stocked
• Manage our team of volunteers to sort donations and pack orders
• Ensure efficient and safe service delivery, including donations coming in and referrals going out
• Collaborate with our team, particularly our office manager, admin assistant and delivery driver, to keep the wider service running smoothly.

Read the full job description.

Making sure all pre-loved donations are in the best condition to pass on to their new family.

A list of responsibilities rarely paints the full picture though. So here’s what an average day looks like for our current Service Manager, Katy.

A day in the life of our Service Manager

Our core hours are 9.30-2.30 which is great if you’re looking for a job within school hours. Katy arrives at our HQ in Fishponds about 9.30am and, at that point, she has no idea how the day’s going to pan out – it can really vary! 

As Katy arrives she notices a couple of bags of baby clothes which were dropped off yesterday, with a tiny pair of dungarees poking out of the top. They’re exactly the size we’re short of, so that’s a good sign.

9:30 – Catching up with the volunteers

Baby Bank runs on the energy of its volunteers – a brilliant, diverse group who show up every week because they believe in what we do. By 9:30, they’ve often already made a start on their usual tasks, or have spotted something else that needs doing – there’s an ongoing to-do list with tasks and priorities. Katy wants to make sure they always feel useful and valued, so checks in with how they’re getting on, answers any questions and directs them to the most time-sensitive tasks. She also keeps an eye that the space is organised enough for them to sort donations efficiently. 

Some days Katy will spend a morning showing a new volunteer the ropes, other times she’ll be catching up with someone who’s been helping out for years. In a corporate space it would be described as people management, but it feels much more human than that. 

10:00 – The morning check-in

Once the volunteers are underway, the next job is a quick scan of what donations have recently come in, and what needs to go out. Katy checks the referrals – these are families who've been identified by health visitors or other professionals as looking for support. There’s a family expecting a newborn any day. Twin toddlers looking for some age-appropriate toys and books to keep them entertained. A mum who’s had to leave her home at short notice and needs just about everything for her two little ones. That list of referrals starts to shape the day. 

Throughout the day, Katy is there to greet referral partners who’ve come to collect their orders, as well as people arriving to donate their pre-loved items. There are generally a few questions to answer about what we can and can’t accept – plus we want to make sure everyone knows how grateful we are for their support.

11:00 – Coordinating all our pre-loved donations 

Pre-loved donations go out almost as quickly as they arrive, because the demand for our service across Bristol is huge. In the meantime though, there’s lots of work required to make sure everything we pass on is in the best possible condition. The families we help are facing crisis or poverty – life can be really tough. The last thing we want is to give them a pram with 3 wheels or a bundle of grubby sleepsuits, so that takes a bit of coordination. Katy, and all our volunteers, take this seriously – sorting, cleaning and checking items with care so they’re ready for their new family. 

It’s worth pointing out that Katy’s on her feet for a lot of the day – it’s a great way to get your steps in! Between carrying pushchairs to their storage spot ready for checking, to finding a new home for 10 boxes of baby shampoo, to working alongside our delivery driver to squeeze that day’s donations in the van – some aspects of the job are quite active. 

12:30 – Collaborating with the team

Katy also works closely with our office manager and admin assistant to keep everything moving. When stock is running low on a particular item, she updates the wish list so the comms team can do a shout-out. She might liaise with a referral partner about a family's specific situation so we can try to provide age-appropriate items that fit in their space. Sometimes there’s a special request for a sibling, which we’ll try to accommodate. Before lunch Katy makes sure the health and safety paperwork is up to date – it’s processes and procedures like this that mean we can run the most efficient and professional operation. 

2:00 – End of the day

After a quick lunch in our new break-out space (we recently extended into our upstairs premises and everyone’s enjoying the luxury of a proper kitchen and sofa!) the volunteers head off and there’s a chance for Katy to catch up with emails. This is also a good time to look at the bigger picture of what needs addressing in the warehouse – a recent example has been developing a partnership with a local primary school who are going to use some of our old prams in their outdoor play. We love this re-use angle! 

Finally, Katy knows the orders for tomorrow's deliveries and collections are prepped and the storage space is tidy. Being organised and pro-active really helps things run smoothly, and by the end of the week, around 30 families across Bristol will have received the essential items their babies and young children need. 

Can you see yourself in this role?

We're looking for two Service Managers to share this role – a total of 30–40 hours a week between you, with core hours of 9:30–2:30, Monday to Friday. Flexible working, part-time hours and job shares are all welcome.

If you're highly organised, love working with people and want your working day to mean something, we'd love to hear from you.

Please review the full job description and follow the instructions to apply.