Outreach Worker

The Union Cooperative Initiative (UCI) is hiring a new team of casual and project based Education Program Instructors to support the growing union cooperative movement in British Columbia. We will be recruiting a new Education Director or Co-Directors from this cohort. This is variable and project-based work to start as the UCI builds out sustaining revenue streams.

The UCI is a non-profit solidarity cooperative established in 2021 to support the development of union cooperatives as part of a social and solidarity economy in British Columbia. Our cooperative builds an economy that works for all by supporting the development, incubation, and operation of unionized cooperatives that are good for people and the planet.

The UCI operates 3 core BUILD programs: BUILD POWER: Worker & Community Training Program, BUILD CO-OPs: Cooperative Development and UCI Cooperative Network, and BUILD COMMUNITY: Purchasing Alliance & Local Solidarity Economy Movement Building.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Under the direction of the Outreach Team Coordinator, the UCI is seeking casual and part-time outreach workers on contracts ranging from for 6 – 12 hours per week to start. Additional hours will be available through project funding and grants.

Regular hours during the onboarding and training period fall on Tuesday to Thursday with hours between 10 am and 4:00 pm out of the UCI studio in Chinatown in Vancouver. After a 1 to 4-week training period has been completed, outreach workers will work with their team lead on new and flexible self-directed schedules. Some availability for evening and weekend work is required.

A passion for community development, dedication to social and economic justice, and interest in building a solidarity economy is required. 

Outreach workers will support the community building work of the UCI. This includes outreach to potential partner organizations for sales, sponsorship, and membership of our incubated cooperatives, and the various campaign and community building work of the UCI and partner organizations.

QUALIFICATIONS

Familiarity, understanding, and support of the principles of labour unions and cooperatives is essential for success in this role.

A combination of education and experience in two or more of the following areas will be useful: the labour union movement, cooperative development, community advocacy, electoral and political campaigns, faith-based and community organizing, and volunteer work with non-profit community organizations.

Although this position is a part of a team, this work is primarily self-directed and requires strong time management, scheduling and organizational skills. Additional spoken and written language skills are an asset and eligible for additional compensation should these skill sets be used in work.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Key responsibilities include:

Sales Outreach
  1. Cold calling of new prospective clients partners to generate new fee-for-service sales
  2. Calling referrals and leads to promote UCI fee-for-service projects and network cooperatives
  3. Calling former clients and partners to promote new services and generate repeat orders
  4. Monitoring outreach inboxes and following up on inbound e-mails to schedule sales calls and meetings
  5. Assisting customers as they shop for new products or services
  6. Making product suggestions according to the wants and needs of customers
  7. Meeting or exceeding weekly, monthly, and quarterly sales quotas
Fundraising
  1. Cold calling of new prospective partners and donors to generate grants, sponsorship, and donations to support the UCI, new projects, campaigns, and non-profit initiatives
  2. Calling members, donors, supporters, and workers to generate new donations, grants, and sponsorship
  3. Monitoring outreach inboxes and following up on inbound e-mails to schedule fundraising calls and meetings
  4. Generating donor target lists through community outreach
  5. Meeting or exceeding weekly, monthly, and quarterly fundraising targets
Events
  1. Assisting with sales and partner outreach at community and labour union events
  2. Tabling and promoting UCI fee-for-service projects
  3. Building contact lists and generating prospective donors and sales contacts
Administrative
  1. File weekly and monthly progress reports with the Outreach Team Leader
  2. Update outreach tracking lists
  3. Take notes during meetings
  4. Prepare meeting reports and summaries
  5. Prepare project estimates and quotes
  6. Maintain individual and shared e-mail inboxes
General
  1. Conduct outreach in support of the goals of the UCI and union cooperatives
  2. Attend UCI general membership meetings and local cooperative meetings
  3. Attend UCI member events, meetings, and conventions
  4. Participate in weekly meetings with the Team Leader online, monthly team meetings online, and in-person meetings at the UCI Studio in Vancouver’s Chinatown
  5. Other duties as assigned
JOB LOCATION

This is an hybrid office-based position and remote located out of the UCI Studio in Chinatown, Vancouver. Workers must be available to work in-person at the UCI Studio for the entire training period (ranging from 1 week to 1 month) and participate in in-person meetings every two months.

WAGES AND BENEFITS

Workers at the UCI are covered under collective agreement with the Arts and Cultural Workers Union (ACWU), IATSE Local B778. Outreach worker roles are tied to the Living Wage Campaign for Metro Vancouver and start at $25.68 an hour. This base rate includes a calculation in lieu of benefits.

TO APPLY

Please fill out an application and upload your resume and cover letter or submit by email to info@unionci.ca.

This is a rolling application with intakes of new workers every 1-2 months. We encourage all interested candidates to put in a general application for other work opportunities in the UCI network as well. Only those candidates shortlisted will be contacted for an interview.

If you are interested in learning more about the UCI, solidarity economies, and our network cooperatives, please sign up to attend an upcoming network orientation.