Vacancy – Swimming Activator

Vacancy - Swimming Activator (Dublin City)

Swim Ireland is the National Governing Body (NGB) for Swimming, Water Polo, Diving and associated Aquatic Disciplines on the island of Ireland. Swim Ireland’s Head Office is based at Irish Sport HQ, National Sports Campus, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 with circa 60 employees. Swim Ireland’s remit as a Governing Body is to increase participation, run the competitive aspect of our sport and to provide a framework for regulation. For further information, please see our website at www.swimireland.ie.

We are currently recruiting for the role of Swimming Activator (Dublin City) to join our dynamic team.

This is an exciting time with the launch of the National Swimming Strategy which calls for the deployment of Swimming Activators to work with all stakeholders to ensure the active promotion and development of swimming opportunities. Swimming Activators will work with LSPs, local authorities, facility operators, clubs, schools, and community groups to boost swimming participation. Their efforts will align with Swim Ireland’s Participation Strategy and the National Swimming Strategy (2024-2027), aiming for increased participation in the short term and with long-term goals of community health improvement, increased capacity, and aquatic workforce development.

Swim Ireland’s selection process aims to ensure that we get the right people recruited into the right role. We want to ensure that you have the best opportunity to display your skills and experience. Swim Ireland has identified Core Values that we consider to be integral to delivering exceptional service to our stakeholders:

- Skills, Professionalism, Knowledge
- Integrity and Excellence in Governance
- My Passion, Our Vision

If selected for interview, you will be provided with a candidate support pack giving you information and guidance on the selection process.

Role and Reporting Structure

Reporting to the Community Manager, the Swimming Activator (Dublin City) will assist Swim Ireland and Dublin City Council in achieving their core objectives of promoting swimming. The successful applicant will work closely with Dublin City Sport & Wellbeing Partnership, other council staff & facility operators and commercial entities to both enhance and create opportunities to encourage more people to swim on a regular basis.

Key Areas of Responsibility

- Swimming Places

- Engage with swimming pool operators to secure pool time for Swim Ireland programmes and hard to reach groups.

- Identify suitable open water swimming locations, working with the Local Authority to ensure locations are safe, accessible, inclusive and welcoming.

- Swimming People

- Organise swimming teaching courses in conjunction with the Education department and local facilities.

- Increase the diversity of our swimming teacher community by engaging with hard-to-reach groups to promote teaching swimming.

- Recruit, train and retain Community Coaches to deliver community programmes in each county.

- Identify suitable candidates to become Coach Developers/ Swim Ireland Tutors within each county.

- Swimming Programmes

- Support the development of programmes in collaboration with Swim Ireland Activation & Participation department, and Local Sports Partnerships.

- Deliver specific lifecycle programmes in swimming to support females to participate at all stages of the lifecycle.

- Deliver programmes for hard-to-reach groups, in line with Sport Ireland and Healthy Ireland objectives.

- Seek feedback and evaluate programmes periodically.

- Engage and deliver on campaigns and key events e.g. EWOS, HER Outdoors.

- Swimming Partners

- Create awareness and clarify Swim Ireland’s role and relevance in swimming and water safety with partners and the wider public.

- Develop and strengthen relationships with swimming pool operators.

- Develop and strengthen relationships with Local Authorities and Local Sports Partnerships.

- Engage with Community groups, Charities and other supporting organisations to promote swimming programmes and identify participants.

Other Responsibilities

- Set and monitor standards for the delivery of swimming programmes in the council’s administrative area.
- Collate all evaluation data as required by Swim Ireland and DCSWP.
- Monitor the budget for programme delivery, ensuring that spend is within allocated budget.
- Produce regular reports as detailed in the relevant section above.

Person Specification:

Education and Experience

- Relevant experience in a similar role, or previous experience in a sports environment.
- Relevant third level qualification to degree level in Sports Development, Sports & Recreation, Health Promotion, or other relevant disciplines.

or

- At least 2 years of relevant on the job experience.
- Ability to work on your own initiative.
- Ability to deal with queries efficiently and effectively.
- A knowledge of local and regional sports structures.
- Swimming teacher qualification would be beneficial.
- Highly motivated and have a proven track record in sports development and programme delivery.

Key Qualities

- Excellent organisational and leadership
- Excellent communication and administration skills, with attention to detail.
- Excellent people skills, willing to meet new people and work with volunteers.
- Strong work ethic, flexibility and adaptability.
- Team player, with ability to work on their own initiative or under pressure.
- Be eligible to work in Ireland on a full-time basis.
- Some evening and weekend work is expected; availability for flexible working hours is required.
- Full, clean driving license and access to vehicle.
- Excellent working knowledge of IT and software packages including MSOffice, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Knowledge and experience of designing, delivering and evaluating programmes.

Applicants should note that this list is not exhaustive and is subject to change as required as appropriate.

Remuneration and Location

- The package will include a salary commensurate with qualifications and experience to commence at circa €36,000-€38,000 per annum.
- Position Tenure: 3 year fixed-term full-time contract.
- Position Location: Dublin City Sports & Wellbeing Partnership, Dublin. Some level of hybrid working will be permitted but is dependent on the requirements of the business. Occasional travel to Swim Ireland office at Sport Ireland Campus, Dublin 15 will be required.

Appointment will be made subject to satisfactory:

Safeguarding and vetting requirements; and reference checks.

Applicants should include a Cover Letter and up to date CV.

- Closing date for applications is Monday 6th January 2025 @ 12 midday.
- Interviews will be held in Irish Sport HQ the week commencing 13th January 2025.

At Swim Ireland, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace; so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every element in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Swim Ireland is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

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