Eat Smart Local Coordinator (South Tyneside)

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Job Advert: Eat Smart Local Coordinator

Organisation: Bind CIO
Location: South Tyneside / Work from home / office in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley
Contract: 28 hours per week (approx 32 hours term-time and 4 hours per week in school holidays). Fixed term 10 months initially with view to extend
Reports to: Eat Smart Project Manager
Salary: £27,872 - £29,120 pro rata / £19,510 - £20,384 per annum

About Bind
BIND UK is a specialist team offering expert advice and guidance to organisations that are determined to deliver practical, positive and permanent impact to the UK’s Food Waste Challenge. We believe change is created not by a handful of people doing sustainability perfectly, but by everyone doing a little something. Find out more about our values and purpose here.
https://projectbind.com/about/

About Eat Smart
Eat Smart is a successful primary school educational programme born in the NE of England designed to inspire children and schools to reduce food waste and build sustainable food systems. We deliver engaging resources and learning experiences that empower schools and pupils to have more ownership of their kitchens/dinner halls, improve student wellbeing, and have increased environmental awareness.
Since 2018 Eat Smart has enabled 70 schools in North East England to rescue their food waste by over 25%, equivalent to saving 6,000 meals worth £13,000 per school, per year, and our expansion to other areas of the UK has already begun. With an ever-growing data set and credibility for school food waste prevention, we have increasing potential to affect school food policy and deliver food waste prevention interventions on a national level.
We have recently been awarded funding to deliver the programme in 10 schools in South Tyneside. Delivery began in Autumn 2025 but due to ill health we are now recruiting an Eat Smart Local Coordinator to take forward the delivery until February 2027. , with the option to extend beyond this subject to funding.
Please click on the following links for more information:
Introducing Eat Smart - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JEP4zsYMnbw_PTrRkjjmxNYDGRVqoPYB/view?…

Eat Smart Timeline - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gk7lpr8wg1gIKYUCcy8Q7GuCW4fAqDh_/view?…

Bind Website - https://www.projectbind.com/bind-flagship-projects/

Job Role
The purpose of the Eat Smart Local Coordinator role is to lead on the delivery of the Eat Smart project in primary schools in South Tyneside, and to contribute to the development of the project to meet its financial, environmental and social objectives.
The ability to inspire others, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, being very well organised and the ability to work well under pressure are crucial for this role.
In order to raise awareness about food waste, and enable schools, their staff and pupils to prevent food waste, we are looking for someone who is aligned with Bind’s values and wants to help drive Eat Smart to further improve its impact.

Key Information
Deadline for all applications is 9am on 9th March 2026 – applications received after this date will not be considered
Stage 1 interviews will consist of a short informal phone call and will take place on the 10/11th March 2026
Stage 2 interviews will be a formal in-person interview and will take place on 16/17th March 2026 at Bind’s office at Cobalt Studios, 10-16 Boyd St, Newcastle NE2 1AP
The start date will be 20th April 2026, but start dates will be discussed at interview.
Please see the application process below, applications which do not provide the required documents will not be considered
We will contact all applicants as soon as possible to inform them of the status of their application
If you require any further information, please contact vacancies@projectbind.com

Reports to: Eat Smart Project Manager
Responsible for: Eat Smart volunteers

Pay and Benefits
28 hours per week
Predominantly term-time only hours (Approx. 32 hours per week during term-time)
A mixture of flexible and fixed hours, although must be able to deliver sessions within school times.
Working days and hours will vary from week-to-week but will be scheduled at least 3 weeks in advance
£13.40- £14.00/hr / £27,872 - £29,120 pro rata / £19,510 - £20,384 per annum
Employment term: 10 months from April 2026, with a view to make permanent thereafter, subject to funding. Initial probationary period of 3 months.

Main Duties:
As Eat Smart Local Coordinator, you will be responsible for:
Leading the delivery of the Eat Smart project in South Tyneside, ensuring it exceeds its intended outcomes and keeps to set budgets and timescales
Leading on communications with primary schools to recruit them on to the project and arrange delivery of sessions
Recruiting, training and managing Eat Smart volunteers to assist with delivery of the project
Scheduling programme delivery so that it can be delivered in two schools simultaneously
Delivering assemblies, Food Awareness workshops and Waste Warrior meetings with primary school pupils
Holding meetings with senior school staff, teachers and kitchen staff to ensure the whole school is engaged in the project
Delivering daily school food waste audits with the pupils, including weighing and emptying food waste bins weighing up to 10kg
Generating and manipulating food waste data to produce bespoke reports for each school
Co-designing interventions to reduce food waste with pupils and school staff
Leading meetings with other organisations to make changes to school meals e.g. catering companies, local authorities, school trusts
Delivering the legacy element of the project in the most engaged schools
Ensuring photos and videos are captured of programme delivery in line with relevant Safeguarding and GDPR policies held by the school and Bind
Promoting the project through social media channels
Ensure an excellent and professional relationship is maintained with schools, including complying with school policies and procedures
Attending regular staff appraisals with the Eat Smart Project Manager
Undertaking any other tasks or duties that may reasonably be required
Delivering an annual Eat Smart celebration and awards event
Designing and delivering an annual thank you meal/event for ES volunteers

To be amazing in this role, you will need the following attributes/experience…
Essential:
Positive attitude and ability to solve problems under pressure
Personable, excellent communicator
Experience of working with children of primary school age, and the ability to inspire them and capture their imaginations
Ability to manage competing priorities
Very strong organisational, administrative and time-management skills
The ability to work in a self-directed manner and as part of a team, where the ability to develop and build good working relationships is key
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
A flexible and non-judgmental approach to people and work
Good IT skills (shared documents, spreadsheets, Zoom/Teams, social media and emails)
Full driving license (Bind’s van is available if you do not have your own vehicle) and/or means to travel to schools across South Tyneside (e.g. by bike)

Desirable:
Interest in, and awareness of, food waste on a local and global level
Experience of delivering an educational programme
Knowledge of primary school systems, policies and procedures
Experience of working in a school or commercial kitchen environment
Knowledgeable in H&S and safeguarding policies
Experience of working with volunteers
First aid trained
Access to own vehicle (expenses will be reimbursed)

** A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Enhanced Disclosure Check will be required for the post, but a clean DBS certificate is not essential for the role - we will review employees with a criminal record on a case-by-case basis. **

Application Process

If you are interested in applying, please send the following:
Covering letter describing why you want to work for Bind on the Eat Smart project, your relevant experience and how you meet the job specification above (1 page maximum)
An up-to-date CV

Please attach the above to an email and send it to vacancies@projectbind.com with an email subject of “Your Name + Eat Smart Local Coordinator”

Please see the “Key Information” box above for a timeline and deadlines for the application process.