Locality Officers x 4, Live Longer Better in an Age Friendly Hertfordshire

Age UK Hertfordshire

About the Age Friendly: Live Better Programme

Funded by the Public Health Prevention Investment Programme (PHIP), we are looking for people to join our exciting new initiative which builds on the foundations of Age-Friendly Hertfordshire (AFH) and Live Longer Better in Hertfordshire (LLBiH). Currently, these initiatives are delivered as separate programmes—AFH focused on creating age-friendly environments and improving experiences of ageing through community engagement, local action and system-level influence, and LLBiH on physical activity and prevention to strengthen purpose, capability and connection. This new programme will bring elements of these programmes together into a single, countywide framework, enabling alignment, deeper local delivery, and a stronger shared legacy. This integration enables greater coordination, increased reach, creating a more systematic and impactful programme to support healthy ageing across Hertfordshire.

This programme, Age Friendly: Live Better, will be delivered by Age UK Hertfordshire, Herts Sports & Physical Activity Partnership and North Herts & Stevenage CVS. The programme will advocate for system-level change, while ensuring meaningful grassroots impact through community engagement, co-production, and local activation. The partnership will work across local government, health, VCFSE, private sector, and transport partners to champion age-friendly policies, while embedding co-designed, resident-led action at community level over the next 3 years. The main objectives of the programme will be to:

Reduce loneliness and isolation by increasing opportunities for connection, volunteering, and local engagement
Improve access to inclusive infrastructure and services, such as transport, toilets, and resting places
Strengthen cross-sector commitment to age-friendly practices in workplaces, planning, and service design
Shift behaviours by making it easier, safer, and more rewarding for older adults to remain active and engaged

The Age Friendly: Live Better programme is a pioneering initiative which aims to make ageing better a reality for everyone. We aim to inspire and inform those in power to tackle the inequalities faced by older people, call out and challenge ageism in all its forms and encourage the widespread take-up of brilliant ideas and approaches that help people to age better.

Job Purpose

This is a pivotal support role within the programme team, as part of the Age Friendly: Live Better movement. The overall purpose is to support the effective delivery of our work within local places so that more people across the county can enjoy their later life.

Working under the programme Lead and working closely with the programme team you will take responsibility in ensuring that the local delivery plans are implemented, working with the wider stakeholders in the local community.

The Locality Officer will provide direct support across multiple local areas on key actions, such as leading on walking audits, take a seat campaigns, and working with local stakeholders to identify, implement and embed age friendly priorities. In addition, they will play a key role with the programme communications and working with local communities, including overseeing and maintaining our approach to keeping contact with members, responding to enquiries and requests, coordinating events and email communications.

The postholder will be responsible for day-to-day delivery of the local action plan, working independently while maintaining strong communication with the programme team. They will support ongoing review and development of processes as the programme evolves, ensuring our approach remains effective and responsive.

Specific duties and responsibilities

Partnership and local community responsibilities:

Lead engagement with district, borough, town and parish councils to embed Age Friendly principles within local strategies and service delivery, and support them through the process of preparing for and achieving formal Age Friendly accreditation.
Collaborate with district partners to align local priorities and advance the Age Friendly agenda, establishing Age Friendly Partnerships(s) and working groups as required.
Represent the programme and partner organisations at local community events, partnership meetings and engagement activities.
Support establishment and ongoing delivery of local Older People’s Forums or equivalent structures to ensure strong resident voice in shaping priorities.
Work with local authority and VCFSE partners to identify and pursue funding opportunities that can support local Age Friendly projects and innovation.
Recruit local organisations, community groups and stakeholders to join the Age Friendly Network and strengthen commitment to age-friendly practices and sign up to the Age Friendly employer pledge.
Participate in programme steering groups, providing insight from local delivery to inform countywide planning, priorities and system-level action, and vice versa.
Lead or support delivery of local campaigns and engagement activities, including initiatives linked to national movements (e.g., International Day of Older People, Act Now Age Better, Take 5 to Age Well).
Promote and support awareness, recruitment and engagement with the Age Friendly Ambassador Programme across the local area.
Support development and implementation of the action plan for the local area, ensure it remains on track and is delivered within agreed times.
Manage volunteers who will be supporting the implementation of the local action plan
Engage stakeholders across community, voluntary and statutory sectors to build commitment, through attending meetings.
Establish means by which to engage with local people, raise awareness and interest in participating in the initiative.
Research and coordinate policy development in line with this work.
Prepare and present briefings and reports about progress against plans, at internal and external events
Produce written reports as required for internal management purposes as well as for wider external publication
Maintain a ‘lessons learned’ document to support and guide other areas wishing to progress an ‘Age Friendly’ assessment and programme of work.
To develop an understanding of the needs of older people which are not being fully met and feed this information into the ongoing development plans for our services, and to help us target activity to address these needs.
To assist with the evaluation of service feedback and ensure that relevant information is acted on by services and also used to develop future services.
Keep accurate records using the partnership’s client management system.
Set up Network meetings and record minutes
Ensure all activities are delivered in accordance with agreed policies and procedures e.g. equalities and diversity, health and safety, confidentiality, data protection etc.
Support regular network communications, including the monthly newsletter and member bulletins.
Work with the team to ensure the online resources and web pages are up to date, accurate and accessible to members, and meet the needs of new and potential members.
Promote and support open and effective collaboration across the programme
Carry out all duties in a professional manner and in line with our values
Undertake any other roles or responsibilities that may be reasonably required

Person specification

CriteriaEssentialDesirableHow

identified & assessed

Knowledge / skills An excellent understanding of project managementxInterview/ ApplicationAbility to influence a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, VCFSE partners, community groups and older residents.xInterview/ApplicationAbility to manage sensitive situations, differing viewpoints and competing priorities constructively.xInterview/ApplicationExcellent administration and time management skillsxInterview/ ApplicationExcellent IT / information management skillsxApplicationExcellent presentation skillsxInterview/ ApplicationGood written & spoken communication skillsxInterview/ ApplicationAn understanding of the needs and concerns of older people, including those living with long-term conditions or disabilities or are underservedxInterview/ ApplicationKnowledge of statutory or voluntary agencies, ideally in Hertfordshire, and how they relate to those over 55 years of agexInterview/ ApplicationKnowledge of GDPR and its’ application in managing activities and volunteersxInterview/ ApplicationUnderstanding of marketing and communications.xInterview/ ApplicationAbility to build effective working relationships with a range of people across sectors, and organisations, representing people of different cultures, background and beliefsxInterview/ ApplicationAbility to think strategically and develop/deliver detailed implementation plans.xInterview/ ApplicationExperience Experience supporting programme or project teams through coordination, communication and organisational tasksxInterview/ ApplicationWorking on multiple projects and managing multiple deadlines & stakeholders simultaneouslyxInterview/ ApplicationExperience working with membership, contact or stakeholder management tools (e.g. excel, CRM)xApplicationExperience of working autonomously and managing workload independently, including in remote or lone-working environments.xInterviewExperience of managing volunteersxApplicationExperience of working collaboratively with other organisations.xInterview/ ApplicationPersonal qualities Commitment to the programme’s mission and principlesxInterviewOrganised, with an interest in and maintaining and improving administrative and other processesxInterview/Appli cationCollaborative approach and ability to build effective relationships with a wide range of peoplexInterviewAbility to take initiative, work independently and be creative in solving problemsxInterviewComfortable working remotely for significant periods, while staying connected to the wider team through virtual and in-person meetings.xInterviewAdditional Must occasionally be able to work outside of usual working hours.xInterviewAbility and willingness to travel around the County.xInterviewEqual Opportunities Commitment to incorporating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles into all aspects of work.xInterview/Application

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