The complexities of community centres

In the Peabody restructure, did I get the big job, the little job or no job?

 

I got the big job.  A lot of people took redundancy, so we are looking for a new person on our team.

 

What do I want to say and what do I want to ask?

 

What I want to say

Our team manage nearly 30 community centres across London.  I want every one of those centres to be making more money than they cost to run, have activities that are open and inclusive across age and ethnicity and use any profit to run innovative projects.

 

What do I want to ask?

How good is your finance / business acumen?

How well advised are you on how IT can transform business practices in our context?  E.g. websites, social media, finance systems.

How do you feel about challenging a generation that may have run a great community centre for 20 years, but are now coasting?

How will you engage people under 30 in the communities you work in?

What do you pride yourself about bringing to teams?

What would you like to learn that can help you move forward in your career?

 

Many people find the centres boring.  I don’t.  I want someone who is as passionate as I am.  Who won’t expand all their energies devising new projects to enhance their career development, but see they can enhance their career development through the complexities of the job as stands.