Training and Care Quality Coordinator

Contact at organisation: Reinier van der Kuij, KNGF Geleidehonden, the Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation

Phone: +31(0)6-12410707

Email: P&O@geleidehond.nl

Are you committed to dogs and clients who need care? Would you like to develop policy to keep both the dog training and the services to people, including our clients, at the highest possible level? If you answered all these questions with a ‘yes’, you may be a suitable candidate for the following position:

Training & Care Quality Coordinator
(32-38 hours)

KNGF Geleidehonden, the Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation, trains guide dogs for people with a disability. In the first year, the pups from our own breeding programme live with our volunteer ‘foster families’ and subsequently our professional dog trainers and instructors train the dog to become a guide dog or other type of assistance dog. The dogs live with us at our school and are well looked after by the kennel staff.

About the position
As Quality Coordinator, you will be part of the Training & Care team. You actively develop policy (and translate into practical steps) in respect of dog training, dog care, client care, primary process planning and training policy. This policy will result in optimisation of the training and service provision processes. As Coordinator, you are responsible for the quality of the training, care and instruction programmes from the moment that the dog comes to our school until their retirement. You monitor the quality of the professional training courses followed by the trainers, instructors and kennel staff, and you help these colleagues to further develop their specific talents.

The coordinator

• is able to translate the IGDF and ADI international standards into policy, procedures and into practical steps to an efficient working method within our foundation.
• is responsible for the qualitative performance of our associates and assesses this on a regular basis
• monitors, promotes and assures the quality and uniformity of the service provision between our foundation and our associates
• is the chair of the Quality Meeting – in which resolutions are adopted on matters including the decision to re-educate, re-train, test (and reject) dogs – and as such has ultimate responsibility for these decisions
• closely collaborates with team leaders and other specialists and makes proposals to optimise and ensure productivity, the quality and efficiency of procedures
• is jointly responsible for making the dog-client match a success and initiates opportunities for improving this process where possible
• represents KNGF in situations that exceed the powers of the instructors
• gives solicited and unsolicited advice on the managers of the training teams in terms of progress and quality of the training, instruction and aftercare programmes
• provides the Training & Care manager with input in the field of dog training and dog care policy
• identifies and monitors in practice whether the training programmes are followed as described and evaluates the substance and the types of training with the relevant stakeholders, taking the KNGF, ADI and IGDF standards as the starting point
• contributes to the selection of new staff members
• proactively helps the Training & Care manager and team leaders produce solutions for increasing the number of dogs matched and maintain the quality of our dogs and services at the highest level possible.
• is responsible for maintaining and optimising his/her own professional knowhow and experience and for establishing and expanding internal/external national/international contacts

Your talent
You are curious and eager to learn, and you know better than anyone else what quality means for the processes through which the organisation, the animals and people develop. You easily connect with people and motivate them in a natural way. You are clear in your communications and are not easily discouraged. As a bridge-builder, you are capable of putting quality on the agenda at different levels and to contribute to the ongoing development of quality.
You have studied, or have equivalent ability to higher education level. Your empathy as well as your social/psychosocial and teaching skills are above average; therefore, we are looking for people with strong analytical ability and a strong understanding of psychology. You are always proactively looking for room for improvement and draw inspiration from trends and new developments. You are task-oriented and targeted; and you are capable of linking a purposeful action to any observations you make, and turning it into concrete plans. You enjoy writing and preparing plans, and you do that easily. In terms of personal characteristics, you are a good communicator (both orally and in writing), you are a team player and you possess the power of persuasion.

About us
KNGF Geleidehonden is the biggest supplier of guide/assistance dogs in the Netherlands. However, we are more than a training institute for dogs. It is our mission to better the lives of as many people with a disability as possible. With the help of our professionally trained dogs, we offer new perspectives and create opportunities to discover new things. For one person that may be helping them overcome obstacles to doing groceries, for another person that may be going on holiday after dozens of years staying put. Those differences are worth their weight in gold, on the shop floor too. That is why we offer opportunities to anyone within our organization. Together, we are committed to helping others, as well as those in our own team. We see ourselves more as coaches, both within and outside the organisation: we encourage, motivate, persuade and celebrate successes. After all, every step forward is a step, opening new worlds, every day.

What we have to offer
We offer a diverse job in an enthusiastic team, work in an inspiring yet result-driven organisation with some 120 colleagues and many volunteers. Our aim is to be an inclusive and diverse organisation. The culture is informal and all our colleagues are passionate about their work. It is a position with a lot of responsibilities and we expect you to bring your own vision and input, with lots of opportunities to implement your plans. We believe that it is important that you are in control of your work, your career and your personal growth.

The position of Training & Care Quality Coordinator is classified according to scale 9 of the Dutch KNGF Collective Bargaining Agreement. The lowest gross salary in this scale is € 3,541 and goes up to € 5,594 max. per month, based on a 38-hour working week. The starting level will depend on your experience. You will also receive a year-end bonus of 8.3 per cent. Moreover, KNGF Geleidehonden invests in the education and development of its staff members. Your place of work will be Amstelveen.