Who does what at Handcrafted?
We have a diversity of staff and roles within Handcrafted, which enables us to have flexible, tailored approaches to the unique characteristics of different areas of operation as well as suiting individuals to their strengths.
Organisational Chart
Who does what?
Who does what?
CEO
The CEO leads Handcrafted's mission to connect with people who have been excluded from society, and offer support, housing, opportunities and training that empowers them to turn their own lives around. This role involves developing new opportunities, expanding our reach, and ensuring everything Handcrafted does stays rooted in our values of Creativity, Empathy, Empowerment and Community.
Operations Director
The Operations Director oversees the operations of Handcrafted's Community Hubs in Durham, Chester-le-Street, Gateshead, Sunderland and Darlington, ensuring the effective delivery of housing support and training programmes across each hub. This role involves strategic management and coordination of hub teams and services, working alongside the Director for Young People and Training Manager to ensure a joined-up approach across the organisation.
Director for Young People
The Director for Young People oversees Handcrafted's services supporting young people, including our Engage programme for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young care leavers, and our Hummingbird Homes, which offer young people leaving care a gentler, more gradual transition into independent living within a family-like, community setting. This role involves strategic management of these teams, ensuring support is tailored to the specific needs of young people and aligned with Handcrafted's wider mission.
Strategic Finance Deputy Director
The Strategic Finance Deputy Director oversees Handcrafted's finance, strategy and business development functions. This role involves strategic financial planning, identifying opportunities for sustainable growth — including our social enterprises such as The Shakey café and our Chester-le-Street screen-printing project — and leading the Business Development team.
Project Development Manager
The Project Development Manager leads on developing new pilot projects and initiatives for Handcrafted, and oversees HR and Health & Safety functions across the organisation. This role involves identifying opportunities for innovation — such as new hubs, services or housing models — ensuring new projects are set up for success, and making sure our people and premises practices are safe, fair and effective.
Training Manager
The Training Manager is responsible for overseeing the design, implementation and growth of Handcrafted's training programmes. This role involves overseeing training across the hubs, where activities include carpentry, cookery, creative crafts, and barista and customer service skills, delivered through our NOCN-accredited and non-accredited courses. The Training Manager aligns training programmes with our mission to empower people with practical skills, while also developing new opportunities for programme expansion, partnerships, training capacity, and our Matrix-accredited information, advice and guidance offer.
Deputy Director of Operations
The Deputy Director of Operations manages the operations of a specific hub or service, often with a focus on complex cases, such as those involving unaccompanied asylum-seeking children or young care leavers within our Engage programme. They provide strategic oversight and support to ensure everything runs smoothly, working closely with the relevant Director.
Women’s Work Coordinator
The Women’s Work Coordinator manages and develops Handcrafted's women's groups, which run across our hubs — including in Gilesgate, Chester-le-Street, Gateshead and Darlington. This role includes organising specialist training courses, running support groups, and ensuring that the needs of women within the organisation are met.
Support Quality Manager
The Support Quality Manager oversees staff training, staff wellbeing, and the quality and safeguarding of the support Handcrafted provides. This role involves monitoring and improving the quality of care across the organisation, embedding our trauma-informed, person-centred approach into day-to-day practice, and providing wellbeing support and supervision to frontline staff.
Hub Managers
Hub Managers are responsible for overseeing the operations of a specific hub — Durham, Chester-le-Street, Gateshead, Sunderland or Darlington — including the management of housing support and training programmes. They ensure that the hub's activities align with Handcrafted's mission, providing leadership to the staff within the hub and coordinating day-to-day activities, from training sessions to community meals.
Assistant Manager
Assistant Managers support the Hub Manager in overseeing the day-to-day running of a hub, including housing support and training activities. They help coordinate staff, deputise for the Hub Manager when needed, and ensure the smooth, consistent delivery of services to residents and trainees.
Housing Support Officer
Housing Support Officers provide direct, person-centred support to residents, helping them with housing, mental health and other personal challenges through regular (at least weekly) contact, home visits, and practical help such as paperwork or accessing services. In addition, some Housing Support Officers may also deliver training courses in specific areas (e.g., cookery or catering). Engage Housing Support Officers focus on providing this support to specific groups, such as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children or young care leavers, helping them with their personal challenges and, in some cases, delivering specialised training.
Administrator
Administrators provide essential administrative support to a hub or team, helping to keep records, systems, and day-to-day office functions running smoothly. This role is key to ensuring Handcrafted's teams can focus on delivering support and training to residents and trainees.
Trainer
Trainers run training sessions in specific skill areas — such as carpentry, cookery, or creative crafts — oversee the workshops or training facilities, and deliver Handcrafted's NOCN-accredited and non-accredited training courses. This covers roles also known as Workshop Supervisor or Kitchen Supervisor in some hubs. In some cases, a Trainer may also provide some support work for residents.
Independent Verifier
The Independent Verifier checks and confirms the quality and consistency of Handcrafted's training assessments, ensuring they meet the required standards of NOCN and our other awarding bodies. This role involves reviewing assessment evidence and providing feedback to Trainers to maintain the integrity of our qualifications.
Training Assistant
Training Assistants support Trainers and other training staff by helping to run training sessions and courses, across both our general Training Team and specialist programmes such as Women's Work. This role involves assisting with the development of training programmes and supporting the delivery of hands-on training.
Maintenance
Maintenance staff keep Handcrafted's hubs and supported housing safe, functional, and well-presented, carrying out repairs and routine upkeep. In some cases, this role is combined with an Enterprise focus, contributing to income-generating activities — such as our carpentry commissions or screen-printing project — alongside maintenance duties.
Community Development Manager
The Community Development Manager manages the operations of a hub with a specific focus on engaging the local community. This includes overseeing housing support and training programmes, and fostering partnerships with local organisations and groups — helping a hub become a genuine community focal point where people can share a meal, take part in training, or access support.
Café Manager
The Café Manager is responsible for managing The Shakey, our community café based at the Gateshead Hub, including training, supporting, and developing the trainee volunteer team who run it day to day. This role also involves delivering catering training courses and ensuring the smooth, welcoming operation of the café, including its free weekday community meal.
Key Worker
Key Workers provide consistent, dedicated one-to-one support to a small caseload of residents, particularly within services such as Hummingbird Homes. They build trusted relationships with residents, coordinate their individual support plans, and act as the main point of contact for their wellbeing and progress, helping foster the family-like sense of belonging at the heart of these services.
Business Development Officer
Business Development Officers contribute to Handcrafted's strategic growth and sustainability, with individuals specialising in areas such as systems and impact, finance and admin, strategic partnerships, or enterprise — including ventures like The Shakey café and our screen-printing project. Depending on their specialism, this may involve running training sessions or group activities, and, in some cases, providing support work or leading community initiatives, such as café shifts.
Support Systems Officer
The Support Systems Officer is responsible for managing and improving Handcrafted's electronic systems related to client records, human resources, housing, and finance. This role involves ensuring data accuracy, improving user interfaces, and compiling reports to support Handcrafted's operations and growth. Additionally, they maintain social-impact measurement tools, create solutions to integrate various aspects of our work, and ensure the security of confidential information.