The Membership Development Officer is an elected member of the Federal Executive, accountable to Young Liberals members and the Executive, with responsibilities covering England, Scotland and Wales. The role is focused on two main things: helping individual members find their feet and develop within YL, and helping the branches and societies around them work effectively.

Training & Development

• Working out what Young Liberals members need to learn and developing a training programme around those needs.
• Running or commissioning training sessions at Young Liberals and Liberal Democrat conferences.
• Finding suitable trainers from across the party rather than being expected to personally deliver every session.
• Maintaining relationships with training providers, particularly LDHQ and ALDC, so members can access existing training and resources rather than YL unnecessarily duplicating them.

Welcoming New Members

• Planning and running New Members Days.
• Introducing new members to how Young Liberals works.
• Helping members find ways to get involved which suit them, whether that is campaigning, policy, events or their local branch.
• Acting as a point of contact for members who need help finding their feet or becoming more active within Young Liberals.

Membership Records

• Helping to keep Young Liberals membership records accurate and up to date.
• Acting as the main point of contact with LDHQ's membership team where something needs to be fixed.
• Supporting the membership-record process rather than directly owning or administering the membership database.

Branches & Societies

From 1 January 2027

• Acting as the main Federal Young Liberals contact for branches and university societies.
• Advising branches and societies on areas including setup, governance and succession planning.
• Supporting branches and societies which are struggling.
• Helping branches and societies access funding and other support.
• Working with State Organisations, Regional Chairs and local parties so support is coordinated and does not clash or get unnecessarily duplicated.

Branches and societies remain locally led. The Membership Development Officer's role is to help them succeed, rather than to run them directly.

Freshers

From 1 January 2027

• Sharing responsibility for the annual Freshers campaign with the Communications & Campaigns Committee and Young Liberals staff.
• Consulting branches and university societies about what they need from Freshers.
• Coordinating the distribution of Freshers packs.
• Working to turn people who make contact with YL during Freshers into longer-term members.
• Bringing the branch and membership perspective to the wider Freshers campaign.

Branch Accreditation

From 1 January 2027

• Administering the Branch Accreditation Scheme.
• Assessing applications and identifying any overlaps, concerns or issues which need to be considered.
• Keeping accreditation records accurate and up to date.
• Running the process for decisions on granting or revoking accreditation.

The Membership Development Officer does not make accreditation decisions alone. Granting or revoking accreditation requires a simple-majority vote of the Federal Executive, held over 24 hours. Your role is to administer the process and provide the relevant information for that decision.

Committees

• Sitting as a full member of the Federal Executive and contributing to the overall governance and planning of Young Liberals, rather than only matters relating directly to membership development.
• Sitting on the Elections Committee, bringing the member-development perspective to campaigning and candidate support.
• Sitting on the Events Committee, particularly to help coordinate training and development activity around Young Liberals events.
• From 2027, sitting on the Communications & Campaigns Committee because of the shared responsibility for Freshers.

Working with Others

The role involves regular contact with:

• Other members of the Federal Executive and Young Liberals staff.
• LDHQ's membership team.
• ALDC.
• English, Scottish and Welsh Young Liberals.
• Regional Chairs.
• Branch and university society officers around the country.

Almost everything in the portfolio overlaps with another officer, committee or organisation, so being able to work collaboratively is an important part of the role.

Skills & Qualities

You do not need to be perfect at all of these from day one, but the following qualities are particularly useful for the role:

• People-focused: enjoying helping people find their feet and feel included.
• Organised: being comfortable balancing recurring administration with events and individual support.
• A clear communicator: comfortable writing, presenting, delivering training and giving one-to-one advice.
• A capable facilitator: able to identify what training is needed and find the right people to deliver it.
• Collaborative: comfortable working in a role where responsibilities frequently overlap with other officers, committees and partners.
• Sound judgement: particularly when considering branch accreditation applications before they are put to a vote.
• Reliable with detail: membership and accreditation records need to remain accurate and current.
• Supportive, not controlling: recognising that branches should remain locally led and that your job is to help them succeed rather than take over their work.

Useful Experience

None of this experience is required to stand for the role, but it may be helpful:

• Involvement in a Young Liberals branch or university political society.
• Running training sessions, workshops or presentations.
• Membership or volunteer-engagement work.
• Organising Freshers activity or student recruitment.
• Working with local, regional or Federal party structures.
• Maintaining membership or CRM-style records.
• Supporting a volunteer-led organisation.
• Event or programme coordination.

Time Commitment

This is not a role with a fixed number of hours every week. The workload changes substantially throughout the year, with a broad estimate of around 5–18 hours per week depending on the time of year.

• Early in the term: around 5–7 hours per week, covering handover, reviewing records, agreeing priorities and building relationships.
• February–March: around 14–18 hours per week around Young Liberals Winter Conference and Federal Spring Conference. This includes training, fringe events and delivery at both conferences.
• April–July: around 6–9 hours per week, including early Freshers planning and mapping active and prospective societies.
• August–October: around 15–18 hours per week and normally the busiest part of the year, with Young Liberals Summer Conference, Federal Autumn Conference and Freshers activity overlapping.
• November–December: around 7–10 hours per week, including New Members Days, accrediting new societies and following up with members recruited during Freshers.
• Ongoing throughout the year: approximately 5–6 hours per week of membership queries, accreditation casework and stakeholder contact.

These are high-level estimates rather than a formal hours commitment. The actual workload will depend on how active YL's branches and societies are and how much you choose to delegate.

Worth Knowing Before You Run

• You do not make decisions on branch accreditation alone. The Federal Executive votes on whether accreditation should be granted or revoked.
• You do not run Freshers alone. Responsibility is shared with the Communications & Campaigns Committee and Young Liberals staff.
• You do not run branches or societies. They remain locally led, while you provide advice and support.
• You do not need to personally deliver every training session. LDHQ, ALDC and experienced members can all help provide training.