The N Gauge Society is run entirely by volunteers who take no remuneration, other than expenses, for their service. We are constantly looking for new volunteers. If you are a member and can help, please email the Secretary.
At present we have vacancies for the following Committee Members.
- Shop Manager
- Journal Editor
- General Secretary
All committee members are expected to attend committee meetings via Zoom (at present monthly) and use the official NGS email address.
Shop Manager
At present our Shop Manager undertakes all of the roles shown below. It would be possible to split the role as described below.
N Gauge Society Shop Administrator – Job Description
1 Order processing
The majority of orders arrive via the NGS Online shop system – EKM – and can be processed electronically. Otherwise, direct orders arrive via post, email or telephone and these require more manual processing and must be entered in the order book. As there are multiple channels for incoming orders, a tracker spreadsheet has to be maintained to store the details of each, the status of each order and to be used as a single data source for reporting. Notify the Despatch Manager of orders ready for fulfilment.
2 Payment processing
Payments on orders made via EKM require no action. Cheques are to be paid into the NGS bank account and documented in the Cheque payment spreadsheet. Card payments have to be submitted via the PayZone merchant payment system.
3. Reporting.
Produce monthly financial reports to the Treasurer; reports to the NGS Committee and reports for the NGS newsletter.
4. Price-list update.
Maintain a current pricelist and publish as appropriate in the bi-monthly NGS Newsletter.
5. Website updates
Post information of order processing, stock and any news items relating to the performance of the NGS Shop.
6. Shop correspondence
Respond in a timely manner to letters, emails, telephone calls and social media queries or direct those not relating to the shop to those on the committee best able to respond. Proactively contact members where there are issues/queries with their orders in order to resolves these as soon as possible.
7. NGS Management Committee
Join NGS Committee meetings and contribute to management discussions for the continuance and improvement of the Society.
The following are estimated hours per day of effort required based on a monthly cycle. However, it should be noted that this can vary greatly day to day.
| task | hours per day |
|---|---|
| order processsing | 0.21 |
| emails | 0.5 |
| month end reporting | 0.1 |
| expenses | 0.02 |
| committee matters | 0.13 |
| total average hours per day | 0.96 |
N Gauge Society Dispatch Manager – Job Description
1. Stock Control
Undertake the storage of NGS Products; annual stock-take; stock ordering; and inventory update in EKM. Undertake the storage of packaging materials used for the dispatch of orders.
2. Purchasing
Purchase the resources required to run the NGS Shop which fall into two categories: Packaging supplies and Consumable supplies. These have to be purchased by the Dispatch Manager and reclaimed on expenses.
3. Order dispatch
The picking, packing, labelling and dispatch of orders on confirmation from the Shop Manager. Completion of Customs Forms for overseas parcels. Application of correct postage and delivery of parcels to carrier of choice.
4. Electronic media production
Creation of electronic copies on disc and/or USB sticks of the society’s Journal back numbers.
5. Incoming stock
Liaise with Kit Production Officer, Products Development Officer and Kit packing volunteers for the co-ordinated receipt of stock deliveries. Log, check and acknowledge incoming parcels of shop stock. Update the online inventory in EKM and post stock updates on the NGS web-site.
6. Outgoing stock
Liaise with the Display Stand Manager for the supply of stock to the stand in time for each exhibition visited. Liaise with ad-hoc teams of distribution volunteers for the supply of stock in pre-planned new-stock order distribution events. Document volumes and values of transfers of stock to the NGS Treasurer.
The following are estimated hours per day of effort required based on a monthly cycle. However, it should be noted that this can vary greatly day to day.
| task | hours per day |
|---|---|
| order picking | 0.43 |
| order packing | 0.43 |
| posting | 0.21 |
| emails | 0.5 |
| supplies ordering | 0.03 |
| dispatch to stand | 0.1 |
| stock receipt/control | 0.17 |
| expenses | 0.02 |
| total average hours per day | 0.96 |
Journal Editor
The chief tasks for the Editor are to receive submissions; edit the text for spelling, clarity, brevity, etc.; check images are of suitable quality for printing; and then send them along to the publisher, Paul Slidel, who takes care of the actual page layout and image editing side of the process. While most submissions require little more than tidying up (such as removing double spaces and breaking the text into shorter paragraphs) some submissions will inevitably need a lot more work. Patience, sensitivity, and literacy are needed in about equal measure!
In addition, the Editor will need to work with the Trade Liaison Officer to produce News and Review items. More broadly, the Editor will receive items from the NGS Committee and other office holders, and these will need to be edited and placed in the Newsletter. The Editor will also need to communicate with manufacturers and suppliers directly, editing press releases and other news items and ensuring that advertisements are received in a timely fashion (a reminder is sent about two weeks before the deadline).
The Editor must be able to work to deadlines and have access to software able to open and edit MS Word documents, Excel files, and some image formats (mostly PDFs and JPEGs). Image editing software is not needed. Occasional submissions are sent as type-written or hand-written paper documents that will need to be transcribed, and these are often sent with printed photos that will need to be scanned in.
The current Editor is happy to work through an extended handover if his replacement would like that, with the two working together for an issue or two as needs be.
