Freelance Role: Co-Design Trainer for Smart Villages

Open


What you will do
You will be delivering community development training as part of a team on the Turning the Sod project (www.turningthesod.ie). This will be delivered to community groups across Co. Kildare. You will have the confidence to inspire innovation and lead groups through a process to develop a strategy for action within their community.  You will be confident to do this in face-to-face sessions of approx 8-20 participants. 


Main Tasks:
  • Deliver Smart Village training modules 
  • Support development of training sessions and exercises
  • Support/Lead the development of co-designed Smart Village Strategy
  • Manage participant progress and feedback 
  • Work collaboratively with participants and the rest of the training team 
  • Support communications across traditional and digital media
  • Develop and communicate with a network of local stakeholders 
  • Keep up to date on best practices and trends
  • Articulate your findings in a format appropriate for the audience
  • Actively manage clients, stakeholders and community participants reporting back on progress and new opportunities
  • Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to manage Strategy Development

Experience Required:
  • Minimum of 3 years of experience working within an organisation or self-employed within any relevant position.
  • Demonstrable understanding of Co-Design, Smart Villages, Design Thinking or similar Community-Led Development.
  • Minimum 2 years of training experience or equivalent related experience.  
  • Strong capacity for project management and administration.

Desireable Areas of Knowledge and Training Expertise:
  • Community-Led Local Development
  • Community Asset Mapping
  • Community Engagement
  • Climate Resilience
  • Action Planning and Strategy development
  • Local governance structures in rural areas
  • Financial management or income generation for community groups/public projects
  • Smart Villages
  • Local and Rural Development
  • Design Thinking
  • Placemaking / Urban Design

About you

You are up for a challenge!

  • You are an advocate of community-centred design and development and have a strong knowledge of how communities in rural areas operate. 
  • You will be used to applying design and strategy to a variety of local challenges and be confident working with diverse community groups to build consensus.
  • You will have a passion for aiding groups of community participants to take collaborative steps and test and trial ideas that can solve local challenges. 
  • You will have a keen eye for spotting potential opportunities and ensuring connections are made across the training groups.
  • You can support development and improvements to training materials.
  • You are confident working remotely across multiple projects and inspired by working as part of a creative and multidisciplinary team.

What to do next

Please send your CV and (a link to your) portfolio or supporting info to opportunities@icecreamarchitecture.com with a short cover note telling us why it’s you that we need! Potential applicants will be contacted for an online interview after applying.

Remuneration: in the region of €37k - €45k FTE dependent on experience
Timescale: Starting Aug 2026, initially for a 6-month contract.
Hours per week: flexible hours circa 0.2 - 0.8 FTE (min 2.5 hours training time and 2.5 hours prep/reporting time per week)
Location: Co. Kildare (including Castledermot, Prosperous, Robertstown, Nurney/Suncroft)

Remote working with travel to events / training sessions, weekdays and evenings, and very occasionally weekend. Travel Expenses paid.

An additional opportunity to work with us on a separate heritage and community project in Co Sligo is also available. Please state if this may be of interest to you.