The time broker is the person who links up time bank participants, matching services with requirements. This person needs to be a good communicator, administrator, organiser and most importantly, an innovative ‘people person’: they must relate easily with people from all walks of life and be able to turn challenges into successes.

When appointing a time broker, you need to be very clear what roles you want he/she to fulfil. In many time banks, this post is combined with the role of project manager, so the person must be even more multi-skilled. The project manager’s job includes all areas of project development including marketing, recruitment and public speaking as well as fund raising and financial management.

Ideally, you need two people: the time broker to take on the hands-on work with participants, and the project manager to do the development work. The skills and qualities needed for a time broker and a project manager are quite different. Most time banks, however, do not have this luxury and therefore it is essential that the management or steering group are able and willing to take on many of the project management tasks needed to secure the future of the time bank.

Click here to see a version of a time broker's job description.