Does “volunteer” dilute senior-level scope on a CV

 Good afternoon,

I would value views on how this is interpreted in practice.

I am currently establishing an organisation-wide Learning and Development function within a branch of a national charity. The remit includes designing the learning architecture, leading rollout across 70+ staff, introducing evaluation frameworks, and implementing centralised tracking and governance processes. The scope operates at senior leadership level. The role is undertaken on an unpaid basis.

When presenting this on my CV under the role title and dates, does including the word “volunteer” risk unintentionally reducing the perceived seniority of the work at shortlisting stage?

Alternatively, would describing it as a pro-bono leadership role more accurately reflect the level of responsibility, or does the scope and impact of the work tend to carry more weight?

I am interested in how this is typically read at first sift.

Thank you,


Sheila

Parents
  • Thank you all — this has genuinely helped me think it through.

    The distinction around framing senior unpaid work has been particularly useful. I am leaning towards using “Learning and Development Lead (Pro-Bono Leadership)” rather than “Volunteer” so that the scope of the role is clearer at first glance.

    And I have now looked up Dilbert — thank you for that!

    Appreciate everyone’s input.  Have a lovely Thursday.  

    Sheila 

Reply
  • Thank you all — this has genuinely helped me think it through.

    The distinction around framing senior unpaid work has been particularly useful. I am leaning towards using “Learning and Development Lead (Pro-Bono Leadership)” rather than “Volunteer” so that the scope of the role is clearer at first glance.

    And I have now looked up Dilbert — thank you for that!

    Appreciate everyone’s input.  Have a lovely Thursday.  

    Sheila 

Children
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