The person employed by the hospice/palliative care service to recruit, train, support, and coordinate all work done by volunteers within the organization.

In many countries, volunteers play a major role in the palliative care unit though only a few use volunteers for direct "hands-on" patient care, most being used to help create and maintain a "home-like" atmosphere.
They work as telephone switchboard receptionists, flower arrangers, office workers, librarians, staff in coffee rooms, and in charity shops.

The volunteer services manager may have a handful of volunteers to support and supervise, or as many as several hundred. The volunteer services manager must be trained in personnel management, and have a deep understanding of the philosophy of palliative care.

Doyle D. Volunteers in hospice and palliative care: a handbook for volunteer service managers. Oxford, London and New York. Oxford University Press. 2003. Scott R, Howlett S. Volunteers in hospice and palliative care.