A fantastic opportunity to join Children First

Children First’s ambition is for every child in Scotland to be safe, loved and well with their family. As a charity we offer emotional, practical, and financial support to help families put children first and campaign to uphold the rights of every child.

We are looking for a full time Family Group Decision Making coordinator to join our team in East Ayrshire. As an FGDM coordinator you will work with children and families of all ages and at different stages of risk and need.

Family Group Decision Making is working with family groups in a strengths-based way to support them to create Family Plans, keeping children safe and at home within their family networks.

This is an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in Family Group Decision Making, restorative and strengths-based approaches to working with families, and would like to extend their skill set.

Children First are determined that the full incorporation of the UNCRC means that children will have their rights respected in all areas of their lives and will have a real say in the way they are supported. If you share this determination, we would love to hear from you.

What kind of people are we looking for?

• have experience of keeping children safe in their own families
• are fiercely passionate about children’s rights
• thinks it’s a privilege to work with and on behalf of children and families and,
• are kind and will bring their whole selves to the job: heart and mind

What kind of team member will you be?

Knowing our ambition for children, you will be someone who is:

• resilient, skilled and knowledgeable who wants to transform children’s lives
• determined to support children to stay safely with their own family
• big hearted and courageous
• able to build strong relationships and to manage the tricky conversations
• is compassionate and understanding of trauma
• a cool head and clear minded at times of pressure
• inspiring colleagues and teams to be even better
• an amazing ambassador for children and Children First

Above all else, the most important thing to us is that you are someone who will do the right thing for children and their families at every turn.

At Children First, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that reflects communities across Scotland. Guided by our values, With Love, With Purpose, With Strength, we strive to create a culture where everyone feels valued, respected, and supported to thrive. We actively work to remove barriers to inclusion and promote equity in all aspects of our work. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, especially those from marginalised communities, and are dedicated to ensuring a fair and supportive recruitment process.

Base

You will be based with our East Ayrshire FGDM team, co located in the HSCP, Kilmarnock/Cumnock.

What we offer:

• A workplace with values of with love, with purpose and with strength
• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays
• Pension scheme and wellbeing support
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Access to Westfield Health, giving colleagues and their families confidential counselling support, wellbeing resources, and access to health and lifestyle benefits to support physical and mental wellbeing.
• Blue Light card discount
• A Fair Work accredited workplace

Our Values:

Living our values, you will help create a workplace where our people can thrive, ensuring we deliver the best possible support to children and families.

With love, we put children first.

With purpose, we transform lives together.

With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland’s children.

In this role, you’ll:

• Develop and implement Children First’s marketing strategy to position us as the national children’s charity, protecting Scotland’s children.
• Oversee marketing campaigns with a focus on brand management, website development and marketing to cover the full marketing mix across multiple media channels.
• Manage and support the marketing team and work closely with other managers to achieve Children First’s strategic objectives.

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• Excellent strategic and creative marketing experience.
• Experience delivering successful multi-channel marketing campaigns.
• Experience managing and developing people.
• Strong brand, communications and stakeholder engagement skills.
• A high level of expertise in digital marketing, web content, social media marketing and paid advertising.
• A data-driven approach, using insight and evaluation to improve performance.
• Experience managing budgets, projects and external suppliers.
• A strong drive for excellence, the ability to manage competing priorities and a track record in delivering to tight deadlines.

What we offer:

• A workplace with values of with love, with purpose and with strength
• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays
• Pension scheme and wellbeing support
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Access to Westfield Health, giving colleagues and their families confidential counselling support, wellbeing resources, and access to health and lifestyle benefits to support physical and mental wellbeing.
• Blue Light card discount
• A Fair Work accredited workplace

Our Values

Living our values, you will help create a workplace where our people can thrive, ensuring we deliver the best possible support to children and families.

With love, we put children first.

With purpose, we transform lives together.

With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland’s children.

This is an exciting opportunity to work within our Support line Advice Service as well as support our Wider aims as a charity.

Our Advice service works alongside support colleagues to help families to address the challenges and risks which may have led to vulnerability, promote connection to their local communities, and improve financial stability and resilience. Our aim is to support communities to become more resilient and a place where children feel safe, valued, understood and supported.

The Energy Advisor will work within an integrated model of family support, community connection, and expert Energy advice and exploring money and debt advice. This will enable families to stay connected, keep homes warm and resolve debt and money problems, become more financially resilient and break the cycle of fuel poverty.

A priority for the Energy Advisor will be to increase the Energy advice and support we offer our families and with the capacity of our current services to provide Type I and II money advice in one of the most deprived areas in Scotland.

You will work as part of our National Money Advice team. You will support families within their homes, by telephone and other digital methods deliver workshops within the community and in schools and offer drop-in sessions within the community.

If you have experience of energy advice welfare rights, income maximization, money and debt advice, understand the impact trauma and adversity can have on children and families, and believe that you can apply this to your practice, we want to hear from you.

This is a full time, 35 hours post. Hours to be worked flexibly to suit the needs of families, including evenings and weekends as required.

What we offer:

• A workplace with values of with love, with purpose and with strength
• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays
• Pension scheme and wellbeing support
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Access to Westfield Health, giving colleagues and their families confidential counselling support, wellbeing resources, and access to health and lifestyle benefits to support physical and mental wellbeing.
• Blue Light card discount
• A Fair Work accredited workplace

Our Values

Living our values, you will help create a workplace where our people can thrive, ensuring we deliver the best possible support to children and families.

With love, we put children first.

With purpose, we transform lives together.

With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland’s children.

Could you play a vital role within our national Support Line, helping deliver Scotland's mission to eradicate child poverty?

Join Children First and be part of a once in a generation transformation in how families access help to alleviate crisis, prevent harm and build long term stability to break the cycle of child poverty.

Funded by the Scottish Government, we are doubling the size of our Support Line with the aim of supporting 7,500 more families across Scotland in the first year. Through this investment, we are creating an accessible national front door to family support, ensuring families can access practical, emotional and financial help when they need it most.

As Scotland's national children's charity, we've been preventing harm, supporting recovery and driving change since 1884. Our ambitious plans build on decades of experience delivering cash-first, short, medium and long-term holistic support to families living in, or at risk of, poverty.

We're looking for passionate, talented and ambitious professionals to join our growing team and help shape the future of family support in Scotland.

About the Role

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the direction, development and quality assurance of Children First's Welfare Benefits and Debt Advice Service.

As Senior Money Advisor, you will provide leadership, supervision and support to a team of advisers, ensuring families receive high-quality welfare benefits, debt and financial wellbeing advice that improves outcomes for children and reduces the impact of poverty.

Alongside leading a team, you will maintain a small caseload of complex cases, providing specialist welfare benefits and debt advice, supporting Social Security appeals and working directly with families experiencing financial hardship. You will help families maximise income, manage debt, access entitlements and build greater financial resilience.

Working across Children First and alongside external partners, you will contribute to service development, quality assurance, partnership working and continuous improvement, ensuring our financial wellbeing services remain accessible, effective and impactful for families across Scotland.

Why This Role Matters

Poverty remains one of the greatest threats to childhood in Scotland.

At Children First, we know that financial hardship affects every aspect of family life. By providing timely, expert advice and support, we can help alleviate crisis, strengthen family wellbeing and create better outcomes for children.

As Senior Money Advisor, your expertise will directly contribute to our ambition to reduce child poverty and ensure families have access to the support they need to thrive

What We're Looking For

We're looking for an experienced and values-driven leader with a strong background in welfare benefits and debt advice who is passionate about reducing child poverty and improving outcomes for children and families.

You will bring:

• Significant experience providing welfare benefits and debt advice.
• Experience leading, supervising or developing staff and advisers.
• Strong knowledge of social security systems, welfare benefits and debt management.
• The ability to manage complex casework and provide specialist advice.
• Excellent coaching, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Experience working collaboratively with a range of partners and stakeholders.
• A commitment to high-quality advice practice, continuous improvement and relational working.
• The ability to lead through change while maintaining service quality and compliance standards.

Above all, you will share our commitment to putting children at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values

Everything we do is guided by our values:

With Love

We put children first with compassion and kindness.

With Purpose

We work alongside families and partners to transform children's lives together.

With Strength

We do whatever it takes to protect Scotland's children.

What You'll Get From Us

At Children First, you'll be part of a values-led organisation committed to supporting and developing our people.

We offer:

• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of public holidays.
• Contributory pension scheme.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements.
• Access to Westfield Health and wellbeing support.
• Blue Light Card discounts.
• A Fair Work accredited workplace.
• Ongoing learning and professional development opportunities.
• The opportunity to help shape a national service that is transforming how families access support across Scotland.

Join Us

If you share our belief that every child in Scotland can grow up free from poverty and are committed to making it happen, we want to hear from you.

Together, we can alleviate crisis, prevent harm, strengthen families and create brighter futures for children across Scotland.

Do you want to create a safer, brighter future for all children in Scotland?

Children First, Scotland’s national children’s charity, has an exciting opportunity for a confident, enthusiastic and committed leader to truly make a difference to children and their families. We are seeking to appoint a Service Manager within our Edinburgh Family Wellbeing Service.

By joining our team, you will help us stand up for children, keep them safe and support them to recover from trauma and abuse through our national and local services.

This is more that a service management role.

If you are looking for a new challenge, ready to bring fresh thinking, creativity and passion to your work and want the opportunity to really shape the future of whole family wellbeing supports in Edinburgh, we would love to hear from you.

Based in Edinburgh, with flexible and hybrid working an option, the role involves leading on the day-to-day implementation, management, development and growth of our whole family wellbeing service. This includes working as part of multiagency partnerships such as Edinburgh Umbrella Hubs, a collaborative partnership offering early help to children and their families, support for Forces families and transition support through our Space to Grow service.

Taking a child-centred approach, you will work to ensure the safety of children and young people by protecting and promoting their rights.

You will join an ambitious values driven team at an exciting stage of development and growth, with the freedom to innovate, build strong partnerships and influence how services are designed and delivered for children and families. This is an exciting opportunity to lead change, develop new approaches that will create lasting impact for children, young people and communities across Edinburgh.

Working within key strategic parters across City of Edinburgh, you'll play a key role in driving service growth, embedding trauma-informed practice and ensuring families receive the right support at the right time. You'll be empowered to bring your ideas, expertise and leadership to a service that is committed to continuous improvement and meaningful outcomes.

Whether you're an experienced manager seeking a fresh opportunity, or a practitioner leader ready to take the next step, this role offers the chance to be part of something progressive, purposeful and transformational. Most importantly, you'll help create opportunities for children and families to thrive, recover and build brighter futures. We are keen to attract the right person to help drive the next stage of our development and are therefore open to discussing flexibility around working hours, with the role available for up to 35 hours per week.

What we are looking for

You will be an inspiring leader and will possess a degree or diploma in social work, or equivalent professional qualification at SCQF level 9, in addition to recent significant experience in a relevant practice area relating to young people.

You will always put Children First. You will be relational in your approach ands have experience of working collaboratively with partners to ensure the right support at the right time.

What you can expect from us

At Children First, you'll be part of a values-led organisation committed to supporting and developing our people.

We offer:

• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of public holidays.
• Contributory pension scheme.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements.
• Access to Westfield Health and wellbeing support.
• Blue Light Card discounts.
• A Fair Work accredited workplace.
• Ongoing learning and professional development opportunities.
• The opportunity to help shape a national service that is transforming how families access support across Scotland.

Our Values

Everything we do is guided by our values:

With Love

We put children first with compassion and kindness.

With Purpose

We work alongside families and partners to transform children's lives together.

With Strength

We do whatever it takes to protect Scotland's children.

In this role, you'll:

Deliver high-quality, relationship-based support to children, young people and families through whole-family support, group work and community-based interventions. You will have the opportunity to work across various projects within the Fit Like Family Wellbeing Service, providing flexible and responsive support that helps families build on their strengths and achieve positive outcomes.

Working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary and multi-agency environment, you will support children and families to stay safe, recover from adversity and strengthen their relationships and connections within their communities. Your work will contribute to Children First's commitment to early intervention, prevention, community resilience and upholding children's rights.

About Fit Like Family Wellbeing Service

Fit Like Family Wellbeing Service is a multi-agency partnership delivering whole-family support across Aberdeen City. Bringing together professionals from a range of organisations and sectors, the service provides coordinated early intervention and family support to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. Through a strengths-based and trauma-informed approach, the service helps families access the right support at the right time, promotes wellbeing and resilience, and contributes to preventing difficulties from escalating.

We'd love to hear from you if you can:

• Build trusting, compassionate and respectful relationships with children, young people and families using a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach.

• Deliver direct emotional, practical and therapeutic support that promotes safety, wellbeing and stability.

• Complete high-quality assessments and work alongside families to develop and review meaningful support plans.

• Champion children's rights and ensure children and young people are supported to express their views and influence decisions affecting them.

• Design, deliver and evaluate group work that builds confidence, resilience and connection.

• Develop strong partnerships with schools, communities and other agencies to ensure families receive the right support at the right time.

• Work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team and contribute positively to safeguarding and family-led decision making.

What we offer:

• A workplace with values of with love, with purpose and with strength.

• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays.

• Pension scheme and wellbeing support.

• Flexible working opportunities.

• Access to Westfield Health, giving colleagues and their families confidential counselling support, wellbeing resources, and access to health and lifestyle benefits to support physical and mental wellbeing.

• Blue Light Card discount.

• A Fair Work accredited workplace.

Why Join Us?

This is an exciting opportunity to join an innovative and collaborative family wellbeing service at the heart of Aberdeen's approach to early help and prevention. You will be part of a passionate team committed to making a lasting difference for children, young people and families, while working in an organisation that values learning, wellbeing, flexibility and professional development.

Our Values

Living our values, you will help create a workplace where our people can thrive, ensuring we deliver the best possible support to children and families.

With love, we put children first.

With purpose, we transform lives together.

With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland's children.

Help shape brighter futures for children and families across Scotland

At Children First, we believe every child should be safe, loved and able to enjoy a happy childhood. As Scotland's national children's charity, we work alongside children, families and communities to protect children from harm, support recovery from trauma and abuse and create lasting change.

We are looking for a compassionate, skilled and motivated Community Partnership & Participation Worker to join our team and help strengthen the support available to children and families across Scotland.

In this exciting role, you will build trusted relationships with communities, services and partner organisations, helping families access the support they need while ensuring children's and families' voices influence how services are developed and improved.

This is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference by connecting people, strengthening local networks and helping shape services that respond to what matters most to children and families.

What you'll do

Working as part of our Support Line service, you will:

• Develop strong partnerships with community organisations, schools, health services, local authorities and third sector partners.
• Improve access to support for families experiencing poverty, inequality, kinship care challenges or concerns about a child's safety.
• Increase awareness of Children First Support Line and the range of help available to families across Scotland.
• Ensure children, young people and families have meaningful opportunities to share their experiences and help shape service development.
• Support participation, engagement and co-production activities, including events, consultations and focus groups.
• Build local knowledge of community resources and identify gaps, barriers and opportunities for support.
• Gather learning and insights that help us improve services and influence positive change for children and families.

What we're looking for

• You'll bring experience of community engagement, partnership working or participation practice, along with a genuine commitment to improving outcomes for children and families.

You'll also have:

• Experience working with children, young people, families or communities.
• Strong relationship-building and partnership skills.
• Excellent communication and facilitation abilities.
• An understanding of poverty, inequality and the barriers families can face when seeking support.
• Knowledge of children's rights and participation approaches.
• Experience of trauma-informed, strengths-based and relationship-based practice.
• The ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and maintain accurate records.
• Confidence using Microsoft Office and digital communication tools.

Who you are

We're looking for someone who:

• Believes in the power of children's voices.
• Values inclusion, participation and co-production.
• Builds trust quickly and works collaboratively with others.
• Is passionate about reducing inequality and improving children's lives.
• Brings warmth, curiosity and compassion to their work.
• Shares our commitment to safeguarding and promoting children's rights.

Why join Children First?

At Children First, our values guide everything we do:

With Love

We put children first, listening with compassion and kindness and standing alongside families when they need support most.

With Purpose

We work together with families, communities and partners to create lasting change and better outcomes for children.

With Strength

We do whatever it takes to protect Scotland's children and champion their rights.

You'll join a supportive organisation that values learning, innovation and collaboration, where your work will directly contribute to helping children and families thrive.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and anti-racist organisation where everyone experiences a sense of belonging. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences and particularly encourage applications from groups currently under-represented within our workforce.

Join us

If you're passionate about building stronger communities, amplifying children's voices and helping families access the support they need, we'd love to hear from you.

Together, with love, purpose and strength, we can help Scotland's children and families thrive.

Children First Support Line

Could you play a vital role within our national Support Line, helping deliver Scotland's mission to eradicate child poverty?

Join Children First and be part of a once in a generation transformation in how families access help to alleviate crisis, prevent harm and build long-term stability to break the cycle of child poverty. Funded by the Scottish Government, we are doubling the size of our Support Line with the aim of supporting 7,500 more families across Scotland in the first year.

We've been preventing harm, supporting recovery and driving change since 1884 and our ambitious plans for the Support Line build on our experience of delivering cash-first, short, medium and long-term holistic support to families living in, or at risk of, poverty.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our growing multidisciplinary team and help ensure every family in Scotland has somewhere to turn when they need help.

About the Role

As a Support Line Triage Call Taker, you will be the first point of contact for children, young people, families, kinship carers and professionals seeking support from Children First.

Through telephone, webchat, email and outbound contact, you will provide a warm, compassionate and professional response, helping people feel heard, understood and supported from the moment they reach out.

Using skilled listening, effective questioning and sound judgement, you will gather information, assess needs and risks and connect people to the most appropriate support. You will play a key role in ensuring timely access to Children First services, including family support, money and debt advice, welfare rights support, energy support, kinship care advice and advocacy services, while helping families access wider community resources and partner support.

Working in a fast-paced contact centre environment, you will contribute to a service that strengthens families, reduces the impact of poverty and keeps children's safety, wellbeing and rights at the centre of everything we do.

What You'll Be Doing

Supporting Children and Families

• Providing a compassionate, professional and welcoming first response to families and professionals contacting the Support Line.

• Creating a safe environment where people feel listened to, respected and understood.

• Using effective questioning and assessment skills to understand individual circumstances, strengths and support needs.

• Undertaking initial assessments of need, vulnerability and risk.

• Identifying safeguarding concerns and taking appropriate action in line with Children First policies and procedures.

• Supporting children, families and carers to access the right help at the right time.

Information, Advice and Support

• Providing information, guidance and reassurance to families facing a range of challenges.

• Completing warm introductions and referrals to specialist Children First services.

• Supporting families to access emotional, practical and financial support.

• Helping families experiencing poverty, financial hardship, housing difficulties or social isolation connect with relevant services and resources.

• Processing applications for emergency supports including food and fuel assistance where appropriate.

Contact Centre Operations

• Managing inbound and outbound calls, emails and webchats efficiently and professionally.

• Supporting appointment scheduling, follow-up activity and queue management.

• Maintaining a positive experience for everyone using the service.

• Identifying repeat contacts, emerging themes and unmet need to help improve service delivery.

Working Together

• Developing positive working relationships with colleagues, volunteers and external partners.

• Building knowledge of local and national services including housing, employability, financial wellbeing and community support.

• Participating in supervision, reflective practice, training and team learning.

• Contributing to service development and continuous improvement.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for someone who is passionate about supporting children and families and who can build trust quickly through empathy, compassion and kindness.

You may come from a contact centre, customer service, advice, support, housing, employability, health, social care or community-based background.

You'll bring:

• Experience of speaking with people in a customer service, contact centre, helpline, advice or support role.

• Experience of supporting people who may be distressed, worried or facing challenging circumstances.

• Excellent communication and listening skills.

• The ability to gather information sensitively and make informed decisions about next steps.

• Confidence using digital systems and managing communications across multiple channels.

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.

• An understanding of the issues affecting children and families, including poverty, financial hardship and family wellbeing.

• A commitment to safeguarding, children's rights and relational practice.

• A willingness to learn and develop within a supportive and values-led organisation.

Our Values

Everything we do is guided by our values:

With Love

We put children first with compassion and kindness.

With Purpose

We work alongside families and partners to transform children's lives together.

With Strength

We do whatever it takes to protect Scotland's children.

What You'll Get From Us

At Children First, you'll be part of a values-led organisation committed to developing and supporting our people.

We offer:

• 40 days annual leave including public holidays.

• Contributory pension scheme.

• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities.

• Wellbeing support and health benefits.

• Blue Light Card discounts.

• Learning, training and career development opportunities.

• The opportunity to help shape an ambitious national service supporting thousands of families across Scotland.

Join Us

If you share our belief that every child in Scotland should grow up safe, loved and free from poverty and want to be part of a team that is transforming how families access support, we would love to hear from you.

Together, we can help alleviate crisis, prevent harm and build brighter futures for children and families across Scotland

Please visit the following link to learn about our recruitment events to meet our team, hear about our plans.

issuu.com/children_first/docs/children_first_support_line_recruitment_pack