This is a really exciting time to join Girlguiding Scotland. With nearly 40,000 young members we are the largest charity for girls and young women in Scotland. We’ve been around for over 100 years and have much to be proud of in that rich and vibrant history, but we know that to remain exciting and relevant to young people we must continually evolve.

The overall purpose of the role is:

We’re looking for a collaborative and supportive youth leadership development officer to help disadvantaged girls and young women to build leadership skills and confidence through Girlguiding Scotland’s community-based youthwork opportunities. This role is a maternity cover until end of March 2027.

This role is funded through the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities programme as part of the Location CashBack project. This project is delivered in partnership with consortium partners from Youth Scotland, Boys Brigade in Scotland and Scouts Scotland. From April 2026 to March 2027 this work will be focused on working with Girlguiding members in deprived communities in Glasgow, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire.

We’re looking for someone who can build strong relationships quickly and who is comfortable working independently, as well as working as part of the team of staff and volunteers at a Scottish level.

They’ll need to have strong facilitation and communication skills, be comfortable delivering training and youthwork activities and experienced in gathering and using data to inform the direction of their work. They’ll need to possess a high degree of motivation, innovation, and creativity to engage volunteers in target areas and meet the project targets.

In the role they will develop and deliver a programme of over 400 leadership development opportunities for disadvantaged young people (aged 10-25) using Girlguiding’s programme of activities, awards and qualifications.

Location:This is a home-based role although regular travel to meet with volunteers, young people and other stakeholders in project areas in the evenings and weekends will be expected. This may involve overnight stays. You will be required to regularly work evenings and weekends, for which TOIL will be given. We do not pay overtime. You will also be required to attend monthly meetings at our office in Edinburgh.

The project officer for the Volunteer Recruitment Project will help deliver this special project which is designed to recruit and welcome more volunteers into Girlguiding Scotland.

You will be a key member of the Volunteer Recruitment project team. You’ll use your knowledge and experience, and insights gathered by our Volunteer Recruitment Officers who are out and about supporting local recruitment and awareness raising activities across Scotland, to identify opportunities to create new resources, trainings and partnerships.

You’ll be involved in researching and collating information, producing reports, creating training materials and support resources, and organising events and developing training. You’ll also provide advice to volunteers about recruiting and welcoming other volunteers and signposting sources of support.

Main areas of responsibility

Support local recruitment and welcome activity

• Using membership data and other internal and external sources, support our volunteer recruitment officers target areas for development work
• Create a rolling quarterly calendar of opportunities (including dates of volunteer centre-run events and award programmes and Further/Higher education events) for our volunteer recruitment officers and local volunteer teams to use.

Support national recruitment and welcome activity

• Work with other members of the Volunteer Recruitment Project team to identify where new training, good practice guidance, templates and resources could help volunteer teams respond to challenges around recruitment or welcome
• Create resources and training materials designed to support current volunteers with recruitment and welcome
• Support the delivery of in person and online workshops and training related to recruitment and welcome
• Ensure the content of our national programme of online information sessions designed to welcome new volunteers, is updated to reflect changes in internal policies and procedures and ensure it remains relevant and engaging
• Work with relevant staff and volunteer working groups to develop proposals for new projects, e.g. support research into the potential for a corporate volunteering programme

Facilitate best practice sharing

• Share regular project updates with internal stakeholders to an agreed reporting format, allowing wider staff and volunteer teams to see how the programme of development work is progressing against targets.
• Contribute to the promotion of the project via social media, digital communications and Girlguiding Scotland meetings and events
• Attend relevant external events and trainings to develop your own knowledge and understanding of the sector and put this learning into practice

Monitoring and evaluation

• Support the completion of monthly and quarterly updates demonstrating the impact of the project in local areas and across Scotland.
• Evaluate training and resources and update or develop as required with input from relevant staff and volunteers

In this role, you will play a key part in transforming how we advertise volunteering opportunities, work with external partners and welcome more volunteers into guiding.

As one of a team of volunteer recruitment officers you will work with the head of membership development and growth and existing guiding volunteers from across Scotland to identify opportunities to improve how we recruit and welcome new volunteers.

You will also help deliver tailored recruitment and welcome plans in local communities across Scotland. You will use data and local insight to identify geographic areas most in need of additional volunteers. You’ll build relationships with existing volunteers in these areas and deliver volunteer recruitment and welcome events (in person and online).

You’ll make links with relevant external stakeholders and support local and national working groups. By developing new training materials and support resources, you’ll also build the knowledge and skills of existing volunteers.

Main areas of responsibility

Support local recruitment and welcome activity

• Use membership data, local knowledge and relevant external sources to identify geographic areas most in need of additional volunteers
• Persuade existing volunteer teams within identified target areas of the value of working with a recruitment officer.
• Provide tailored support to local volunteer teams to help them develop evidence-based recruitment plans
• Build and maintain effective relationships with community-based stakeholders that can support volunteer recruitment (e.g. schools, colleges and universities; volunteer centres; job centres; corporate partners, etc)
• Identify opportunities to inspire volunteers of different abilities, backgrounds and ages to get involved with Girlguiding
• Deliver a range of volunteer recruitment initiatives based on local need (including promotional talks, recruitment stalls and social media posts)
• Support local teams to identify opportunities to improve the welcome that new volunteers receive and speed up progress through our recruitment and vetting process
• Provide time-limited admin support to help clear backlogs of volunteer enquiries in supported areas
• Provide support with local ID verification processes to help new volunteers complete disclosure checks in a timely manner

Facilitate best practice sharing

• Support the lead volunteer for membership development and growth to deliver our regular, online Getting Started with Girlguiding Scotland info sessions for prospective volunteers
• Develop and deliver new training, good practice guidance, templates and other resources to support current volunteers to be more effective in how they recruit and welcome new volunteers

Monitoring and evaluation

• Ensure each phase of work in a targeted geographic area is appropriately evaluated with input from local volunteers
• Maintain accurate records of recruitment activity and use these to populate monthly and quarterly reports, identifying relevant learnings and impacts as the work progresses