Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. We have embarked on our 10-year strategy for ending homelessness. We know it is not inevitable. We know together we can end it.

As a Strengths and Assets Coach at Crisis, the national charity for people experiencing homelessness, you will play a key role in supporting people who have experienced homelessness to identify, develop, and build on their personal strengths. Your work will centre on empowering individuals to create sustainable housing situations through meaningful community connections, access to training and development, and opportunities in employment, volunteering, and leisure.

In this role, you will draw on a diverse toolkit of coaching and facilitation skills to support members in setting person-centred goals and taking practical steps toward them. Using a psychologically informed approach, you will help build confidence, resilience, and the capacity to access wider community resources—enabling members to thrive as active citizens. You will also work with the learning team to support the delivery of a range of engaging formal and informal learning opportunities focused on employability, volunteering, tenancy skills, and personal development.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and grow the Strengths and Assets services at Crisis Edinburgh Skylight, working closely with colleagues and partners across multiple sectors. Together, you will contribute to the development of innovative learning and progression pathways that remove barriers and open doors for people moving out of homelessness.

Skills, Knowledge, and Experience Essential for Success

• Experience in community education, tenancy skills development, volunteering, training, and tenancy sustainment.
• Experience working alongside marginalised individuals or groups, using a coaching approach to build strengths and assets.
• A strong understanding of the needs, challenges, and sensitivities involved in supporting people facing homelessness and exclusion, with the ability to develop practical, person-centred solutions.
• Awareness of the barriers to engagement and participation experienced by people facing homelessness and an understanding of how these might be overcome.
• Knowledge of psychologically informed approaches, particularly when working with people who have experienced complex trauma or long-term marginalisation.

We believe diversity is a strength, and our aim is to make sure that Crisis truly reflects the communities we serve. We are actively working towards our organisation being a place where everyone can thrive and make their best contribution to our mission of ending homelessness for good. We know that the more perspectives, voices, and experiences we can bring to this work, the better. We particularly welcome applications from people who have lived experience of homelessness, and people from all marginalised groups, communities, and backgrounds.

Working at Crisis

Our values, Bold, Impactful, Collaborative andEquitable, are at the heart of everything we do as we continue in our mission to end homelessness.

Our staff, members and volunteers are vital to getting the right government policies in place, providing breakthrough services, and building a supportive community. We’ll lead by example to nurture a positive and ambitious workplace guided by ending homelessness.

As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits including:

• A competitive salary. Please note, our salaries are fixed to counter inequity and we do not negotiate at offer stage
• Interest free loans for travel season ticket, cycle to work, and deposit to secure a tenancy
• Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 8.5%
• 28 days’ annual leave (pro rata) which increases with service to 31 days and the option to purchase up to 10 additional days leave
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption pay
• Wellbeing Leave to be used flexibly And more! (Full list of benefits available on website)

Alongside our excellent staff benefits, we will support your ongoing development to build your skills, experience, and career.

When you join us, you will have the opportunity to join our staff diversity networks, which aim to champion issues across the organisation, enable staff to be their authentic and best selves and contribute to making Crisis a truly diverse organisation.

Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. We have embarked on our10-year strategyand launched our new campaign toend all forms of homelessness in Scotland by 2040. We know homelessness is not inevitable. We know together we can end it.

Homelessness is rising fast in Scotland, and we are seeing unprecedented demand for our services. At this critical time, as the Scottish election passes and a new parliamentary term begins, we are looking for a talented and experienced Media and Public Affairs Manager to raise the public and political profile of homelessness in Scotland, to shine a light on the human impact and trauma that it brings, and to build momentum and support for Crisis work to end homelessness for good.

Location: Cranston House, 271 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8BQ (Working from home is an option in line with Crisis’ Hybrid working policy). You will be required to work from the Edinburgh office twice a week.

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £45,592 per annum

About the Role

As Media and Public Affairs Manager, you will bring to life the work of Crisis’ day to day services and our national influencing agenda. Using print, digital and broadcast journalism you will advocate for the solutions needed to end homelessness and inspire and active politicians to join our campaign and take meaningful action to end homelessness in Scotland by 2040. You will oversee the development and delivery of high-profile media, communications and political influencing campaign strategies, and help to build our brand reach, engaging a wide range of new audiences across Scotland.

With homelessness at record levels there has never been a more critical time to join Crisis and ensure ending homelessness is firmly on the national news agenda and central to all political party’s goals.

About you

You will have significant experience of working in a challenging, fast-paced news, media and public affairs environment to secure high-profile coverage and political engagement. You will also have experience of leading and managing individuals or teams, motivating people to achieve objectives and overcome challenges. Having the ability to navigate competing priorities and influence senior internal and external stakeholders is essential.

To be successful in this role, you will be able to demonstrate excellent knowledge and experience of working with the Scottish media and the Scottish Parliament to secure national policy change, demonstrate the ability to secure high profile sustained media coverage to convey complex stories in an engaging and relatable way, and have exceptional news sense, with the ability to take a creative approach when seeking out new media opportunities. You will have an excellent track record in national campaign and parliamentary influence, familiar with how parliament works and competent in influencing politicians.

Please see the full Job Pack linked below, for a full list of requirements for this role. We realise that long lists of criteria can be daunting, and you may not want to apply for a role unless you feel 100% qualified. However, if you feel you have relevant examples to answer the screening questions, we encourage you to apply.

We believe diversity is a strength, and our aim is to make sure that Crisis truly reflects the communities we serve. We are actively working towards our organisation being a place where everyone can thrive and make their best contribution to our mission of ending homelessness for good. We know that the more perspectives, voices, and experiences we can bring to this work, the better. We particularly welcome applications from people who have lived experience of homelessness, and people from all marginalised groups, communities, and backgrounds.

Working at Crisis

Our values, Bold, Impactful, Collaborative and Equitable, are at the heart of everything we do as we continue in our mission to end homelessness.

Our staff, members and volunteers are vital to getting the right government policies in place, providing breakthrough services, and building a supportive community. We’ll lead by example to nurture a positive and ambitious workplace guided by ending homelessness.

As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits including:

• A competitive salary. Please note, our salaries are fixed to counter inequity and we do not negotiate at offer stage
• Interest free loans for travel season ticket, cycle to work, and deposit to secure a tenancy
• Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 8.5%
• 28 days’ annual leave (pro rata) which increases with service to 31 days and the option to purchase up to 10 additional days leave
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption pay.
• Flexible working around the core hours 10am-4pm
• Wellbeing Leave to be used flexibly And more! (Full list of benefits available on website)

Alongside our excellent staff benefits, we will support your ongoing development to build your skills, experience, and career.

When you join us, you will have the opportunity to join our staff diversity networks, which aim to champion issues across the organisation, enable staff to be their authentic and best selves and contribute to making Crisis a truly diverse organisation.