Local charity Family Mediation Central Scotland (FMCS) has a vacancy for an experienced Administrator. Our office is based in Cowie and we are responsible for delivering the Family Mediation and Child Contact Centre Service across the Forth Valley. We are willing to discuss with candidates hybrid working, but there will be an expectation that some time will be spent working in-person in the office.

We work with separated parents and their children in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire by providing both Family Mediation and Child Contact Centre services. Through mediation, we assist parents to make arrangements for their children following separation or divorce. We also provide facilities for family contact visits at our Contact Centres, for children to spend time with the parent they no longer live with.

Role: Reporting to the Service Manager, as Administrator, you will provide high quality administrative support for the office to ensure its efficient operation.

Key duties and responsibilities

• Setting up new client files, adding individuals’ details to the database and updating the client contact sheet.

• Maintaining database and closing finished case files.

• Helping intake workers populate files with important information, such as interlocutors, details of legal aid sanction and copies of important emails from solicitors or clients.

• Arranging intake appointments for clients and confirming them by email.

• Helping manage Intake Workers’ calendars.

• Creating client forms as documents that can be completed online through FMCS website and saving the completed forms to the relevant client files.

• Obtaining client contact details and legal aid information from solicitors.

• Reminding self-funding clients to pay for their appointments.

• Answering phones, dealing with enquiries, giving information on our service and offering intake appointments.

• Keep a record of all enquiries coming into the Service by phone, e-mail or through the website.

• Monitoring reception email address, passing emails on to relevant staff members and dealing with website enquiries.

• Set-up and management of staff email system and cloud based shared files including adding/removing new and departing staff members.

• Welcoming clients at Reception when in office.

• Ordering office supplies.

Education and experience

• Hold recognised qualification in administration (e.g. NVQ/SVQ or HND/HNC) and/or 2 or more years’ experience of office work.

• Excellent IT skills, including use of databases.

Family Mediation Central Scotland is looking for an experienced Finance Assistant to assist the Service Manager with our accounting processes.

We are a small local charity based in Cowie working with separated parents and their children across the Forth Valley. Our remit is to provide a family mediation and child contact centre service in the Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire areas. We assist parents to make arrangements for their children post-separation or divorce, primarily to do with issues of contact for children with the parent they no longer live with.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Operation of staff payroll using Intuit QuickBooks.
• Online submission of PAYE in real time and year-end reports to HMRC within set timescales.
• Preparation of monthly spreadsheets detailing Income and Expenditure.
• Monitoring the overall financial situation on a month-to-month basis.
• Producing monthly management reports (i.e. Profit & Loss) for meetings of Board of Directors.
• Bank reconciliations.
• Managing Sales and Purchase Ledgers.
• Preparation and monitoring of budgets and business plans.
• Assisting with general ad-hoc accountancy matters.

Essential Skills & Experience:

• Previous proven experience of working as a Finance Assistant or Bookkeeper
• Knowledge and experience of Intuit QuickBooks.
• Computer literate with good knowledge of Excel spreadsheets.
• Good communicator.
• Attention to detail and able to maintain confidentiality.
• Comfortable working as part of a small team.
• Flexible and able to work on own initiative.
• Willing to take responsibility.

Board Recruitment

We’re looking for people who will bring different skills and experiences to our Board.

What do our Trustees do?

Our Board of Trustees are volunteers, who collectively govern the work of the charity. This involves:

• Preparing for and taking part in Board Meetings. At these meetings, you will help shape the charity’s strategy, oversee and guide the work of the Service Manager, examine financial and operational reports and make collective decisions about the charity’s budget, policies and procedures.

• Taking part in training about different aspects of governing a charity. This helps make sure you understand your responsibilities in law and in turn that our charity complies with everything we need to.

What skills and experience do you need?

Ideally, we are looking for people with experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Financial planning and management.

• HR and people management.

• Safeguarding responsibilities.

• Fundraising.

• Local knowledge of the Third Sector in either Falkirk, Stirling or Clackmannanshire.

• If you join us as a specialist Finance Trustee, you will also:

• Review management accounts and cash flow reports.

• Scrutinise budgets and forecasts, helping to inform Board decision-making.

• Liaise with the CEO and senior staff about any extraordinary spending needs, ensuring affordability.

• Meet with our auditors to help finalise our annual accounts.

You will also need to be eligible under charity law to become a charity trustee. You can find out about this from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

What kind of commitment is involved?

• Our Trustees are appointed for a three-year term. This can then be renewed for a second term of three years. Trustees are appointed and re-appointed each year at our Annual General Meeting.

• Meetings take place every month, with the exception of July and December. These meetings will be mainly online, but some will take place in person at our offices in Cowie. There will however always be an option to join remotely. There is also a commitment to being available for consultation and keeping in touch by e-mail in-between meetings, as required.

Family Mediation Central Scotland (FMCS) is looking to recruit a temporary Office Move Co-ordinator. The successful applicant will be required to assist the Service Manager with all aspects of our forthcoming office move, including identifying suitable premises to move to. This temporary post is offered for a fixed period of six months between July and December 2021. Applicants require to be available to take up the post immediately.

FMCS supports separated parents and their children in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire by providing both Family Mediation and Child Contact Centre (CCC) services. CCCs are safe, comfortable places where children can spend time with the parent they no longer live with, and provide a solution for parents who find it difficult to arrange and manage contact themselves.

Role: You will be responsible for assisting the Service Manager in all aspects of planning and executing our office move. This includes searching for and identifying suitable premises, as well as organising the removal and setting up the new premises in terms of equipment and utilities.

Key duties and responsibilities

Reporting to the Service Manager:

• Liaise with property agents and local authorities with a view to identifying suitable premises for the service to move to, which will be compliant with the forthcoming Regulation of child contact centres.
• Organise all aspects of the office move, including the removal itself, liaising with utility companies and ensuring all equipment is moved safely and set-up at the new destination.
• Devise a budget and monitor costs against that budget, ensuring value for money with all expenses incurred.
• Assist the Service Manager with any other duties relating to the move, as required.
• Maintain confidentiality at all times.

Education & experience

• Excellent interpersonal skills, telephone manner and high standard of written work.
• Experience of working in a senior administrative role previously.
• High standard of organisational skills.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a small team.
• Experience of undertaking a similar task previously is desirable, but not essential.

Days & hours of work: 12 hours per week to be worked over two days. It may be possible to undertake some duties from home. This possibility can be discussed with the Service Manager.

Place of work: Family Mediation Central Scotland, 80 Murray Place, Stirling, FK8 2BX

Rate of pay: £8,342 pa (pro rata for six months)

Family Mediation Central Scotland (FMCS) is looking to recruit Child Contact Supervisors. Successful applicants will be required to work at any one of our three child contact centres in Stirling, Falkirk and Alloa, according to client demand.

FMCS supports separated parents and their children in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire by providing both Family Mediation and Child Contact Centre (CCC) services. CCCs are safe, comfortable places where children can spend time with the parent they no longer live with, and provide a solution for parents who find it difficult to arrange and manage contact themselves. Families using our Supervised Contact Service have usually been referred by the Sheriff Court or family law solicitors, and successful applicants will require to supervise contact sessions at any of our contact centres on a sessional basis, predominantly on Saturdays.

Role: You will be responsible for supervising contact visits for children with the parent (or other family member) they no longer live with on Saturdays (and possibly some weekdays). You will also prepare factual reports on such visits for the Sheriff Court, under the Service Manager’s guidance.

Key duties and responsibilities

Reporting to the Service Manager:

• Responsible for the smooth running of any visits you are involved in, ensuring safe contact.

• Observe and record anything of note during supervised contact sessions, then use these notes to compile factual, observational reports on the visits for the Sheriff Court.

• Ensure the safety and comfort of the children at all times.

• Manage the transfer of children from one parent to the other for (and after) each contact visit.

• Work with both parents equally, and minimise any conflict and tension around the contact.

• Liaise with Service Manager, and other CCC staff, on families using the Centre, including any special circumstances, and help implement strategies to address issues arising from visits.

• Maintain confidentiality and impartiality at all times.

Education & experience

• Qualification in a relevant subject – e.g. social work, childcare/Early Years, mediation, teaching, etc.

• Or two or more years’ experience of working with families and children (or people in conflict or distress).

Days & hours of work: Saturdays(with the possibility of other ad hoc work on other days). As this work is referral-led, we cannot guarantee a minimum number of hours per week or month). The exact pattern to be agreed with Service Manager, but the postholder will need to be flexible and able to work irregular hours and Saturdays, as required.