The role

Scottish Women’s Aid has an opportunity to join their Policy team. This is an exciting position where the role holder will be responsible for working on policy relating to children and young people and domestic abuse, violence against women and girls, and gender related topics. They will work closely with the Membership, Training and Communications teams.

Background

Scottish Women’s Aid is Scotland’s leading voluntary sector organisation working to end domestic abuse and promoting effective policy and practice responses for women, children and young people who experience domestic abuse. We are the umbrella organisation for 32 autonomous Women’s Aid groups delivering direct services to women, children and young people across Scotland.

What you’ll do

Working across third sector organisations you will build and maintain relationships to input to policy and influencing, as SWA as well as jointly with others. You will maintain good working relationships with civil servants, challenging ideas and find solutions where necessary.

The role includes inputting to and submitting consultation responses, researching and writing briefings, preparing for SWA to providence evidence in parliament, keep our communications team up to date with policy inputs and changes, and input to good practice stemming from policy changes. All of these roles, requiring great working relationships across the organisation, but especially with Membership, Training and Communications.

What We Need

We’re looking for someone with experience in a similar role, with specific knowledge of the Scottish policy landscape and the potential that offers. We’re looking for someone who can work across domestic abuse as it relates to children and young people – examples include the Children’s Hearing system, child contact, the welfare system. We ask that you’re a self-starter, ready to apply these skills creatively to meet our strategic priorities. Excellent written and verbal communications skills go without saying: you’ll be skilled in the ability to engage confidently with a range of different audiences, and be adept at writing to suit them, working alongside colleagues across SWA and our members across the country.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• Knowledge of the Scottish policy landscape
• Awareness and understanding of the feminist analysis of domestic abuse and the impact on women, children and young people
• Demonstrable track record of developing and writing successfully in a policy context
• Highly organised approach to effective planning, delivery and the development of applicable tasks
• Drive to make a difference in a fast moving time of policy

Location

Blend of home working and office, based in Rose Street, Edinburgh or can be entirely home based anywhere in the UK. Please talk to us about your flexible working requirements!

What we offer

There are many reasons to work for Scottish Women’s Aid. We have a great working culture and our mission and vision attracts a brilliant staff team. Your hard work is rewarded with a package of support and benefits including:

• Flexible working - We offer flexible hybrid working options for the majority of our employees. Some posts are eligible for full-time homeworking. We also offer flexibility for staff and work/life balance through a number of flexible working options such as flexi time, condensed hours, job sharing.
• Pay - SWA are a Living wage employer, our pay and grading system offers a competitive starting salary and yearly progression.
• Annual Leave - We offer a full-time annual leave entitlement of 30 days (210 hours) per year plus 10 Public Holiday days (70 hours) per year. Leave is accrued at the rate of 3.33 days (23.3 hours) per month.
• Pension - SWA believes it's important that we help you save for your retirement so access to Nest pension scheme is given to all eligible employees. SWA contributes 10% of gross contractual earnings on the provision that the employee contributes a minimum of 3% towards their pension contributions.
• Learning and Development - SWA supports and develops staff to ensure they have the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities. There is an internal schedule of training on key skills and knowledge relevant to all staff. There is also scope to attend ad hoc training for employees who are working to develop specific skills.
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay - SWA offers staff who meet the criteria for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) an enhanced maternity pay of 20 weeks on full pay and 20 weeks on half pay.
• Wellbeing - As part of SWA’s commitment to staff wellbeing, staff are offered access to a confidential 24/7 health and Wellbeing service with AIG which provides confidential advice, counselling and legal support to all staff, and where applicable, immediate family members.
• Bike 2 Work - An interest-free loan to purchase a bike, can be arranged up to the value of £1,000.
• Edinburgh Leisure Gym Subsidies - Edinburgh based staff are able to access Edinburgh Leisure facilities for the reduced price of £1 per session.

POSITIVE ACTION

Applications will be accepted from women only under Schedule 9, part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Scottish Women’s Aid is an equal opportunities employer, all women, including women with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, may apply for women-only roles.

SWA are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the people we serve.

We are taking positive action to address an under-representation of minoritised and marginalised women within our workforce. We offer Disabled and racially minoritised women the option of requesting that their application is considered under the terms of our Guaranteed Interview Schemes. You will be asked if you wish to be considered when you complete our application form.

If you would like to discuss the job or any adjustments, whether due to disability or any other reason, please contact us on recruitment@womensaid.scot or on the phone on 0131 226 6606.

The Director is the senior leader of Firefly International, responsible for driving the charity’s mission to support war-affected children through the provision of education, mental health and peacebuilding programmes delivered in genuine partnership with our overseas partners. This is a hands-on leadership role within a small, donation-dependent charity, suited to an adaptable allrounder who is motivated to lead growth and change rather than maintain the status quo. Firefly has a good track record and a good reputation and has both the will and the capacity to do more and do better, for the children it exists to serve. To do that, it needs to recruit the right Director.

Organisation Profile

Firefly International was established as an arts-based playgroup, as civil war was coming to an end in Bosnia, to bring Bosnia’s Croat, Serb and Muslim children together. The founder, Ellie Maxwell, was a student at the University of Edinburgh at the time. Firefly still works in Bosnia, supporting its locally registered partner, Svitac (Firefly in local language) which is based in Brcko in the north-east, where the population is divided between the three ethnicities. It runs daily classes for pre-school children, outreach sessions with high schools and a youth group for the 16+ age group. All activities aim to build tolerance between different ethnicities and tackle the ignorance that fuels hatred and fear.

Since 2016 it has also been working with a Syrian partner organisation, delivering trauma-informed education. Initially it was working just in the Syrian refugee communities in Turkey. Later, it began work in northern Syria and more recently it has begun teaching in and around Latakia in western Syria. This is the largest of our three programme areas and the one with the most pressing demands for expansion, in response to the gaps in education in Syria today.

Until 7th October 2023 we partnered with a child mental health centre in Gaza. We have had to close the centre but aim to return to Gaza when we can. Meantime, we partner with an Egyptian group who help child medical evacuees from Gaza with therapeutic and educational activities.

Firefly is a long-established charity, small but with a long reach and ambitious goals. It is distinctive in its stated aim of remaining with its partners for as long as it is needed and useful. It encourages the development of projects by local staff in response to local needs. Its income and scope have grown considerably in recent years. It is driven by the need to be as effective as it can be, supporting partners in their aspirations for the children and young people of their own communities.

The Role

This is a full-time role based in Edinburgh for a Director at Firefly International (open to discussing part time or flexible working arrangements). The Director will oversee the strategic direction, daily operations, and overall performance of the organisation. Key tasks include managing budgets, fundraising efforts, supervising staff and volunteers, maintaining strong relationships with partner organisations, and ensuring the effective delivery of programmes. The Director will also represent Firefly to stakeholders, including donors and international partners, and work to enhance its impact and visibility.

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

Children First is Scotland’s national children’s charity. We are seeking to appoint the Head of Support line. Guided by our values - with love, with purpose and with strength - we work to keep children safe, families strong and communities connected. Our support line is a lifeline for families, offering emotional, practical and financial support when it’s needed most. The role will be based in Edinburgh with hybrid and flexible working options available.

The role

We’re looking for an inspiring, experienced leader to head this vital service for Scotland’s families. In this role, you’ll oversee the day-to-day running of our high quality multi-channel support line, ensuring families receive timely, effective support through calls, webchat and email. You’ll lead a multi-skilled, experienced passionate team as they modernise this trusted national service. You will, champion children’s rights, innovation and make sure our services evolve to meet the changing needs of children and families.

This is more than an operational role - it’s delivering on our strategic priorities, collaborating with all stakeholders and about amplifying families’ voices, influencing policy and shaping services that make a real difference to children and families. You’ll also work closely with colleagues in business development and fundraising, helping to inspire supporters, strengthen partnerships and demonstrate the impact of our work to funders and donors.

If you have experience managing a helpline or multi-channel services, strong leadership skills and a deep commitment to improving outcomes for children and families, we’d love to hear from you.

What we are looking for

You will be an inspiring leader and will possess a degree or equivalent experience in social care, business management, or related field. In addition to professional training in leadership, safeguarding and service delivery (desirable).

What you can expect from us

As well as a rewarding career and development opportunities, 35 hour week, we offer 40 days annual leave per year pro rata, a contributory pension scheme, generous maternity/adoption and paternity leave, flexible working opportunities and wellbeing support.

With a supportive and inclusive working environment, the salary for this role is £51,257.00 - £57,613.00 per annum.

Our values

Living our values, you will make a direct impact to the lives of children across Scotland. With love, we put children first. With purpose, we transform children’s lives together. With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland’s children.

We’re looking for a Policy and Engagement Officer to join the team at the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, which helps resolve issues raised by the public about work carried out by Scottish lawyers and oversees complaint handling across the legal services sector. We help hundreds of people a year, and our team make decisions which make a difference to people’s lives.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we’re open on both professional and work experience. We want to build a diverse team, so would positively encourage applications from all candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion, pregnancy or maternity.

We’re a small team of around 60 staff, which makes for a close, friendly team to work in. We deliver serious work, but we also have a great deal of fun as a team working together. It also means there are great opportunities to get involved in different aspects of our work, from driving improvements in our customer service, to running sprints to test new ways of working.

In this role you will help us shape our thinking, build our understanding and communicate our views on key issues to our partners, stakeholders and users. You will also help ensure that we develop robust policies to help govern our complaints and regulatory work, drawing on strong horizon scanning, robust research and meaningful consultation.

You will build strong relationships with key stakeholders at all levels and manage the organisation’s engagement with them. You will be responsible for drafting reports, responses and other public communications and responding to enquiries from politicians, regulators, consumer groups and other bodies. You will also develop policy proposals and recommendations across a range of issues and deliver briefing and policy advice to board members and senior staff.

You will be enthusiastic, motivated and able to work with others. You’ll bring strong relationship building skills and stakeholder engagement experience. And you’ll be a confident communicator with strong writing skills and an ability to adapt your approach for different audiences.

You must be able to demonstrate experience of policy development and a proven ability to analyse information to produce robust findings and recommendations.

You will need to be able to quickly grasp complex or technical issues. It’s a benefit if you have knowledge of regulation policy, consumer policy, legal issues or equalities issues, but we’re very open to hearing from those with experience in other areas.

This is a hybrid role. We require that you attend our Edinburgh office a minimum of one-third of your working time a quarter (we estimate around 2 days per week for a full-time colleague). There may also be some specific events that you will need to attend in person. Please note your induction will include more office days in the beginning to help you settle into the SLCC, learn about the role and to provide the most support. We also offer flexible working hours that means when you are working from home you can work anytime between 6am and 10pm and 7am to 7pm in the office.

You will also have 42 days paid holiday, including public holidays (pro-rata for less than 35 hours a week). We also offer a Group Self Invested Personal Pension, company sick pay scheme, life assurance, cycle to work scheme, travel loan scheme, volunteer days and a confidential employee assistance programme offering free advice and support across a range of work and personal issues.

We also pride ourselves on being an enjoyable place to work, with a supportive environment, opportunities for self-development, staff charity events and the opportunity to socialise. We have a staff led Wellbeing and Inclusion Group. In our last staff survey 97% said they have a good working relationship with their colleagues.

Children First is Scotland’s national children’s charity. We stand up for every child because all children should have a safe childhood. We protect children from harm and support them to recover from trauma and abuse through our national and local services.

In this role, you’ll:

• Lead the development and delivery of high-impact influence and campaigning activity that drives policy and practice change for children and families.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across communications, policy, services and fundraising to deliver bold, integrated campaigns.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, partners, influencers and decision-makers.
• Ensure campaigns are informed by evidence, data and the lived experience of children and families.
• Provide leadership and direction across policy and participation, creating a culture of connection, accountability and impact.

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

• Significant experience leading influence, campaigning, policy or public affairs work at a senior level.
• A proven track record of delivering campaigns that achieve meaningful change.
• Experience of leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with confidence engaging senior stakeholders and partners.
• A collaborative, values-led approach and commitment to children’s rights and inclusion.

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.