sparqs is a charity funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), working with Scotland's university and college sectors. Our purpose is to ensure students are partners in shaping the quality of learning, making positive change to their own and others’ experience, however and wherever they learn. It aims to foster a culture of partnership between students and staff which enables the Scottish education sector to respond to challenges and realize its ambitions to provide the best possible experience for each and every student.

Volunteer Chair of Trustee Board

We are looking for a chair of Trustees who will lead our Board with integrity, insight and enthusiasm. This is an opportunity to guide a highly-regarded charity into its next exciting chapter.

As our new Chair you will have:

• Experience of being a strategic leader, including experience of working with a board either as a CEO/Director reporting to board, or as a board member/chair.
• Commitment and enthusiasm to the work of sparqs in terms of a student-led approach, role of student engagement in quality enhancement and value of partnership approaches.
• Ability to represent and promote the organisation publicly, acting as an ambassador and networker to further the attainment of organisational aims.
• Ability to influence, at a senior level, partner, and other stakeholder organisations particularly in the Scottish post-16 education sector.
• Commitment to the positive value of diversity, promoting equality and challenging discrimination and willingness to play an active role in creating an environment that promotes these values.

If you believe you have the experience and qualities we are seeking to contribute to this important organisation, we very much look forward to hearing from you. Working in a diverse sector and with diverse students, we are keen to receive applications from people of all backgrounds and with all different kinds of life experiences.

We are seeking a motivated and organized Events & Communications Coordinator to join our team. Reporting to the Events Manager, this role focuses on coordinating the delivery of Remembrance and Commemorative events that bring together the Armed Forces community, while also supporting the organisation’s communications and digital presence.

This is a mid-level role with opportunities to take ownership of projects, contribute creatively, and engage with a wide range of stakeholders.

Why Join Us?

This is a fantastic opportunity to play a key role in delivering high-profile events and shaping the organisation’s communications. You will gain exposure to a variety of projects, build relationships across the Armed Forces community, and help promote the Legion’s mission and values.

If you would like any further information on the role before applying, please contact Brian Ward (Events Manager) on b.ward@legionscotland.org.uk

Full details are available in the job description below.

legionscotland.org.uk/News/join-our-team-at-the-royal-british-legion-scotland

Who We Are

We are Scotland’s leading youth homelessness charity. We believe that no young person should ever face homelessness. That’s why we deliver bold, youth-specific solutions, built around young people’s experiences and what evidence tells us works.

We support young people to avoid and move on from homelessness, helping them build the confidence, skills and stability they need to thrive in adulthood. We also influence policy and practice to create a Scotland where no young person is left behind.

We don’t follow the system, we change it, continually championing the voices and experiences of all young people.

Context

Rock Trust delivers the Upstream prevention project in schools and the post holder will work with the Upstream Team, pilot schools and education departments to create a toolkit for the implementation of Upstream. This will involve working with current pilot schools to document the changes required in school systems, the challenges and how to overcome them and an assessment of the resources required to deliver Upstream. The Ask & Act Education Manager will use this learning to create a toolkit and implementation plan to be used for national implementation.

This role is responsible for:

• Coordinating work with multiple local authority Education departments, senior leaders and cross-sector partners (Housing, Social Work, Health, third sector)
• Designing and documenting processes, guidance and training materials that enable schools to embed early identification of housing risk
• Capturing learning, gathering data and producing a national implementation framework
• Ensuring all activity aligns with statutory duties, local contexts and Rock Trust’s prevention approach

The Ask & Act Education Manager will need to be methodical, have strong report writing skills and interpersonal skills to co-ordinate the information gathering and documenting. They will be responsible for delivering the toolkit to a high standard, making a lasting contribution to Scotland’s homelessness prevention system.

Responsible to: Counselling Team Leader

Health in Mind offers a range of counselling services. We are seeking a compassionate and qualified Counsellor with over 1 year of post-qualified experience, and experience of working with people who have experienced trauma, to join our team in a self-employed capacity. You will provide face-to-face and online one-to-one counselling individuals facing a range of emotional and psychological challenges across our five counselling services.

Requirements:

• Recognised counselling qualification (Diploma or Masters Level)
• 1+ year of post-qualified experience
• Registration with COSCA, NCPS, BACP, UKCP, HCPC or other relevant professional body
• Experience working with diverse client groups, including people who have experienced trauma
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver confidential counselling sessions tailored to client needs
• Maintain accurate and timely client records in line with Health in Mind policies and processes
• Work collaboratively and have good communication with the Counselling Team Leader and Counselling Administrator
• Uphold ethical and professional standards in line with BACP guidelines

This is an exciting opportunity to join Apex Scotland at a transformative moment, working alongside our Finance Manager and newly created Finance Administration position. As Finance Officer you will play a key role in providing an inhouse finance function that supports our front-line staff and provides key information to the leadership team. This new role plays a significant part in supporting organisational finance operations including account payable and receivable, bank reconciliations and supporting the Finance Manager with the annual budget.

About you

As the Finance Officer, you will bring experience in a fast-paced finance function and have the ability to manage multiple priorities. You will be highly organised, with strong attention to detail and a commitment to delivering work to deadlines and to a high standard. ?

You will have a proactive and solutions-oriented approach, and confident using financial software packages, preferably Xero, and Microsoft 365 packages.

Our values at Apex Scotland are Believe, Respect, Empower and Support, values that we live and breathe every day both internally and externally, our new Finance Officer will share our passion for demonstrating our values.?

About the charity

Apex Scotland helps people with experience of the justice system to have a future beyond their past. We see a society that values second chances, where barriers to inclusion are dismantled, and where people with justice system experience are empowered to contribute fully, shaping safer, fairer, and more compassionate communities.?

Our support includes early intervention initiatives, the provision of practical and emotional support, training and employability programmes. We understand that those we support and care for require interventions that are person centred, recognising their own individual, unique needs and circumstances.

If you believe in a future beyond someone’s past, apply to work with us today.

What we offer

• 3% Employer Pension Contribution
• Death in Service
• Enrolment to a health plan
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to Perkbox for discounts and offers
• Christmas closure
• Hybrid working

The Yard is an award-winning charity that runs adventure play services for children with disabilities and/or additional support needs and their families across Scotland.

We are seeking an experienced HR Manager who is passionate about driving positive change at The Yard. You will bring the expertise and gravitas to influence and support senior leadership on HR and cultural initiatives.

About the role:

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Ensuring The Yard maintains the roles, skills and experience to deliver on its strategic priorities

• Measure employee engagement and agree action plans to develop and improve organisational culture

• Ensuring our recruitment policies and processes embody our values and enable us to recruit people with the skills and qualities to meet our goals

• Developing and managing our renumeration policy

About you:

This job is for you if you have:

• Proven experience of HR management

• Can lead by example, fostering a culture of trust and respect

• Excellent communication and relationship building skills

• Ability to develop HR strategies aligning with our strategic plan

If our ethos inspires you and you are eager to bring your knowledge and experience to a team that is deeply committed to our purpose, we would love to have you on board.

If you would like to discuss the role with our Director of Resources, please let us know and we can arrange a call.

Water Witness is seeking a Senior Communications Lead

We are seeking an energetic and enthusiastic individual to lead our communications function in our small but mighty team.

We need an experienced, innovative and proactive comms all-rounder with a passion for our mission, and the ability to reach audiences with the right information, in the right way, in the right place and at the right time to activate public demand and political action- for a fair water future for all.

This senior role will lead our press, social media, content and digital approaches to grow awareness in key audiences, build our brand, land our policy asks, collaborate with our partners and networks, and deliver measurable public and political engagement.

You’ll bring your talent for identifying and landing press stories, your experience of creating great content that cuts through, and your expertise in purposeful storytelling that informs, inspires and engages target audiences. We’ll support you with development opportunities, trust in your authority, and a brilliant working culture with a bundle of staff benefits. We live our core values: Justice, Tenacity, Truth and play to our strengths: Strategic, Resilient, Influential &Trusted.

If you’re an experienced NGO comms professional or journalist who can demonstrate a track record of comms that influence real world change, we want to hear from you. Even if you don’t match every single one of the items on the person spec, please tell us about your relevant experience and transferrable skills.

Do you have the ability to lead and motivate others, and a real desire to make structural change for those facing homelessness and poor housing conditions? Then join Shelter Scotland as a Senior Housing Rights Worker and you could soon be playing a vital role in helping to identify and resolve the homelessness and bad housing issues facing local communities

About the role

You’ll be responsible for delivering high quality housing advice, advocacy and casework to clients in community settings and remotely in line with local pressing issues and managing others in this. You will develop relationships within the sector to gather evidence and insights into the impact of the housing emergency and using those insights to drive systems change. You will lead on the development and delivery of a programme of capacity building, ensuring other organisations have the skills to act on housing rights. Influencing a range of stakeholders and decision makers across the housing sector will be important too.

You will act as a leader within the project and the wider Communities Team to help deliver and evidence our strategy at an operational level. We will count on you to line manage, supervise, coach and mentor a housing rights worker.

Role specifics

To succeed, you’ll need to have experience of working with, and influencing, a range of internal and external stakeholders and enjoy collaborating with people from other teams and organisations. You’ll also need great time management skills, an enthusiasm for delivering workshops and presentations and a willingness to challenge practice and hold people to account. You’ll have a flair for leading and motivating others. Adept at engaging with individuals and communities, you enjoy gathering evidence and identifying insights, issues and trends. What’s more, you present information and arguments in a clear and compelling way and have excellent problem-solving skills.

Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About the team

Our three Communities Teams are responsible for identifying, investigating and intervening in housing and homelessness practice issues. We engage with our local communities to understand the issues people are facing and apply expert housing knowledge, insight and analysis to identify solutions to them. As well as providing advice and advocacy for individuals, we also use our insight, relationships and influence to drive systemic change, always ensuring that Lived Experience is at the heart of everything we do.

To work within Crew’s Counselling Team providing trauma-informed drug counselling and a range of psychosocial interventions to support people wishing to address their consumption of psychostimulant drugs and other substances. To reduce harm and the incidence of physical and mental health problems associated with the consumption of psychostimulant drugs. Some counselling may be by telephone or the NHS Attend Anywhere secure platform.

Major Activities and Responsibilities:

• To provide trauma-informed drug counselling and evidence-based psychosocial interventions to support clients who wish to address their consumption of psychostimulant drugs and other substances.
• To take on a complex client caseload and work collaboratively with supervising psychologist to support clients presenting with underlying trauma and/or mental health difficulties and problematic substance consumption.
• To co-ordinate additional support and signpost clients who would benefit from specialist support by liaising with relevant services.
• To commit to working in a trauma-informed way and to undertake any further training to meet this requirement.
• To organise own case load and co-ordinate counselling and other appointments.
• To provide assessment appointments for clients entering the service and recovery-oriented support sessions for clients on the waiting list if and when required.
• To work constructively and supportively with the Crew Counselling Team.
• To contribute to the monitoring, evaluation and on-going development of the service.
• To liaise with other agencies and stakeholders if and when required.
• To undertake any other duties as requested by the Crew Counselling Coordinator or CEO

crew.scot/get-involved/work-with-us

This is an exciting opportunity to join Apex Scotland at a transformative moment, working alongside our newly appointed Head of People to bring our HR function back in-house and shape the future of how we support and develop our staff. As People and Payroll Officer, you’ll play a key role in launching and embedding our new people strategy, helping to create a workplace where colleagues feel valued, supported, and empowered to deliver life-changing impact every day.

By aligning our people strategy with Apex Scotland’s vision of “A Future Beyond Your Past”, you’ll be part of a dedicated People Team driving meaningful change across the organisation. Your work will not only strengthen our culture but also ensure we can continue to thrive, grow, and sustain the positive impact we have in communities across Scotland.

About you

As the People and Payroll Officer, you will bring experience in HR administration and payroll support, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. You will have handled confidential information with discretion and accuracy, supporting processes such as recruitment, onboarding, payroll, and pensions.

Our values at Apex Scotland are Believe, Respect, Empower and Support, values that we live and breathe every day both internally and externally, our new People and Payroll Officer will share our passion for demonstrating our values.?

About the charity

Apex Scotland helps people with experience of the justice system to have a future beyond their past. We see a society that values second chances, where barriers to inclusion are dismantled, and where people with justice system experience are empowered to contribute fully, shaping safer, fairer, and more compassionate communities.?

Our support includes early intervention initiatives, the provision of practical and emotional support, training and employability programmes. We understand that those we support and care for require interventions that are person centred, recognising their own individual, unique needs and circumstances.

If you believe in a future beyond someone’s past, apply to work with us today.

What we offer

• 3% Employer Pension Contribution
• Death in Service
• Enrolment to a health plan
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to Perkbox for discounts and offers
• Christmas closure
• Hybrid working