Our team is growing, we're looking for passionate, proactive people who want to make a real impact helping young people and parents under 30 across the Highlands, with a special focus on the Inner Moray Firth area.

What you'll do:

• Work one-to-one with service users to help them set goals and achieve them.
• Run fun, practical workshops and group sessions that build skills and confidence.
• Support service users into training, qualifications, and real job opportunities.
• Keep things organised – from paperwork to progress tracking – so we deliver for our funders.

What We're Looking For

• You know how to connect with young people and inspire them.
• You can make learning engaging and practical.
• You help people overcome challenges and believe in themselves.
• You keep records straight and deadlines met.
• You know your way around local employability services, SQA awards, or have experience in informal youth work settings.

Why join us?

Barnardo's Works Highland is all about giving young people the tools, confidence, and opportunities to succeed. From construction academies to industry access and wellbeing support, you'll be part of a team that changes lives every day.

Sound like you?

Find out more at barnardos-ets.org.uk or contact Barbara Brown on 07738 262843 or barbara.brown@barnardos.org.uk

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Our basis and values

Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our mission is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland and we currently have over 3000 Care Experienced members.

At the heart of Who Cares? Scotland’s work are the rights of Care Experienced children and young people, and the power of their voices to bring about positive change. We provide individual relationship-based independent advocacy and a broad range of imaginative participatory opportunity for Care Experienced young people across Scotland; we work alongside corporate parents and communities of all sorts to broaden understanding; we work with policy makers, leaders and elected representatives locally and nationally to shape law, policy and practice on the basis of all that can be learnt from the voices of those with experience of care – working together to build on the aspirations of The Promise and secure positive change.

This unique role offers the opportunity to listen to and work directly with children and young people with experience of care, in an individual relationship-based advocacy role, and within participation and group activity across our South East region.

The post-holder will be a key member of the Advocacy and Participation team, supporting young people from across to ensure their rights are upheld and their voices are heard. In this role you will have the opportunity to provide independent advocacy, children’s rights, and participation opportunities for children and young people who are looked after, Care Experienced, or subject to formal processes and structures. The role will see you actively participating in child’s plan meetings, children’s hearings, and other formal processes, as well as assisting children and young people to prepare for them. In partnership with professionals, carers, and organisations, you will help to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people by keeping detailed records of the work you undertake, writing liaison reports, and monitoring statistics.

As a vital part of the work of Who Cares? Scotland, your role will include facilitating group opportunities for and with children and young people. This includes providing engagement and participation opportunities throughout the Who Cares? Scotland local and national network, as well as meeting with care experienced children and young people to introduce the service in agreement with the local authority. Raising awareness of Who Cares? Scotland and its services with children, young people, professionals, and carers you will also be responsible for facilitating training amongst care corporate parents.

The right candidate for this post will be able to form positive relationships with children and young people and have good interpersonal skills. You will feel confident communicating with individuals and groups, both in writing and verbally, and be able to adapt to a wide range of contexts. Secure in making effective plans, as well as evidencing your work, you can prioritise and meet deadlines. You take enjoyment from working collaboratively with partners, believing in equal opportunities and inclusive working. Committed to children’s rights, you are someone who knows that all young people can make transformative change happen in their lives if given the opportunity. You can demonstrate knowledge of the current structure, developments, policy, and practice in relation to children and young people experiencing care in Scotland. You are also flexible, given the remit of the role, as some evening and weekend work will be necessary, along with a full driving licence and access to transport.

While we would welcome the knowledge gathered through relevant qualifications, we are just as interested in relevant work experience. We welcome and encourage applications from those with experience of care.

The successful candidate will be joining Who Cares? Scotland and working within the South East team at an exciting time, when the voices of those who are in or have experienced care are growing in power, individually and collectively – bringing with them insight, challenge, hope and change.

If this sounds like the role for you, we would love to hear from you. To arrange an informal conversation about this opportunity, please contact Ray MacLean, Manager of Advocacy and Participation, at rmaclean@whocaresscotland.org.

ABOUT VOX LIMINIS

Vox Liminis is a pioneering arts and community organisation working within the criminal justice sector. Through our creative work, we seek to generate fresh conversations and insights that challenge society’s responses to crime, harm and conflict. Based in Glasgow’s East End, we run creative projects in prisons and in the wider community with people who have committed crimes, people who have been victims of crime, those who have family experience of crime and justice processes, and others who work in this area.

Vox Liminis works within the arts to challenge all involved to think critically, imagining a better society for all. We believe the arts have a vital role to play in building connections, trust and belonging – restoring rather than furthering divisions. We have an excellent track record in delivering ambitious, socially engaged arts projects, and we are excited about our plans.

Our work is based on community development and socially engaged arts principles, and includes music, songwriting, creative writing, visual arts and theatre-making. We use socially engaged arts practice to make artistic work that actively involves communities and participants to co-create art that addresses social issues with a focus on positive social change. This prioritises dialogue and relationship building - where the process of making together is as important as the final artistic outcome - emphasising collaboration between artists and communities as equal partners in the creative process.

By sharing our work and creative processes publicly, we aim to spark thinking around:

• How people’s lives are affected by crime, punishment, and the criminal justice system
• Imagining together a more just society, and how we might work towards it.

Further information on our underpinning values, work, and future plans can be found on our website.

We are seeking a Senior Artistic Producer to lead the creative development and delivery of an ambitious two-year community artistic programme (2026-2028), funded by Creative Scotland. This pivotal new role will bring Vox Liminis' artistic and creative vision to life.

Working closely with and line-managed by the Director, you will build on Vox Liminis' strong relationships, partnerships, and artistic legacy to shape and deliver artistically excellent, community-led projects. You will be the consistent presence enabling collaboration across the programme - supporting our cohort of freelance artists, creating conditions for participants to engage creatively, and balancing the artistic and social intentions of the work.

You will bridge between artists, participants, partners, and funders while maintaining a commitment to living out our values in action, particularly with people whose lived and professional experiences are at the heart of our work. Overseeing projects from conception to completion, you will develop new artistic directions that strengthen existing relationships and expand our reach to new collaborators and audiences.

This role requires meticulous attention to detail, strategic and curatorial thinking, excellent facilitation and communication skills, and experience working with seldom heard or stigmatised communities in participatory arts.

Your role will be to shape and deliver artistic projects with people across Vox Liminis’ five overlapping thematic areas:

1. Transitions - focusing on people at the end of their prison sentence, when they transition home and return to the community.

2. Family - acknowledges the wide-ranging impact imprisonment has on family life, focusing on supporting imprisoned parents and working with organisations supporting families affected by the justice system, to identify where creative practice can strengthen family connections or highlight their experiences.

3. The Unbound Community - the ongoing creative community of Vox Liminis. The Unbound Community use their creativity and experiences to make a positive change for people involved in the criminal justice system. This includes the Unbound Sessional Team, who take on roles and responsibilities in projects, in paid (or voluntary, if preferred) positions.

4. Public-facing - represent Vox Liminis' programme in public settings to engage public and professional audiences in collaborative ways in the artwork and creative processes, including through performances, recordings, panel discussions, community gatherings, professional/practitioner workshops, or networking events - balancing artistic quality with collaboration and community ownership.

5. Learning and dissemination - Capturing and sharing learning, expanding networks, and creating opportunities for publication in collaboration with artists, project participants, and others in the wider sector aligned to Vox Liminis values and work.

Vox Liminis’ artistic vision and two-year activity programme can be viewed here.