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Background to The Crichton Trust
The Crichton Trust is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status, established in 1996 to promote, regenerate and care for The Crichton and other buildings of historic interest throughout Dumfries and Galloway.
The Trust has the overall strategic responsibility of ensuring that the site is managed and developed to an appropriate standard. Our mission is to preserve, enhance and interpret the historic character of The Crichton and develop it with a clear identity as a place of educational, commercial, recreational, cultural and artistic excellence taking account of accessibility and stakeholder and community needs for the benefit of Dumfries and Galloway.
Key Responsibilities and Objectives
Provide strategic leadership and direction for the Trust, accountable to the Board of Trustees for its people and resources, ensuring effective delivery of operational, financial, legal and regulatory responsibilities, and inspiring the management team to embrace the challenges faced. Work with the Board to shape, grow, and deliver an innovative, sustainable strategy that secures long-term success—acting as custodian of The Crichton’s place and story; protecting the charity’s ongoing wellbeing; safeguarding the site’s environmental, cultural, and heritage value; and driving The Crichton’s evolution into a thriving hub for economic activity that supports the region’s economic development.
Lead the development and delivery of The Crichton’s strategic partnerships, maximising engagement with key partners and stakeholders to position The Crichton as a vital infrastructure asset for the South of Scotland and nationally, and to drive sustainable growth through collaborative, whole-system approaches that realise shared ambition and opportunities.
We are especially interested in candidates who bring:
- A genuine commitment to, and understanding of, the organisation’s mission
- Proven CEO-level leadership experience, preferably within the non-profit sector
- Extensive senior operational experience in a non-profit environment
- Strong knowledge of charity governance and regulatory requirements
- A track record of successfully managing diverse income streams
Project Lead – Family Support
- Part time
- £31,100 pro-rata
- Hybrid: Dumfries or Stranraer
- Closing 1st March 2026
Where the role fits in our organisation
Our Partnerships and Communities Group are responsible for our work with the third sector, partners and communities across Dumfries and Galloway. The group leads on community insights and involvement, Locality Hubs, sector advice, training and development, building sector capacity, encouraging community involvement and representing the third sector. Key partnerships are with Dumfries and Galloway Council, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, Community Planning, Scottish Government and national sector bodies. The team includes Lead Officers, Development Officers, Support Officers, Coordinators and professional advisors.
What You'll Do
We are looking for a colleague who is passionate about the best start for all our children, the importance of community-led neuro-diverse support around families and who recognises the essential role the third sector plays in achieving positive outcomes for people across Dumfries and Galloway. You will lead our new partnership project focused on the delivery of a community-led model of support for neurodivergent children, young people and their families. Working closely with families, third sector and statutory partners, you will lead this exciting project from through implementation to evaluation, sharing and embedding the learning across our cross-sector partnership.
What You’ll Do
- Work alongside third sector organisations supporting a diverse range of families, children and young people, with a focus on listening to their neurodevelopmental needs.
- Work closely with cross-sector partners to build a community-led pathway to advice and support that is accessible, inclusive and easy to navigate.
- Identify third sector training needs; working closely with all partners to co-design, deliver and evaluate a programme of accredited training to meet the identified community need.
- Plan, implement and evaluate community engagement activities, workshops, and meetings in a variety of informal settings.
- Work in a way that facilitates the delivery of safe, effective, rights-based and person-centred practices.
- Work within community engagement competencies and local and national guidelines.
- Collaborate with staff across all agencies, developing and maintaining good relationships and clear lines of communication.
- Effectively prioritise workload, recognising the requirement to be flexible whilst working alongside the third sector and community members.
- Be involved in the delivery and collection of outcome measures related to the programme of work.
- Contribute to partnership working using knowledge, data and insights from across the sector to better inform decision making.
- Represent the third sector/TSDG at partnership meetings.
More about you
- You will be able to demonstrate your experience of leading programmes in the third sector and/or cross sector
- You will be able to show your understanding of family engagement or community work and be able to evidence best practice in participatory working
- You will be able to show your approach to effective and compassionate leadership, achieving outcomes and demonstrating impact.
- You will bring a keen interest in building and sharing knowledge, particularly in relation to good practice and to new policy.
- You will be able to show examples of effective application of key skills, including organisation and planning, problem solving and communications.
- You will have had experience of building effective professional relationships inside and outside of your organisation.
- You may have had experience, knowledge or lived experience of neurodivergence
Given the nature of this role in community and family engagement, PVG registration is required.