About the role
The Legal Policy Manager will play a key role in empowering the children’s sector to use the law to drive systemic
change and ensure children experience their rights in practice.
This exciting new role will be central to delivery of an innovative joint project between Clan Childlaw and Together
(Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), funded by the Human Rights Fund.
Clan Childlaw is a leader in child-centred strategic litigation that drives systemic change, while Together
represents over 600 organisations working to promote and protect children’s rights in Scotland.
The post holder will support strategic legal interventions, including the use of the UNCRC, to drive change for
children and young people in Scotland.
The project aims to empower and enable Scotland’s children’s sector to use the law to advance children’s rights.
These legal interventions may include strategic litigation, and seeking legal opinions, as well as wider
measures such as supporting Together members to challenge rights breaches through informal processes etc.
Responsibilities include managing Clan’s Strategic Litigation Group, helping Together members identify opportunities
for legal intervention, identifying strategic cases for Clan, and developing resources to promote the
implementation and advance of children’s rights.
Location: Edinburgh or Glasgow
You can choose the location that works best for you. We operate hybrid working with the opportunity to work from home
some of the time. The role will also require travel between our office locations on a regular basis and
throughout Scotland as required.
About Clan Childlaw
Clan wants a Scotland where all children and young people’s rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled. For that
to happen, Scotland has to be a place where all children and young people can stand up for their rights. That
means children and young people need:
- Lawyers that are experts in working with children
- People around them who can enable them to use their
rights and amplify their voices
- To be respected as rights-holders, who are entitled to hold duty-bearers
to account if their rights are not fulfilled.
Clan is an award-winning, independent children’s charity that actively supports children and young people to take
ownership of their rights. We are the only charity in Scotland that provides free, independent legal
representation exclusively for children and young people, which is child-centred by design. Because our lawyers
work directly with children and young people whose lives are affected by legal decisions, we bring that unique
practice-based knowledge to every aspect of our work. This includes our specialist training, our helpline
supporting others who help children to use their voices and their rights, and our work to influence children’s
rights respecting changes to practice, policy and law.
What We Do
- We stand with others who help children use their rights –
Through our membership and training for legal professionals and in legal education we are making being a “children’s
lawyer” an accredited legal skill set in Scotland. Our practical training and helpline and support for advocacy
in Children’s Hearings provides adults that support children and young people information and guidance that they
can use to empower young people to stand up for their rights.
- We stand out through the excellence of our work –
We want our work to have as much impact as possible. We listen to what children and young people tell us about what
they need from lawyers and others who support them to use their rights. We use what we learn to develop and
design the services they need and talk about why young people’s rights matter, and why children and young people
need lawyers.
We are lawyers for children and young people representing children and young people in court, at Children’s Hearings,
and in important meetings working to give them equal opportunity to heard and use their rights. We take cases
that make change for individual children and young people and help shape better rights respecting policy and
practice. We use our knowledge of the law, and experience as practising lawyers for children and young people,
to ask decision makers and lawmakers to change the law and the way the law is used to make sure that children
and young people's rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.
Our Values
Our values are the principles we uphold in all our work, no matter what. They are the foundation of our workplace
culture. Everyone who works at Clan shows our values in all they do and say.
We are supportive: We listen and respond, we provide encouragement and emotional help to children
and young people, to others who support young people, and to each other.
We are bold: We are confident and courageous in amplifying the voices of children and young people.
We are prepared to take risks when we need to, to defend children and young people’s rights.
We are dynamic: We are always active, always progressing. We are positive, full of energy and new
ideas. We ask for change where it is needed.
What we can offer you
Clan Childlaw’s mission is very important to us, but our people are important too. We recognise the importance of a
good work-life balance and a friendly supportive work environment. We offer:
- 33 days annual leave (inclusive of public holidays) increasing to 35 after 2 years’
service
- Auto-enrolment into our pension scheme after 3 months service
- Offices in Edinburgh and
Glasgow, and the option to choose the base location that works best for you.
- Flexibility around your
working day, with the opportunity to work your hours within the hours of 7am to 7pm, and the option to work from
home some of your working week.
- Access to our employee counselling service.
Learning and development is important to us and our team. We hope it’s important to you too. You will be encouraged
to engage in learning and continued professional development.
"I have never worked in such a lovely organisation before! I feel valued, seen and heard as an individual
here." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team
"I love my job at Clan. It's busy and varied and no two days are ever the same. We have a great team here
and everyone is really supportive." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team
If you’re thinking of applying but would like to have a chat about it first please get in touch at
clientrecruitment@worknest.com