- Advertised from 18th April 2023
- 35 hours per week. Permanent.
Role
Volunteer Scotland are the only national centre for volunteering.
Our mission is to create a Scotland where everyone can volunteer, more often, and throughout their lives. We believe that volunteering should be an enjoyable, rewarding and fulfilling experience for every volunteer.
Our strategic outcomes are aligned to the Scottish Government ‘Volunteering for All: National Framework’. Our wide-ranging activities support the following outcomes:
- Inclusive volunteering: There are diverse, quality, and inclusive opportunities for everyone to get involved.
- Policy impact: Volunteering in all of its forms is integrated and recognised in our lives and through local and national policy.
- Community development: The places and spaces where we volunteer are developed, supported, and sustained.
- Recognition and celebration: There is an environment and culture which celebrates volunteers and volunteering and all of its benefits.
- Lifelong engagement: Volunteering participation is valued, supported, and enabled from the earliest possible age and throughout life.
Volunteer Scotland believes that volunteering should be an enjoyable, rewarding and fulfilling experience for the volunteer; that volunteers have the right to be safe and protected in delivering their volunteering roles; and that to derive health and wellbeing benefits from volunteering requires regular and meaningful contributions of time.
Whichever part of Volunteer Scotland you’re joining, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a fantastic team, solid values, and lots of scope to grow and make a real difference. We are centrally located in Stirling with close proximity to transport links and offer hybrid working.
We offer various benefits including 28 days holiday, Employer Supported Volunteer days off, life assurance, eye care vouchers, and an annual contribution towards learning or health and wellbeing activity of your choice. We are proud to have been awarded Silver standard in our Investors in People accreditation in 2023.
We currently have a fantastic opportunity for a dedicated and experienced Research Officer to join our team.
You will undertake quantitative and qualitative research to help inform our understanding of volunteering and its contribution to society. Within Volunteer Scotland you will be working as a member of a small inter-disciplinary team across research, policy, practice and communications. Externally, you will be involved in knowledge exchange activities with key partners across Government, research bodies, the public, private and third sectors. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are therefore central to this role. The successful candidate must also have a proven track record in research. This is a great opportunity to join a small dynamic team and help Volunteer Scotland maximise its influence and impact as the national body for volunteering.
Volunteer Scotland is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applications from all backgrounds and sections of the community.
Role Profile
The purpose of the role is to:
- To be at the forefront of thought leadership on volunteering and its contribution to society.
- Collaborate with data suppliers and research partners to identify and address research gaps.
- Deliver quantitative and qualitative research outputs that meet the needs of policy, practice and research communities.
- Lead and facilitate knowledge exchange activities with partners and customer groups. For example, organising seminars, speaking at events and writing blogs.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Research
- Carry out research and data analysis which meets the needs of volunteering-related policy and practice communities.
- Support the contribution of research in the delivery of Scotland’s Volunteering Action Plan.
- Deliver research projects utilising a range of research methods, including participatory approaches.
- Provide a bridge between research evidence and Volunteer Scotland’s policy function.
- Commission and manage external research contracts as required.
- Collaborate with data owners to access quantitative and qualitative data relevant to Volunteer Scotland’s research priorities.
- Work flexibly with colleagues across Research, Policy, Practice and Communications and have the ability to contribute to effective team working, providing leadership where appropriate.
Communication and Knowledge Exchange
- Identify opportunities and help facilitate the exchange of knowledge between practice, public policy and research communities.
- Help support the implementation of a new volunteering research network for Scotland.
- Through collaboration with the policy and practice communities, identify and develop stories/themes from existing data which can be illustrated in writing and through data visualisation.
- Organise and facilitate Volunteer Scotland seminars and speak at external events.
- Write and contribute to high quality research summaries, papers and other outputs (including social media and blogs) for a range of audiences, particularly practitioner and policy audiences.
- Represent Volunteer Scotland externally at Forums and events – for example, the Third Sector Research Forum.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS, COMPETENCIES
Essential
- Degree level qualification or relevant professional experience.
- Demonstrable experience in a similar role in a policy or practice-based organisation.
- Technical expertise in research and data analysis – both quantitative and qualitative.
- Experience in the planning, organisation and delivery of research projects.
- Exceptionally strong written communication skills for reports, policy papers and blogs.
- Excellent inter-personal and verbal communication skills relevant to the delivery of presentations, facilitating groups/workshops, and building partner relationships.
- An effective team player with the ability to work collaboratively with peers
- Significant experience in influencing internal and external audiences, and communicating research information to non-specialist audiences.
- Ability to be creative, innovative and dynamic in resolving problems and creating opportunities.
- Demonstrable experience of operating within multiple programmes / projects / services.
- High level of ICT competence, especially in SPSS, NVIVO; and excellent competence in Excel.
Desirable
- Monitoring and evaluation skills.
- Experience of providing evidence to support policy work.
- Knowledge and experience of the third sector (charities, social enterprises and community groups) and public sector within a research setting.
- Track record in managing external research contracts.
- Qualification / certification in project management.
- Knowledge of quality assurance.
Volunteer Scotland is a Disability Confident employer and candidates who have a disability and meet the essential requirements for the post outlined above, are guaranteed an interview.
Application notes
For further information and to apply please visit: volunteerscotland.net/about-us/vacancies
Closing Date: Friday 12 May 2023
Website: volunteerscotland.net/about-us
Circular Economy Policy Officer
- Part time
- £33,111 – £35,299 pro-rata
- Hybrid/Remote: Stirling
- Closing 4th January 2026
Circular Communities Scotland is a network membership organisation, dedicated to supporting the establishment of a thriving circular economy in Scotland. We support and represent repair, reuse and recycling charities and social enterprises across the country. Our members prevent valuable products and materials from entering landfill, create local jobs, economic opportunities, and help promote and create social and environmental justice in their communities.
This is a new role for the organisation and the Circular Economy Policy Officer will be responsible for:
- Developing and overseeing Circular Communities Scotland’s core circular economy policy positions.
- Promoting our reuse manifesto in the run up to the Scottish Elections in May 2026 including running a hustings style event.
- Running a post-election campaign targeting Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs), our membership and wider stakeholder organisations.
- Working with Scottish Government to see key policy asks enacted.
- Working with our membership to involve them in our policy work.
What we are looking for
We are looking for a strong candidate who has a minimum of two years’ experience in a policy formation or campaigning role at a national level. The candidate will be able to quickly get up to speed with our circular economy policy positions and indeed develop these positions further. An ability to network and build relationships with civil servants and elected representatives is also important.
We require a dynamic and proactive individual who will be capable of planning, launching and sustaining a policy campaign to support our Reuse Manifesto. We are expecting candidates to have strong communication and interpersonal skills along with a proven track record in managing multiple delivery workstreams.
For more information about this role please refer to the Circular Economy Policy Officer Job Description. Please note, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK.
Research and Project Support Worker
- Part time
- £27,000 pro-rata
- Hybrid: Livingston
- Closing 19th January 2026
Are you curious, smart and interested in strengthening Scotland’s third sector?
Community Enterprise is a leading social enterprise and community development consultancy and support provider. We provide support to third sector groups across Scotland and beyond and work with communities to build and sustain projects for the benefit of local people.
We are looking to build our growing team with one part time Research and Project Support Worker. We are thinking about 3 days but are flexible.
You will be capable of contributing to research documents and other pieces of work led by our Development consultants. This can range from stakeholder interviews help at public meetings, site visits and case studies to on-line research and survey analysis. Your research will be used as the crucial building blocks for larger projects, led by our development team.
Help us tackle the housing emergency.
It’s an exciting time to join SFHA’s external affairs team as we look ahead to a seismic election and work towards ending the housing emergency. If you’re passionate about social housing and politics, we want to hear from you.
SFHA is looking for a External Affairs Co-ordinator to support our engagement with politicians and Parliaments, with a key focus on the run-up to the 2026 Holyrood election and building relationships with new MSPs afterwards.
This role involves engaging with the political landscape to support SFHA’s election campaigns and promote the value of social housing across Scotland.
You will work to influence the political parties in the run-up to the election, monitor parliamentary and political developments, draft briefings to inform debates, and help newly elected MSPs understand the importance of social housing.
Enthusiasm and initiative are more important than extensive experience for this role, where you’ll have the chance to develop your policy, communications and lobbying skills in an organisation that’s driving real change.
About Us
Zero Tolerance is a Scottish charity working to end men’s violence against women by promoting gender equality and challenging attitudes which normalise violence and abuse. We are a values-led organisation and seek to improve the way we integrate feminism, equality, and diversity into our work. We ensure our HR policies and practices reflect our values (including enhanced parental leave, miscarriage and menopause policies and flexible working) and our salary framework is fair and competitive. We are committed to staff learning and development and have a paid reading week for all staff.
Zero Tolerance has a commitment to diversity and challenging all forms of inequality alongside gender inequality. We are open to as many different voices as there are experiences, and to all genders, and particularly welcome applications from Minority Ethnic, LGBT+, disabled, migrant, and other backgrounds currently underrepresented within the women’s sector.
We achieve change in the following ways:
- Raise public and political awareness of the root cause of VAWG (gender inequality) and call for action.
- Challenge and support key institutions to embed primary prevention of VAWG in their work.
- Advance and share the evidence base on preventing VAWG.
What you’ll do
You will lead work to gather and interpret evidence that informs Scotland’s understanding of primary prevention, ensuring that the voices and experiences of marginalised groups shape national conversations and decision-making. This role strengthens our commitment to intersectional and participatory approaches by developing research that reflects the realities of those most affected by men’s violence against women and girls. You will support colleagues across the organisation to embed this learning into our policy, engagement and influencing work, helping to ensure that every part of Zero Tolerance’s activity is grounded in inclusive, meaningful evidence.
What we need
The successful candidate will have experience in a research role, in a paid or voluntary capacity, with knowledge and understanding of violence against women, gender equality and intersectional approaches. You’ll be confident using a range of research methods and able to communicate complex ideas clearly and accessibly.
You will also have:
- Experience using qualitative and quantitative research methods, including feminist, participatory and intersectional approaches
- Ability to analyse research data, identify gaps and produce clear, accessible outputs for different audiences
- Strong organisational and problem-solving skills, managing both reactive and planned work
- Experience building effective relationships and working collaboratively, including with external contractors
- A diplomatic, self-motivated and values-led approach, with willingness to adapt to the needs of a small charity
What do we offer?
- Competitive salary with annual pay progression. We operate a grading structure based on five salary grades. New employees start on point 1 of each salary grade and receive annual increments until the top of the grade is reached. This role is Grade 3, pro rata of £33,537.08 - £ 37,018.66.
- Staff pension scheme (6% employers’ contribution).
- 28 days annual leave plus 10 public holidays (pro-rata) and a flexible working hours policy.
- We actively encourage continuous professional development for all our employees and have implemented a paid reading week and continuous training opportunities for individual learning and whole team development.
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