The role

Scottish Women’s Aid has an opportunity to join their Policy team. This is an exciting position where the role holder will be responsible for working on policy relating to children and young people and domestic abuse, violence against women and girls, and gender related topics. They will work closely with the Membership, Training and Communications teams.

Background

Scottish Women’s Aid is Scotland’s leading voluntary sector organisation working to end domestic abuse and promoting effective policy and practice responses for women, children and young people who experience domestic abuse. We are the umbrella organisation for 32 autonomous Women’s Aid groups delivering direct services to women, children and young people across Scotland.

What you’ll do

Working across third sector organisations you will build and maintain relationships to input to policy and influencing, as SWA as well as jointly with others. You will maintain good working relationships with civil servants, challenging ideas and find solutions where necessary.

The role includes inputting to and submitting consultation responses, researching and writing briefings, preparing for SWA to providence evidence in parliament, keep our communications team up to date with policy inputs and changes, and input to good practice stemming from policy changes. All of these roles, requiring great working relationships across the organisation, but especially with Membership, Training and Communications.

What We Need

We’re looking for someone with experience in a similar role, with specific knowledge of the Scottish policy landscape and the potential that offers. We’re looking for someone who can work across domestic abuse as it relates to children and young people – examples include the Children’s Hearing system, child contact, the welfare system. We ask that you’re a self-starter, ready to apply these skills creatively to meet our strategic priorities. Excellent written and verbal communications skills go without saying: you’ll be skilled in the ability to engage confidently with a range of different audiences, and be adept at writing to suit them, working alongside colleagues across SWA and our members across the country.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• Knowledge of the Scottish policy landscape
• Awareness and understanding of the feminist analysis of domestic abuse and the impact on women, children and young people
• Demonstrable track record of developing and writing successfully in a policy context
• Highly organised approach to effective planning, delivery and the development of applicable tasks
• Drive to make a difference in a fast moving time of policy

Location

Blend of home working and office, based in Rose Street, Edinburgh or can be entirely home based anywhere in the UK. Please talk to us about your flexible working requirements!

What we offer

There are many reasons to work for Scottish Women’s Aid. We have a great working culture and our mission and vision attracts a brilliant staff team. Your hard work is rewarded with a package of support and benefits including:

• Flexible working - We offer flexible hybrid working options for the majority of our employees. Some posts are eligible for full-time homeworking. We also offer flexibility for staff and work/life balance through a number of flexible working options such as flexi time, condensed hours, job sharing.
• Pay - SWA are a Living wage employer, our pay and grading system offers a competitive starting salary and yearly progression.
• Annual Leave - We offer a full-time annual leave entitlement of 30 days (210 hours) per year plus 10 Public Holiday days (70 hours) per year. Leave is accrued at the rate of 3.33 days (23.3 hours) per month.
• Pension - SWA believes it's important that we help you save for your retirement so access to Nest pension scheme is given to all eligible employees. SWA contributes 10% of gross contractual earnings on the provision that the employee contributes a minimum of 3% towards their pension contributions.
• Learning and Development - SWA supports and develops staff to ensure they have the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities. There is an internal schedule of training on key skills and knowledge relevant to all staff. There is also scope to attend ad hoc training for employees who are working to develop specific skills.
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay - SWA offers staff who meet the criteria for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) an enhanced maternity pay of 20 weeks on full pay and 20 weeks on half pay.
• Wellbeing - As part of SWA’s commitment to staff wellbeing, staff are offered access to a confidential 24/7 health and Wellbeing service with AIG which provides confidential advice, counselling and legal support to all staff, and where applicable, immediate family members.
• Bike 2 Work - An interest-free loan to purchase a bike, can be arranged up to the value of £1,000.
• Edinburgh Leisure Gym Subsidies - Edinburgh based staff are able to access Edinburgh Leisure facilities for the reduced price of £1 per session.

POSITIVE ACTION

Applications will be accepted from women only under Schedule 9, part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Scottish Women’s Aid is an equal opportunities employer, all women, including women with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, may apply for women-only roles.

SWA are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the people we serve.

We are taking positive action to address an under-representation of minoritised and marginalised women within our workforce. We offer Disabled and racially minoritised women the option of requesting that their application is considered under the terms of our Guaranteed Interview Schemes. You will be asked if you wish to be considered when you complete our application form.

If you would like to discuss the job or any adjustments, whether due to disability or any other reason, please contact us on recruitment@womensaid.scot or on the phone on 0131 226 6606.

Join Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and help ensure no life is half lived.

Every day, people with chest, heart, and stroke conditions leave hospital feeling scared and alone. At Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS), we’re on a mission to change that—and you can be part of it.

As Lead Stroke Nurse – Borders, you’ll play a vital role in helping people move from simply surviving to truly living. You’ll join Scotland’s leading charity supporting people with chest, heart, and stroke conditions to live life to the full.

Our Stroke Nurse service is part of CHSS’s Community Healthcare Support services, offering person-centred care underpinned by self-management principles for individuals and families affected by stroke. The Stroke Nurse will work in close partnership with the NHS Borders Stroke Service, ensuring seamless support across hospital and community settings.

In this role, you will manage a caseload of stroke patients, delivering high-quality, person-centred care. You will lead and support a team of Stroke Nurses and Health Care Assistants, ensuring that service delivery meets organisational standards and performance targets. Additionally, you will champion continuous improvement in line with our No Life Half Lived strategy.

We’re looking for a clinically qualified professional who is registered the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The ideal candidate will have strong knowledge of stroke care and patient support, along with proven experience in a management role. A management or leadership qualification is desirable but not essential.

CHSS employees enjoy a variety of organizational benefits including Company pension scheme, generous holiday allowance, company sick pay, employee welfare support and life assurance.

The Hospital is situated on the outskirts of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The Borders covers a large and scenically beautiful area of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Predominately rural, it is historically a unique part of the country, the home of the Border Revivers, where annually each town maintains its links with the past during the season of Common Ridings. Seven-a-side rugby originated in Melrose, and the Melrose event in particular draws large crowds each

year. The Borders has tremendous facilities for sport and leisure. Glentress and Innerleithen mountain bike parks are world renowned for both cross-country and downhill biking. The beautiful Berwickshire coast provides options for sea kayaking, surfing, diving and sea fishing. In addition, there are facilities for fishing, golf, swimming, horse riding, cricket, football, hiking and many other activities. Excellent cultural opportunities in terms of music and art societies, drama, and small theatres in Melrose and Selkirk as well as amateur opera. There are excellent restaurants, cinemas and shops. Excellent Fitness Centre in Galashiels and other Borders towns. There is a purpose-built nursery in the grounds of the hospital.

The Scottish Borders offers all the benefits of rural life with very easy access to major cities such as Edinburgh (37 miles) Glasgow (75 miles) Newcastle (75 miles). Edinburgh is renowned for its cultural activities in music, including opera and ballet, theatre, cinemas (including a film theatre) and visual arts, and of course every year there is the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe Festival. Local transport links have improved greatly in the last year or so.

The Borders Railway has train services to central Edinburgh running every thirty minutes (journey time 50 minutes approx.). Tweedbank Station is a few minutes’ walk from the Borders General Hospital. There are rail links to the rest of the country at Berwick Upon Tweed, and Carlisle and there is easy access to Edinburgh Airport (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes) and Newcastle Airport (approximately 1 hour 30 minutes).

CHSS alsosupports flexible recruitment through Working Families, and we are “Happy to Talk Flexible Working”.

In line with our commitment to safeguarding, this role is subject to a PVG check. CHSS is committed to equality of opportunity and to providing a service which is free from unfair and unlawful discrimination. We therefore aim to ensure that no applicant, volunteer or member of staff is unfairly treated on the grounds of offending background.