Are you motivated by the opportunity to play a key role in delivering Clan Childlaw’s vision of a Scotland where all children and young people are empowered to use their rights ? Are you a lawyer who wants to work differently, using a child-centred approach that ensures that children and young people are kept at the heart of the process?

We are looking for experienced lawyers to join our team and to role in strategic litigation and in delivering and developing our unique child-centred legal services to increase access to justice for children and young people across Scotland.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a talented lawyer, who has a strong commitment to social justice and wants to develop as a child centred lawyer. You should have experience in in delivering training as well as significant experience in client casework and representation.

You should also have experience of managing a full case load including Legal Aid cases the Sheriff Court/Court of Session and or Children’s Hearings. Ideally you will have worked as a lawyer within one of our areas of focus, (set out below) and have experience of delivering legal helpline services but if you bring experience of and commitment to using your legal skills to improve lives then we want to hear from you. Comprehensive training will be provided to support you in developing your knowledge and practice in our key areas, and you will be expected to obtain certification as a lawyer for children.

Part of child-centred working is allowing our solicitors the time they need to work with clients. You will maintain a reasonable caseload to ensure that is possible.

“She [Clan lawyer] was able to ensure that the young person was placed at the centre of all decision making, instead of it being about the adults”. (advocacy worker)

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.

Working Hours: Full time (35 hours a week) However - we will consider applications from candidates seeking to work upwards of 28 hours.

Contract Type: Permanent

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:

• A hybrid approach to working, which gives you the flexibility to choose your work location based on suitability, business requirements and job role, with the opportunity to work from home some of the time.
• 33 days annual leave inclusive of public holidays that can be taken when you choose (with the exception of Christmas and New Year) increasing to 35 after 2 years’ service
• Auto-enrolment into our pension scheme after 3 months service.
• We are happy to talk flexible working
• Access to an employee counselling service
• Learning and development is important to us. We hope it’s important to you too. You will be encouraged to engage in learning and continued professional development. You will gain certification as a ‘lawyer for children’

"I have never worked in such a lovely organisation before! I feel valued, seen and heard as an individual here." -Amember of the Clan Childlaw team

Please note that this information is provided for guidance only and does not form part of the conditions of employment.

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 stand for change –

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.

"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

About Us

Oliver Gill was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer at just a few days old, and despite smiling his way through intensive chemotherapy passed away at 24 weeks old. LoveOliver was started on his parents’ laptop with donations from friends and family. Today, LoveOliver reaches every family in Scotland with a child diagnosed with cancer, providing practical, financial and emotional support along with the hope of gentler treatments and ultimately a cure, through investment in ground-breaking research. LoveOliver has its own children’s charity shop in Glenrothes and was recently gifted the incredible Hub drop-in centre near Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children & Young People, as well as continuing to provide meals, thermometers and financial grants to every Scottish family impacted by childhood cancer. As LoveOliver has grown so has our ambition, and we are expanding our small team to help us move forward at this exciting time for the organisation. Help us realise our vision of a country in which every family with a child diagnosed with cancer knows there is hope of a cure and that they will have support on their cancer journey

The Role

Due to retirement we are recruiting a Hub Coordinator to organise the small but incredible team of volunteers at The Hub, with support from the new Operations Manager. LoveOliver has run a drop-in café at The Hub since 2022, and having recently taken on the entire building this is an exciting time to be joining the service as we seek to expand our offering for children and families. We are seeking a candidate who is compassionate, creative and organised, to help us support children and families on their cancer journey, from diagnosis to treatment and beyond. Our ideal candidate will have good organisational skills to manage rotas and food stocks, and crucially will be able to build relationships with families, volunteers and partners such as hospital staff, social workers and other charities offering support through The Hub. The Hub Coordinator will also be key to developing our service provision at The Hub, working closely with families to identify further support and activity opportunities and then collaborating with our staff and volunteers to make things happen.

Fife Women’s Aid are delighted to have developed Housing First for women experiencing domestic abuse and are looking to recruit a part-time support worker for this service.

The role will involve providing ongoing flexible support to women in their own accommodation, with a focus on harm reduction and tenancy sustainment within the community. The service will work in accordance with the Housing First principles and will enhance our existing service provision for women who have experienced domestic abuse.

Applicants should have good communication skills and a passion for supporting recovery from domestic abuse.

The successful applicant will have at least SVQ Level III or equivalent level of qualification in health and social care or other relevant subject, or a willingness to work towards a qualification.

The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate a high degree of motivation and have the ability to work on their own as well as part of a team.

Please join us for an online session to find out more about FWA women’s services. This will be at 6.30pm on Monday 14th April. Please confirm your attendance to info@fifewomensaid.org.uk and we will send you details of the zoom meeting. We hope to see you there.

Fife Women’s Aid is a feminist organisation and strives to be a supportive and empowering employer offering competitive terms and conditions.

Membership of Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme is a requirement for this post.

If you would like further information about the post, please contact Kate McCormack at kate.mccormack@fifewomensaid.org.uk to arrange a time for a call.

Fife Women’s Aid are looking to recruit a part-time support worker to join our Women’s Support Team.

As a service, we are expanding our capacity to better meet the needs of women who have experienced domestic abuse. Candidates should have good communication skills and a passion for supporting recovery from domestic abuse.

The successful applicants will have at least SVQ Level III or equivalent level of qualification in health and social care or other relevant subject, or a willingness to work towards a qualification.

The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate a high degree of motivation and have the ability to work on their own as well as part of a team. An ability to cover on-call is an advantage (additional payments are made for this role).

Please join us for an online session to find out more about FWA women’s services. This will be at 6.30pm on Monday 5th May 2025. Please confirm your attendance to info@fifewomensaid.org.uk and we will send you details of the zoom meeting. We hope to see you there.

If you would like further information about the post, please contact Gill Birtley, Team Manager, at gill.birtley@fifewomensaid.org.uk to arrange a call.

Fife Women’s Aid is a feminist organisation and strives to be a supportive and empowering employer offering competitive terms and conditions.

Membership of Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme is a requirement for this post.