The Citizens Advice network in Scotland is the largest independent advice service in the country. Citizens Advice Scotland is a charity within this network – we act as a national organisation supporting and representing the service as a whole and the interests of citizens. At the heart of the network there are 59 individual citizens advice bureau across Scotland, all operating as independent charities in their own right, which focus on providing support and advice directly to clients. Each of these organisations is a member of Citizens Advice Scotland. We believe that every citizen should have access to free, impartial, and confidential advice that helps them make informed decisions, whenever they need it and however, they choose to access it.

Our vision is for a Fairer Scotland where everyone has the advice and information, they need to realise their rights, and that the barriers to accessing those rights are effectively challenged.

Citizens Advice Scotland is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing a series of projects which enable and support various national specialist services to be delivered with our network of 59 Citizens Advice Bureaux. The Lead Project Support Manager will have direct responsibility and accountability for the Project Management Office (PMO) and for ensuring effective service delivery and compliance across the portfolio of these projects.

Working alongside the Lead Project Delivery Manager your role includes managing a PMO team of Project Officers and coordinating their resource across projects within a matrix environment. You will also be responsible for coordinating support from other internal departments across the organisation to ensure consistency of delivery and meeting contractual obligations. Acting as a key departmental representative with our Network of Citizens Advice Bureaux, you’ll be responsible for liaising with Bureaux Chief Executives and Managers across Scotland along with other key stakeholders.

The PMO coordinates management information, data, and analysis requirements against governance, project controls and reporting needs, including programme level risk, change and performance management. You will be responsible for developing and co-designing new and innovative PMO tools and resources to meet future service needs and support for our systems, processes and procedures. Your aim should be to ensure our department delivers consistently and effectively, whilst proactively forecasting and anticipating future needs. This will be underpinned through maintaining the PMO’s focus on continuous improvement and a quality-of-service cycle of review and assessment.

This is an exciting time to join us where you can make a difference. Working within one of the largest directorates at CAS you will be collaborating with fellow managers and leading a dynamic and agile team at the forefront of a wide range of advice service delivery. Our services are even more critical now than ever before in helping those in need and are essential in helping citizens receive the necessary advice and support during these unprecedent times. As a line manager you are responsible for the PMO team and will be required to identify and manage the resources required, forecast and plan the work to realise the expected benefits as well as manage the project teams’ dependencies, workloads, and schedules.

We are flexible about your professional background and open minded about your career to date. You will need to be able to lead a Project Management Office function and engage with multiple stakeholders both internally and externally. You will be a compassionate manager with the ability to understand the challenges and opportunities that working within a membership organisation brings. You may well have experience of working in a charity, housing association or the broader public sector, though applicants from all sectors are welcome. You will have to be able to demonstrate the desire to put the people who matter most, our clients, at the heart of every decision.

Employee benefits

Citizens Advice Scotland offers excellent terms and conditions. We want our people to have a great work life balance, and we have designed our working practices and benefits to support this. Here are some of things our employees benefit from: a 35-hour full time working week, 40 days annual leave, genuine flexibility in working hours with a flexi-time system, and hybrid working opportunities for every role.

Citizens Advice Scotland is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies and flexible working arrangements to support all our staff. We are also committed to equality of opportunity for all and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

CAS provides options for hybrid working to allow employees to balance their time attending the office with time working from home. The number of days you will be able to work from home each week will be dependent on your job role and can be discussed as part of the recruitment process.

Aberlour is featured in the top 100 Sunday Times big organisations Best Places to Work 2024.

About Aberlour Sycamore Children’s Houses

Aberlour Sycamore Services’ vision is to provide warm, loving homes for children where everyone learns, laughs, grows into their future and is treasured always. At any one time, the residential houses within Sycamore require additional support to help to maintain stability and balance within the teams. Sycamore services are widely recognised in Scotland for providing a range of quality therapeutic residential houses for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. The Service is a national resource and as such receives referrals from throughout Scotland.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for an individual who can integrate seamlessly into our existing team, working alongside it and relief adults to support excellent service delivery. We are looking for a Residential Worker to work 18.75 hours per week, covering maternity until September 2025, on a residential rota including early, late, waken nights, sleepovers and weekend shifts. You will have a knowledge and understanding of the importance of attachment, trauma and how this can impact on an individual’s development. At times our children express their distress through their behaviour and the role can be emotionally and physically challenging; we are therefore looking for someone who is resilient, understands that behaviour is a means of communication and is trauma responsive.

You will be skilled in building therapeutic relationships with the children, young people and young adults to enable them to feel safe, loved and cared for.

You must have the ability to quickly build your relationships with the adults within the house. The nature of the role is such that you could be working to cover a shift or longer periods as required, including days and wakened nightshifts and you may also be supporting young people to attend school or participate in other learning programmes. You must therefore be able to quickly adapt to the working environment within each house.

You will be comfortable with working within Aberlour’s culture embracing respect, integrity, innovation and the ability to challenge. Demonstration of these qualities will be particularly important in this role given that you will be dipping in and out of the different teams. You must be able to be an exceptional role model for other staff and the young person.

Undertaking the role of Residential Worker will afford you the opportunity to develop and build on a range of transferrable skills which are valued in a range of employment. You will be able to demonstrate excellent flexibility and adaptability with exceptional interpersonal skills, ability to work with different teams and different children, young people and young adults living within our Sycamore Houses.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers.

Fife Women’s Aid are looking to recruit two full-time support workers 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 Tuesday 22nd October 2024. 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 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.