Shakti is a feminist Black Minority Ethnic voluntary organisation which offers information, advocacy, emotional/practical support and refuge/temporary accommodation to all Black Minority Ethnic women and their children, who are experiencing or fleeing domestic abuse.

Post holders will ideally have exceptional leadership and management skills to steer our strong, committed, and skilled outreach team; strong communications, influencing and negotiating skills; experience of working with Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities. Must have sound knowledge and understanding of equalities issues and the issues affecting BME and/or LGBT women, children, and young people, understanding of the legislative and cultural issues surrounding Gender-Based violence, domestic abuse, honour-based abuse such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation, and their effects on Black Minority Ethnic women, their children, and young people.

Bilingual in Urdu/Hindi/Arabic/Cantonese/Bengali (or any other BME community languages) and fluency in English.

Applicants must have relevant qualification such as degree in Social Work or Community Education and or a minimum of HNC Social and Health Care and SVQ Social Services and Healthcare at SCQF Level 9 or above to meet registration requirements of SSSC or a willingness to self-fund and gain the qualification.

Post involves unsocial and flexible hours including evenings and weekends.

We are currently seeking an experienced Community Fundraiser to ensure all supporters in our community have an excellent experience of raising money for Edinburgh Women’s Aid (EWA), encouraging repeat support and motivating individuals to raise as much money as possible, leading to a legacy gift. The post holder will contribute to EWA’s fundraising targets by developing existing relationships and proactively researching, identifying and securing new community fundraising opportunities across Edinburgh. The Community Fundraiser will also steward supporters and groups within our community to deliver their own fundraising activities and deliver fundraising initiatives to engage with our local community including our annual Kiltwalk and our Christmas appeal.

This role will raise Edinburgh Women’s Aid profile within the community, initiating and building mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships to ensure long-term support. As we develop and nurture more relationships, and our fundraising success grows, we anticipate there will be a need for increased capacity within the fundraising team, which may result in additional hours being offered in the future.

Project Esperanza supports women and their families from multi ethnic backgrounds who are impacted by national issues such as poverty, but also by chronic health, caring responsibilities, language barriers, no access to employment, education, adequate housing and transport- all of these issues which then impact on overall health and wellbeing.

We are looking for someone to build and strengthen their profile and relationships with individuals and organisations in Scotland. This role is to help establish beneficial connections between individuals, groups, other organisations and Project Esperanza through bringing awareness of the organisation and its services.

The person taking up the role will be expected to play a crucial role in enhancing the well-being of communities by bridging the gap between individuals and the services they require as well as draw out people of African and other multi ethnic backgrounds towards Project Esperanza and the services that are available.

The person taking up the role will need to;

• be creative in their approach of reaching people of African and other multi ethnic backgrounds to engage with Project Esperanza
• develop and maintain effective relationships with key individuals and organisations
• identify areas in which you wish to be trained and / or supported
• to work within Project Esperanza’s policies and procedures, most notably in the areas of child and adult protection, equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice.

Responsibilities within the role

• Identifying needs and assessing the needs of individuals in the community, such as health, education, or community events and activities
• Providing information on available resources and advocating for community members to access them.
• Connecting individuals to appropriate services, agencies, or organisations.
• Offering emotional support and guidance to those facing challenges.
• Assisting in the creation of community programs and initiatives to address specific issues.
• Attending and participating in training and development opportunities, team meetings and other team arrangements
• Keep detailed records of work undertaken with individuals and families and produce reports and statistics
• Building relationships with community leaders, organisations, and residents to strengthen community bonds.
• Conducting outreach activities like integration activities, workshops, events, or home visits to engage with people and the community.
• Gathering information to assess the impact of outreach efforts and to identify emerging community needs.

This job description is intended to indicate the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. It is neither exhaustive nor exclusive but, whilst some variation can be expected in particular duties, the outline is considered to provide a reasonable general description of the post.

Knowledge/Educational requirements

• A bachelor's degree in a relevant field (such as social work, sociology, psychology, or public health) is preferred essentially or a higher education diploma or equivalent.
• Certifications in community outreach, social services, or related areas would be beneficial.
• Interpersonal skills and communication skills including active listening and the ability to communicate effectively with people from diverse communities.
• Cultural competency, an understanding of and respecting cultural differences and diversity within the community is essential.
• An understanding of deprivation and the issues that people living in areas of deprivation face is essential.
• Knowledge around the issues that migrants encounter, and a very strong understanding of the challenges and issues faced by migrant communities living in areas of deprivation is essential.
• A genuine concern for the well-being of others and the ability to empathise with people facing challenges are crucial qualities.
• Should be adept at identifying issues and finding creative solutions.
• Client confidentiality is essential
• Ability to communicate and network and build relationships with a range of individuals, partners and stakeholders is essential
• Ability to manage community events is essential
• Basic computer skills for documentation and data entry may be required
• Ability to publicise services and programs and enhance participation of services and programs is essential.
• A valid driver’s licence is required
• Being multilingual is a bonus

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 recently launched a paid reading week for all staff and a whole team training programme about feminist leadership.

Our aims

1. We will lead campaigning in Scotland to end all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) by raising public and political awareness of its cause and challenging gender inequality.
2. We will challenge and support key institutions to embed VAWG prevention in their work.
3. We will advance and share the evidence base on preventing VAWG.
4. We will make Zero Tolerance a place where feminist leadership happens.

What you’ll do

We are looking for an experienced Policy Officer to join our team and lead on the development of robust, evidence-based policy responses to prevent violence against women and girls. You will support the organisation’s aims by building effective networks, monitoring and analysing public policy and researching and writing reports in line with campaign and policy priorities.

The successful candidate will often work in close collaboration with the women’s sector and other partners to influence key decision makers and stakeholders across local authorities, Scottish and UK governments and third sector organisations.

You will represent Zero Tolerance on advisory and working groups with stakeholders, acting as Chair/Co-chair as required and work with ZT colleagues to identify areas of influence and priority: incorporating the views and needs of marginalised women is essential in the role.

What we need

The successful candidate will have previous experience in a similar role, in a paid or voluntary capacity, with knowledge and understanding of violence against women and gender equality. You’ll be a skilled communicator with the ability to present complex ideas to a variety of audiences including senior politicians, stakeholders and partners.

You will also have:

• A shared understanding of our vision, values, aims and positions
• Understanding of the Scottish political landscape
• The ability to understand complex policy issues, articulate clear and focused responses, and make judgements based on evidence
• Organisational skills, managing both reactive and planned work
• Proven experience of building networks

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, but particularly welcome applications from Minority Ethnic, LGBT, disabled, migrant, and other backgrounds currently underrepresented within the women’s sector.

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 £32,560.27-£35,940
• Staff pension scheme (6% employers’ contribution)
• 28 days annual leave plus 10 public holidays and a flexible working hours policy
• We actively encourage continuous professional development for all our employees and have implemented a paid reading week as well as continuous training opportunities for individual learning and whole team development.