About Us

Kindred is a vibrant organisation supporting over 800 families of children with complex needs each year. Established in 1990 at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Edinburgh (RHCYPE), our organisation has always been parent-led. Our core services are delivered by dedicated teams based in hospitals and through our Community team. We also provide specialised counselling services and a Parenting Programme (Early Positive Approaches to Support).

Our vision is that parents of children with complex needs in Scotland will have early access to peer-led support and information.

About The Job

As CEO, you will lead Kindred in achieving its mission of supporting families of children with complex needs. You will manage the implementation of the Strategic Plan and drive growth by enhancing the charity’s visibility while maximising the impact of our work. As an organisation we are evolving and you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Kindred. You will work closely with the Senior Management Team and maintain an expert knowledge of issues relevant to our service users (including statutory provision, benefits, charitable funding and other support available through the voluntary sector).

As CEO, you will lead Kindred with passion and dedication, ensuring our mission of supporting families of children with complex needs remains at the heart of everything we do. You will work closely with our Board of Trustees to develop and implement strategic plans, build strong partnerships, and secure sustainable funding. Your role will involve overseeing day-to-day operations, managing our talented team, and advocating for the needs of our families.

Main Areas of Responsibility

People Management: Work with the Senior Management Team to ensure effective management of Kindred’s staff team including liaising with external HR support. Develop Kindred’s team to support the delivery of Kindred’s services and strategic plan.

Fundraising: Lead on a competitive and responsive fundraising strategy, supported by our fundraising team.

Governance: Support Kindred’s Chair and trustees in providing strategic leadership and governance. Ensure Kindred’s governance processes are robust and effective.

Finance: Ensure Kindred’s finances are managed to a high standard with timely reporting.

Kindred Services: Ensure operations are supported to enable the delivery of high-quality services to our service users in line with our objectives.

Administration: Enable the smooth running of our organisation including leading on the development of online systems.

Public Profile: Represent Kindred in the charity sector and liaise with key stakeholders to support our brand and strategic impact. Maximise technology use to increase our public profile and the impact on the community.

What we are looking for

We are looking for a candidate who can hit the ground running in this role and therefore we require candidates to have:

• Senior Leadership Experience: Proven track record in senior leadership roles within an organisation.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop and implement strategic plans to achieve organisational goals.
• Financial Management: Strong financial acumen and experience in budget management and financial reporting.
• People Management: Proven ability to lead and motivate teams, build strong relationships, and create a positive work culture.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Ability to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders, including funders, partners, and government officials.
• Policy and Governance: Knowledge of charity governance, regulatory frameworks, and data protection.
• Communication skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience in report writing, journal writing, public speaking, and media engagement.
• Fundraising and Income Generation: Experience in securing funding and developing fundraising strategies.
• IT Proficiency: Strong IT skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.

Ideally you will also have:

• Postgraduate qualification in management or a relevant field.
• Personal experience of caring for a child with complex needs.
• Understanding of practice supervision and/or qualification in counselling
• Experience of liaising with Scottish Government, local authorities and health boards
• Current driving licence

Join us to make sure nobody faces dementia alone

Our charity

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s leading charity for dementia and brain health. Our aims are to prevent, care and cure dementia, and to make sure nobody faces dementia alone.

We are a member-led charity with more than 8,000 members. We are supported by over 500 volunteers, and employ around 400 full and part-time staff, mainly in our direct service provision across Scotland. We are fully committed to Fair Work First and the support and development of our people.

The role

We are at a highly exciting stage in the reshaping of our services as we build sustainable, resilient, therapeutic, and inclusive registered day care and commissioned community supports of the highest quality that can maximise our resources and potential growth opportunities.

Based in either Edinburgh or Glasgow, the Head of Quality will work in close collaboration with the Executive Lead for Operations to ensure that our registered and commissioned services deliver high quality, safe and compassionate care. The role will be responsible for assuring and improving the quality of our registered and commissioned services by determining and undertaking appropriate scrutiny, assurance and improvement activities aligned with the Care Inspectorate Core Assurances and Alzheimer Scotland’s Quality Guarantees and Continuous Quality Improvement Framework.

The role has the lead responsibility for continuous improvement in the quality of our services, the processes that underpin high quality, evidence based, person-centred therapeutic support and in ensuring better outcomes for the people we support.

Full details about the role are provided in the job description available through the link provided.

The person

You will have the right level of personal qualities, experience, knowledge and qualifications, demonstrate excellent leadership qualities and high levels of emotional intelligence, with experience of managing people, supporting staff development and promoting a positive culture. You will be an excellent communicator, highly organised with a collaborative approach to working with others to deliver shared objectives and drive continuous improvement in our practice. You will have a high-level knowledge and understanding of dementia and substantial experience in the management and delivery of services and hold a relevant practice qualification to meet the Scottish Social Services Council registered management requirements. Further details are provided in the person specification provided.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) in a role that will lead all of SYP’s political, policy, and campaign work.

SYP has a proud history of delivering youth-led campaigns that deliver meaningful policy change. Our campaigns for Votes at 16, Equal Marriage, and the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law, to name only a few, have improved the lives of young people across Scotland.

SYP’s political profile and impact have never been higher. Our new Head of Policy and Public Affairs will drive forward all of our political work and ensure that we deliver even more of the changes to policy and legislation that young people expect of us.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints about most organisations providing public services in Scotland where a member of the public claims to have suffered injustice or hardship as a result of maladministration or service failure. The Ombudsman is also responsible for setting and monitoring complaints handling standards for the public sector in Scotland, carries out independent reviews of decisions that councils make on community care and crisis grant applications (Welfare Fund Independent Reviews) and is also the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) for the NHS in Scotland.

This is high profile, demanding and challenging role. We are looking for a talented individual with excellent communication skills, experience of delivering functions within a statutory framework, excellent judgment to reach sound and impartial decisions, a proven track record of strategic leadership and demonstrable experience of delivering results.

The successful candidate will ideally be able to take up appointment on 1 May 2025.

This is a full-time, fixed term, appointment for 8 years and attracts a starting salary of £142,661.

The Ombudsman’s office is based in Edinburgh.