A fantastic opportunity to support a national service across Scottish sport

This is an exciting time to contribute to the development and delivery of a national service which will support Scottish governing bodies of sport (SGBs) to effectively manage wellbeing and protection concerns for all who participate in sport. The service has been established through a strategic partnership between sportscotland, Children First and SGBs.

We are now looking for a passionate, skilled and confident individual to deliver and implement the service. As Project Worker, you will be part of a team working in partnership with SGBs to:

• support their management of wellbeing and protection concerns, and any subsequent investigations and disciplinary hearings effectively, in a timely and appropriate manner.
• build the knowledge, skills, and confidence of SGB staff and volunteers through training, mentoring and directed learning.
• facilitate the development of resources including practice guidance, tools and templates that support SGBs’ case management of wellbeing and protection concerns.

What kind of person will make a great Project Worker for the Case Management Support Service?

Knowing our shared ambition with sportscotland to ensure safer sport for everyone, you will be someone who:

• believes in the positive value of sport and is committed to making it a safe place for everyone.
• empowers people, staff and volunteers, through successes and challenges.
• is resilient, skilled, and knowledgeable about wellbeing and protection.
• builds strong relationships and works collaboratively with partners.
• is passionate about human rights and anti-discriminatory practice.
• has strong organisational skills and an ability to respond to complex and changing situations.
• assesses situations and provides clear advice.
• is determined and motivated in contributing towards building and delivering a new service to meet identified needs.

Above all else, the most important thing is that you are someone who will do the right thing for children, young people, and adults in sport at every turn.

If you have the above and possess a professional qualification and/or relevant experience from an appropriate sector, such as social work, law, human resources, sports governance, or volunteer management, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Base

You will work flexibly, in a hybrid approach, with a requirement to attend our offices, or those of our partners, for meetings and work as agreed with your line manager.

Salary, Conditions, Pension

We will offer you a competitive salary, generous annual leave entitlement (40 days inclusive of 9 public holidays, pro rata), flexible working opportunities and a contributory pension scheme.

Hours

Full time post of 35 hours per week funded initially until June 2025, with funding anticipated to be extended to June 2027.

The successful post-holder will be expected to operate in line with our values which are:

Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion.

Overview

OPFS was founded in 1940 and since then we have been at the forefront of shaping policy and services in Scotland, that support single parents and their children. Today, there are over 144,000 single parent families in Scotland, 25% of all families. We involve parents, champion their voices and keep their needs at the heart of everything we do.

We want a society in which single parent families are treated equally and fairly. To help achieve this we provide a range of single parent tailored services. We do this through our advice channels, self-help pages on our website and our local community-based services. To create lasting change we involve single parents, experts by experience, to influence policies which challenge discrimination and judgmental attitudes, which will reduce child poverty and make services more accessible to all families.

The Policy and Influencing Lead will play a key role in supporting OPFS to achieve its mission – to amplify the voices of single parent families in their unique role as sole carers and providers and together challenge judgemental attitudes, poverty and inequality to achieve change.

You will have a central role leading OPFS policy and influencing work, including:

• Leading on government and parliamentary focused engagement work – and to support single parent led and developed campaigns.
• Developing strong policy recommendations co-produced with single parents across the range of issues affecting single parent families.
• Utilising existing research of relevance to single parent families to support OPFS’s external messaging and forward planning.
• Developing impactful policy influencing strategies to improve the lives of single parents, by influencing the Scottish and UK Governments as well as local authorities and the general public to achieve change.
• Working collaboratively with OPFS Comms team and colleagues and stakeholders to disseminate OPFS policy and research activities.

All roles at OPFS contribute to our mission of working with and for single parent families, providing support that enables them to achieve their potential and helping to create lasting solutions to poverty and barriers facing single parents and their children. Our core values of Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion are at the heart of everything we do and underpin all aspects of our work.

Equal opportunities and family friendly employment

• OPFS aims to be an equal opportunity and family friendly employer and flexible working requests will be considered. OPFS has Investors In People status and Living Wage accreditation.

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 individuals 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 37.5 hours per week 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.

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

About Sycamore Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel is our newest residential house for children who are unable to live with their own families. Aberlour is Being Brave for these children, fulfilling The Promise to provide a safe, loving home for the children who live in the house, enabling them, over time, to reach their full potential. We do not seek to provide a quick fix for the children but to secure transformational change which secures real results and gives our team a really rewarding job experience.

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 37.5 hours per week, covering maternity until October 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.