Close the Gap, Scotland’s expert on gender equality in the labour market, is looking for new trustees to join its board. Our trustees work to support the organisation to realise its vision for a Scotland where all women have a good working life. We do this through policy advocacy that seeks to place gender equality at the heart of policymaking, supporting employers to take action to close their gender pay gap, and developing innovative research to grow the evidence base on women’s experiences of work.

Trustees set the strategic direction, oversee the work of the organisation, manage risk, and establish policies and procedures to govern organisational activity. Key to the role is ensuring good governance practice is in place. It’s an exciting time to join the board, as Close the Gap has consolidated its growth since becoming a charity, and is exploring further opportunities for development.

About you

Committed to women’s labour market equality, you’ll have the ability to think strategically and creatively, and to respond to the needs of the organisation. You’ll also be able to commit the time to fulfil the role of trustee and help us meet our strategic objectives.

Close the Gap is strongly committed to equality, and recognises that diverse boards are more effective, and result in better governance practice. We would particularly welcome applications from racially minoritised people and disabled people, who are currently under-represented on our board.

We’re also particularly interested in receiving applications from people that have knowledge and experience in equality and/or human rights, and fundraising.

Organisation profile

Close the Gap is Scotland’s expert policy advocacy organisation working on women’s labour market participation. Our vision is for a Scotland where all women have a good working life. We do this by working strategically with policymakers, employers and unions to influence and enable action that will address the causes of the gender pay gap.

Values in Action Scotland (VIAS) is recruiting for the post of Lead Consultant (The Life I Want), based in Glasgow with some travel throughout the wider Glasgow and Clyde area. Reporting to the Depute CEO, this is an exciting opportunity to coordinate ‘The Life I Want’, a project for people with learning disabilities and/or autism living in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Our aim is to include as many people with a learning disability and autistic people as we can to have more influence over and say about things that are important to them. The post-holder will also support the lived experience peer worker to carry out their role.

Background

Values in Action Scotland is a Quality Improvement Service. Our vision is for a Scotland where people with learning disabilities and/or autism have the same opportunities as everyone else and are supported to achieve their goals including access to meaningful paid employment.

The Candidate

You will be enthusiastic, enjoy speaking to and meeting people, going to new places and will have the skills to build good working relationships. You must be able to provide unbiased information and be able to facilitate meetings, groups and workshops where all opinions and contributions matter equally. With proven experience working with people with learning disabilities and/ or autism, the successful candidate will have an understanding or experience of issues affecting people with learning disabilities and/ or autism. The successful candidate will also work with a range of stakeholders, demonstrating excellent interpersonal skills and an aptitude for building and nurturing successful partnerships. They will ideally have a high-level ability to plan, analyse and think through issues that arise and an ability to identify, prioritise and deliver a varied programme.

What We Offer

We offer excellent training and development opportunities, competitive salary, contributory pension scheme and pro-rata 32 days annual holiday (including bank holidays)

Further Details

The post is funded for six months initially. VIAS will carry out a PVG check on the successful applicant.

For further information or an informal discussion, please call Donna-Marie on 0141 212 3395.

Freedom from Torture is the Winner of the Overall Award for Excellence and the top prize for Campaigns and Advocacy at the 2023 Charity Awards.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Scotland-based Legal Advisor to join our Legal Advice and Welfare Service.

Would you like to join our award-winning organisation?

About the role

Legal Advisers at Freedom from Torture deliver expert, detailed, advice to treatment clients and their clinicians on all areas of asylum and immigration law. There is a particular focus on complex, appeals rights exhausted cases where there is a risk of detention, and on supporting clients who are unrepresented. Legal Advisors review evidence produced by clinicians for use in clients’ asylum and immigration cases, ensuring that it complies with the standards required of a professional witness. Legal Advisors are also responsible for delivering internal and external training on a range of legal issues affecting torture survivors within the immigration and asylum system in the UK.

We are seeking to recruit a Legal Advisor for our Glasgow centre, who is a Scottish qualified legal professional with experience of advising on immigration and asylum matters within the Scottish legal system, and who could attend our Glasgow centre at least once every fortnight.

About you

You will be a legal professional qualified to practice in Scotland, with expertise in immigration and asylum law, particularly in relation to the legal protections available to survivors of torture. You will have experience of advising and representing clients in the Tribunals and Courts, including in judicial review claims. You will be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with people who have experienced trauma, and will be able to build professional relationships with a variety of colleagues both internally and externally. You will share our commitment to working with and empowering people who have experienced torture.

In return, we offer a competitive package, with a generous 30-day annual leave entitlement, and 6% employer pension contribution (minimum 1% employee contribution).

Freedom from Torture is committed to showing the salary for all advertised roles and not negotiating salaries for roles, in light of evidence that this contributes to structural inequality.

Our policy is that all appointments will be at the start of the salary range but successful candidates will have the opportunity to move up the scale over time. The progression up the salary range is reviewed on an annual basis and subject to affordability. For this role, the salary range is £47,655 - £55,279 pro rata per annum.

View the Job Description and Person Specification

Please note a CV and a cover letter addressing the job description and person specification of the role are mandatory to be considered for the position.

Freedom from Torture is dedicated to healing and protecting people who have survived torture. We provide therapies to improve physical and mental health, we medically document torture, and we provide legal and welfare help. We expose torture globally, we fight to hold torturing states to account and we campaign for fairer treatment of torture survivors in the UK.

We campaign for national and global change, using evidence from our services and survivor voices to protect and promote survivors' rights and hold torturing states to account. We are proud to play a significant role in the global anti-torture movement. Survivors, active and empowered, are at the centre of all of our work.

Freedom from Torture is committed to its responsibilities under safeguarding, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS disclosure, as well as a need for full employment history and up to date employment references.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Partners in Advocacy has established itself as one of Scotland’s leading providers of independent advocacy, delivering exceptional advocacy services since 1998.

We are thrilled to present a wonderful opportunity within our supportive and welcoming Children and Young Persons team. As an independent Advocate you will have the privilege of providing one-on-one independent advocacy to young people in our My Rights My Say Service that supports Children with additional support needs aged 12-15 who want to exercise their own rights within their education. Through this role, you will ensure that young people’s voices and wishes are heard, enabling them to make informed choices, protect their rights and have a meaningful impact on decisions that affect their lives.

We strongly encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds to apply. If you believe your skills, experience, and expertise align with the criteria outlined in the person specification, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please complete the application form, ensuring that you provide examples of how your knowledge and experience fulfil each aspect of the person specification.

Partners in Advocacy takes pride in being a Disability Confident Employer, fully committed to creating an inclusive and accessible work environment.

My Rights My Say can support children Scotland Wide. Please note that this post is Home Based but travel will be required for Face-to-Face visits with Advocacy Partners if requested.