Policy and Influencing Lead
- Full time
- £30,962 – £37,843
- Hybrid: Edinburgh
- Closing 29th November 2024
- Advertised from 5th November 2024
- Salary dependent on experience. 35 hours per week.
Role
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.
Application notes
For further information and to apply, please visit our website.
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Service Manager - Wellbeing and Protection (CMSS)
- Full time
- £42,500 – £48,900
- Hybrid: Glasgow / Edinburgh
- Closing 4th December 2024
A unique leadership chance to shape wellbeing and protection across Scottish sport
At Children First our ambition is for every child in Scotland to be safe, loved and well with their family. As a charity we offer emotional, practical, and financial support to help families to put children first and campaign to uphold the rights of every child.
This is an exciting opportunity to lead the development of a recently established, national service which supports Scottish governing bodies of sport (SGBs) to effectively manage wellbeing and protection concerns for all who participate in sport. The service is being established through a strategic partnership between sportscotland, Children First and SGBs.
We are looking for a skilled and confident leader to lead the strategic development of the service. As the Service Manager, you will provide professional strategic leadership and direction of the service and manage the team’s partnership with SGBs to:
support their management of wellbeing and protection concerns and investigations in a timely and appropriate manner.
build the knowledge, skills and confidence of SGB staff 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 Service Manager for the Case Management Support Service?
- resilient, skilled, strategic leader who can shape and build a new service in response to identified needs.
- able to inspire and motivate team members providing leadership, guidance and emotionally-intelligent support.
- ability to lead and work collaboratively with partner agencies to maintain momentum, effective planning and open communication.
- have an excellent understanding of wellbeing and protection for both children and adults.
- have effective organisational skills and an ability to respond to complex and changing situations.
- is a strong communicator who values a collaborative approach.
- is passionate about human rights.
If you have the above and possess a professional qualification and experience from an appropriate sector, such as social work, law, human resources or sports governance, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Base
You will work flexibly at home with a periodic requirement to attend meetings at our offices and those of our partners across central Scotland.
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. Additionally, we offer further benefits such as a cash-back healthcare plan, cycle to work scheme and option to join a Credit Union.
Hours
This is a fixed term, full time post of 35 hours per week funded until May 2027.
A fantastic opportunity to come and join the Children First team in Glasgow
At Children First our ambition is for every child in Scotland to be safe, loved and well with their family. As a charity we offer emotional, practical, and financial support to help families to put children first and campaign to uphold the rights of every child.
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of our Glasgow Family Wellbeing Service, to positively impact on the lives of children, young people and their families, building empowering relationships to address the various, often complex, challenges they face. This is an innovative service, working alongside children and their families within communities across Glasgow, providing whole family support which is easily accessible and non-stigmatising. We listen and learn from children and families to develop the service alongside our partners. We are therefore looking to recruit dynamic, flexible, experienced individuals who can drive the successful development and growth of this innovative service.
This post holder will specifically have a lead role, developing community engagement and delivering community events. It is essential that the availability of the service is flexible to when support is needed-including daytime, evenings, and weekends.
Children First along with our partners share a determination to act upon the recommendations from The Independent Care Review and deliver The Promise to children and young people. We are also determined that the full incorporation of the UNCRC means that children will have their rights respected in all areas of their lives and will have a real say in the way they are supported. If you share this determination, we would love to hear from you.
What kind of people are we looking for?
- has experience of keeping children safe in their own families
- is fiercely passionate about children’s rights
- thinks it’s a privilege to work with and on behalf of children and families and,
- is kind and will bring their whole selves to the job: heart and mind
What kind of Glasgow Family Wellbeing team member will you be?
Knowing our ambition for children, you will be someone who is:
- resilient, skilled, flexible and knowledgeable who wants to transform children’s lives
- determined to support children to stay safely with their own family
- big hearted and courageous
- able to build strong relationships and to manage the tricky conversations
- is compassionate and understanding of trauma
- a cool head and clear minded at times of pressure
- inspiring colleagues and teams to be even better
- an amazing ambassador for children and Children First
Above all else, the most important thing to us is that you are someone who will do the right thing for children and their families at every turn.
Base
You will be based in Glasgow with access to our service hub in the south of the city.
Salary, Conditions, Pension
We will offer you a competitive salary, generous annual leave entitlement (40 days inclusive of 9 public holidays), flexible working opportunities and a contributory pension scheme. Additionally, we provide access to a cash-back healthcare plan, cycle to work scheme, and option to join a Credit Union.
Diversity and inclusion
We aim to tackle all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender and disability, both internally and externally.
We seek to create a workforce which reflects the diverse population we serve, including previously under-represented groups. We are committed to making Children First an environment where all employees are welcomed, nurtured and can thrive.
Wellbeing
Your wellbeing is important to us, we will support you to work in a way that gets the job done but maintains a healthy work life balance. We will provide connection with the rest of the organisation including regular support from the local Team Leaders, Service Manager and Assistant Director.
Join the Team
If you would like an informal chat about this role, with Service Manager Kirsteen Montgomery, please contact Laura Cassidy to arrange this, at laura.cassidy@childrenFirst.org.uk
Further Information
This is a permanent post. We have one full time equivalent post (35 hours a week), but we would like to hear from anyone who would like to explore a reduced hours arrangement. Please identify your preferred working pattern/availability in your application.
This post requires flexibility, which means daytime, evening and weekend work , in order to offer the appropriate level of support to individual families, and deliver community events.
Do you want to join an organisation that has been named recently as a Top 100 company to work with by The Sunday Times?
Do you want to work in the beautiful town of Fort William - a relocation allowance of £8,000 is available.
If you would like to have an informal chat before applying please call Rhonda Wilson, Head of Admissions and Programmes in the Highlands, on 07715238337.
About Aberlour Sycamore Fort William
Aberlour provides a number of warm, loving homes for children where everyone learns, laughs, grows into their future and is treasured always. We have a strong ethos of values and a culture that enables us to Be Brave and to Keep the Promise of involving the children and young people as fully as possible in taking decisions that affect their lives.
Our home in Fort William is a Hybrid Model, we have a residential service for children and young people as well as a service we call Sustain Plus, which supports whole families by providing both emotional and practical support. We work with families and parents to secure a nurturing environment for children up to 18 years old. We also help parents/caregivers develop their ability to care for their children, provide practical parenting skills, and engage with their community. Our service provides flexible support of varying intensity and aims to encourage the development of family routines, resilience, and improved parental confidence.
We are looking to appoint a House Manager who will join our strong and thriving Residential/Sustain Plus community in Aberlour.
What we are looking for
We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with a passion for supporting vulnerable children and whole families to achieve the best possible outcomes in their lives. The successful candidate will have the drive, determination and cultural values to be able to lead their team to empower the children and young people to make the changes which will ultimately transform their lives.
We want someone who believes that all children and families are deserving of love and someone who will support the team to ensure that our children and families are able to live fulfilling lives.
You should have experience of working in and leading practice, preferably in a children’s house and with families. You must be visible to the team and children which will include working some evenings and weekends.
Ideally you will have knowledge about developmental trauma, how this impacts children’s early life experiences.
A comprehensive support package focussed on achieving excellence in practice is provided to all of our teams and the successful candidate will also receive clinical supervision, provided externally to support their professional practice development and well-being.
If you share our vision of Being Brave for every child, young person and families, and Keeping the Promise, and you have the skills and passion required to meet the challenges of this role we look forward to hearing from you.
You will be required to have or be willing to work towards the qualifications for being a manager in a residential childcare facility: a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 9 or above plus a management qualification at SCQF level 8 or above.
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.
Are you an expert in IT, Infrastructure and system security? Are you looking for that next step in your career? If so, reach your full potential and join Quarriers as our IT Operations and Security Manager!
Your new opportunity
Quarriers have a rare and exciting opportunity for an IT Operations and Security Manager to lead and drive the vision of our state-of-the-art technology and systems across multiple services. You will be responsible for high quality delivery, autonomy over design, implementation and management of a small team of IT professionals.
As a key player within the IT team, you will work at a strategic level alongside the Head of IT ensuring that both user needs and organisational objectives are met. You will be responsible for the delivery and implementation of current and future IT needs while aligning various aspects of IT support Scotland wide.
If you are looking for an IT role with a difference, where your technical knowledge and skills directly support staff and the people, we support then this is the perfect opportunity for you!
This is a full-time permanent role working 35 hours per week in line with our agile working policy, which blends home-working with office time and service visits.
What you will need to bring to the role
- Qualified to degree level or relevant equivalent experience.
- Extensive knowledge of infrastructure implementation and support, including Networking, Telephony and Storage.
- Proven experience and knowledge of managing IT systems and packages including Microsoft Technology stack (O365, Azure, Intune)
- Responsibility for implementing and maintaining Cyber Security systems, processes and Accreditation (Cyber Essentials Plus)
- Be forward thinking in applying new technologies into our support and medical services, like AI, Applied technology and IOT
- Excellent problem solver who can work to strict deadlines.
- Ability to manage business relationships effectively and deliver positive outcomes.
- Excellent IT, analytical and strategic planning skills.
- Experience of leading a team of IT professionals.
What you will get in return
- Substantial holiday entitlement.
- Generous workplace pension.
- Family-friendly working policies and procedures.
- Life Assurance.
- Wider benefits including our Employee Assistance Programme, free physiotherapy & occupational health support.
Quarriers have Investors in People Platinum accreditation and are a Scottish Living Wage Employer
About Us
Quarriers is one of Scotland’s leading social care charities. We provide practical care and support for vulnerable children, adults and families who face extremely challenging circumstances. We challenge poverty and inequality of opportunity to bring about positive changes in people’s lives.
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