What’s the job?

We are looking for a welcoming and compassionate individual to join our team as a First Contact Team Member. You’ll be the friendly face of our Advice Hub, the first point of contact for students seeking guidance. Your role is to make every student feel heard, supported, and connected to the right resources. The main parts of the role are:

• Frontline Student Support: Be the first person students meet when they come to the Advice Hub. Your warm welcome, active listening, and helpful attitude will make all the difference in their experience.
• Information and Guidance: Quickly assess what students need, whether it's academic advice, mental health resources, or support with financial challenges. Direct them to the most suitable support services.
• Creating a Positive Atmosphere: Contribute to an inclusive, welcoming environment where students feel comfortable discussing their concerns. Help build a community vibe that encourages students to seek help when they need it.

Ideally, we are looking for someone who is approachable, resourceful, and skilled at making people feel at ease. You should be a great communicator, adaptable, and capable of handling a variety of queries with a positive attitude.

This is a part-time role – working 21 hours per week. There is some flexibility in the hours, although availability on a Monday and Tuesday will be required. There may be occasional weekend work or evening work (for example in Freshers’ Week) but you would be given plenty of notice.

Who are we?

We are Heriot-Watt University Student Union - an independent charity that is run by and for students. While we are a charity we also run trading services (food & drink venues and shop) that aim to make a surplus. We use this surplus to invest in other vital student support services such as advice & support and volunteering.

Ultimately our main goal is to make sure that Heriot-Watt students have THE BEST TIME whilst studying here. Our purpose is clear and simple – to put Students First, Always. We live by five values – we are fun, welcoming, brave, empowering and student focussed.

You’ll join a friendly, hardworking and professional team and have a real opportunity to make a difference to our members – while having some fun along the way. We have a display of staff baby photos in our office, and a gallery of our photocopied faces which we will probably ask you to add to

What do you get?

You will be paid £14,149 (£23,582 FTE). You’ll also get 28 days holiday plus 9 fixed days off (Christmas, New Year, and Easter). Pension available plus you’ll get the rewarding experience of helping students thrive.

About the Candidate

Scran Academy is an Edinburgh youth work charity, supporting young people facing poverty and trauma to succeed through our innovative education and employment programmes.

We exist to alleviate poverty and provide opportunities for all young people, no matter their background or barrier. How we do this by creating real-life experiences and positive adult relationships in professional kitchen settings that help shine a light on the strengths and aspirations of young people.

We’re currently looking for a talented, experienced hospitality professional to join the frontline team in our exciting new café site at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People.

The successful candidate will be an experienced customer service professional; a talented and welcoming host with excellent communication skills and a track record of coordinating smooth front of house operations. They will be instinctively organised and process-driven, and demonstrate experience of meticulous due diligence.

They will also be deeply passionate about maximising the potential of all young people, and be ready to maintain a professional environment that supports and welcomes young people with diverse backgrounds and unmet needs. Our Front of House Lead will therefore be ready to inspire and be inspired by young people. Working with placements on our employability programme will be part of the fabric of the job, supporting many in what might be their first professional environment, so compassion, patience and a non-judgemental approach are essentials.

About the Role

This is not your average Front of House role. This is an exciting opportunity to shape our flagship employability café within the NHS Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, supporting young people to thrive in a professional catering environment. This role sits at the heart of our dynamic charity, and is critical to delivering both strong business outcomes and meaningful social impact.

The role is an operational lead in our newly opening café at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, leading customer service by providing a warm welcome and positive atmosphere for customers and workers alike. The role will be of critical support to the Kitchen Manager in ensuring compliance and logistics are maintained to the very highest standards of hygiene and due diligence, and that the café is seamlessly integrated with building operations.

Communicating the impact and stories of the café will be an important function of this role, and social media and building communications will sit in the Front of House lead remit.

This role is also central to maintaining the function of the café and kitchen as a learning and employment environment for vulnerable young people. A core part of the work will therefore be the delivery of supportive in-work training and activity, providing young people with professional skills and confidence.

The role will provide day-to-day supervisory support for the front of house team, and will be supported by experienced Scran catering staff who will assist on-site for the initial weeks after opening. Full operational and pedagogical training will be provided through a thorough induction process to ensure the post holder is equipped to succeed in this impactful and rewarding role.

This role embodies our values: We Love, We Trust, We Unite and We Lead:

We Love – the successful candidate will nurture young people. They will care deeply and see all behaviour as communication that deserves a dignified response. They will be non-judgemental and take a trauma-informed approach.

We Trust – the successful candidate will believe in the potential of young people. They will trust them to be the expert of their own life and circumstance. They will support young people to take responsible steps in learning, work and life.

We Unite – the successful candidate will courageously bring young people together. They will aim to create safe spaces where stepping outside comfort zones is supported and encouraged.

We Lead – the successful candidate will see all young people as leaders in their own lives. They will be ready to both lead and be led by young people. They will listen and provide a platform for young people to lead their learning and thrive.

About the Candidate

Scran Academy is an Edinburgh youth work charity, supporting young people facing poverty and trauma to succeed through our innovative education and employment programmes.

We exist to alleviate poverty and provide opportunities for all young people, no matter their background or barrier. How we do this by creating real-life experiences and positive adult relationships in professional kitchen settings that help shine a light on the strengths and aspirations of young people.

We’re currently looking for a talented, experienced catering professional to join the frontline team in our exciting new café site at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People.

The successful candidate will be an experienced catering all-rounder; a talented cook with experience of looking after complex kitchen processes. Someone with a strong track record of monitoring and maintaining rigorous and detailed HACCP systems, managing food prep and service at the very highest standards of hygiene and safety.

They will also be deeply passionate about maximising the potential of all young people, and be ready to create a kitchen environment that supports and welcomes young people with diverse backgrounds and unmet needs. Our Kitchen Manager will therefore be ready to inspire and be inspired by young people. Working with placements on our employability programme will be part of the fabric of the job, supporting many in what might be their first professional environment, so compassion, patience and a non-judgemental approach are essentials.

About the Role

This is not your average Kitchen Manager role. This is an exciting opportunity to shape our flagship employability café within the NHS Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, supporting young people to thrive in a professional catering environment. This role sits at the heart of our dynamic charity, and is critical to delivering both strong business outcomes and meaningful social impact.

The role is the central operational lead in our newly opening café at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, leading on compliance and logistics by maintaining the very highest standards of hygiene and due diligence, and coordinating with wider NHS facilities management systems to make sure the café is seamlessly integrated with building operations.

This role is also critical to maintaining the function of the café and kitchen as a learning and employment environment for vulnerable young people. A core part of the work will therefore be the delivery of supportive in-work training and activity, providing young people with professional skills and confidence.

The role will provide day-to-day leadership for a dedicated team of four workers and two volunteers, and be supported by experienced Scran catering staff who will assist with on-site support for the initial weeks after opening. Full operational and pedagogical training will be provided through a thorough induction process to ensure the post holder is equipped to succeed in this impactful and rewarding role.

This role embodies our values: We Love, We Trust, We Unite and We Lead:

We Love – the successful candidate will nurture young people. They will care deeply and see all behaviour as communication that deserves a dignified response. They will be non-judgemental and take a trauma-informed approach.

We Trust – the successful candidate will believe in the potential of young people. They will trust them to be the expert of their own life and circumstance. They will support young people to take responsible steps in learning, work and life.

We Unite – the successful candidate will courageously bring young people together. They will aim to create safe spaces where stepping outside comfort zones is supported and encouraged.

We Lead – the successful candidate will see all young people as leaders in their own lives. They will be ready to both lead and be led by young people. They will listen and provide a platform for young people to lead their learning and thrive.