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Top job! Director

  • Full time or Part time
  • £45,000 – £48,000
  • Hybrid: Edinburgh
  • Closing 19th January 2026


  • Advertised from 19th December 2025
  • Salary according to relevant experience. Permanent. Open to discussing part time or flexible working arrangements.

Role

Firefly International was founded 30 years ago as a children’s arts project using creativity and collaboration to overcome the deep wounds of civil war in Bosnia. Since then Firefly has grown to support children in other parts of the world affected by war and its aftermath.

Firefly International, now working with local partners to support Bosnian, Syrian and Palestinian children and young people, is looking for a new Director to lead the charity. This is an exciting opportunity to help Firefly realise its ambitions to support its partners to extend and develop their programmes and to secure their sustainability.

Organisation Profile

Firefly International was established as an arts-based playgroup, as civil war was coming to an end in Bosnia, to bring Bosnia’s Croat, Serb and Muslim children together. The founder, Ellie Maxwell, was a student at the University of Edinburgh at the time. Firefly still works in Bosnia, supporting its locally registered partner, Svitac (Firefly in local language) which is based in Brcko in the north-east, where the population is divided between the three ethnicities. It runs daily classes for pre-school children, outreach sessions with high schools and a youth group for the 16+ age group. All activities aim to build tolerance between different ethnicities and tackle the ignorance that fuels hatred and fear.

Since 2016 it has also been working with a Syrian partner organisation, delivering trauma-informed education. Initially it was working just in the Syrian refugee communities in Turkey. Later, it began work in northern Syria and more recently it has begun teaching in and around Latakia in western Syria. This is the largest of our three programme areas and the one with the most pressing demands for expansion, in response to the gaps in education in Syria today.

Until 7th October 2023 we partnered with a child mental health centre in Gaza. We have had to close the centre but aim to return to Gaza when we can. Meantime, we partner with an Egyptian group who help child medical evacuees from Gaza with therapeutic and educational activities.

Firefly is a long-established charity, small but with a long reach and ambitious goals. It is distinctive in its stated aim of remaining with its partners for as long as it is needed and useful. It encourages the development of projects by local staff in response to local needs. Its income and scope have grown considerably in recent years. It is driven by the need to be as effective as it can be, supporting partners in their aspirations for the children and young people of their own communities.

The Role

The Director is one of a team of three, the other team members being the Projects Director and the Finance & Admin Manager (both part time). There may be capacity to recruit a fourth, dependent on funding. There is an active Board of Trustees. The Director reports to the Chair who is Edinburgh-based. The Director has prime responsibility (supported by Trustees) for ensuring that the charity can raise sufficient funds to meet the funding needs of its partners in Bosnia and Syria and its own in Edinburgh. The Director will play an important role in working with the Trustees to develop and then implement Firefly’s strategy for 2026/2027 to 2029/2030. There is also the ambassadorial aspect of representing Firefly in public fora and highlighting the long-lasting impact of war on children.

Application notes

How to apply

Thank you for your interest in joining Firefly International as the new Director. Please submit your application by emailing a cover letter and cv to Jane@fireflyinternational.org by 9am Monday 19th January. We will also request you fill in the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form,this is available on our website or can be sent to you directly once you have submitted your application. Your CV should include the names and contact information for two referees, including your current employer. No references will be taken up without your permission. Your letter should show us how you have the skills and experience to take on the role, using as much evidence from your career as possible, as set out in your CV. Please write your own letter, rather than asking AI to do it for you.


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