Borders Community Action (BCA) is seeking a highly motivated and dedicated Third Sector Employability Lead to strengthen employability pathways across the Scottish Borders and champion the vital role of the Third Sector in achieving positive employment outcomes.

This role will support volunteers, organisations, and partners by developing coordinated employability activity, enhancing sector capacity and promoting volunteering as a key route into employment.

The postholder will work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, contribute to strategic employability planning and ensure the Third Sector’s voice and impact are recognised locally and nationally.

Where the role fits in our organisation

Our Partnerships and Communities Group are responsible for our work with the third sector, partners and communities across Dumfries and Galloway. The group leads on community insights and involvement, Locality Hubs, sector advice, training and development, building sector capacity, encouraging community involvement and representing the third sector. Key partnerships are with Dumfries and Galloway Council, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, Community Planning, Scottish Government and national sector bodies. The team includes Lead Officers, Development Officers, Support Officers, Coordinators and professional advisors.

What You'll Do

We are looking for a dedicated and relationship-driven colleague to lead an exciting one-year programme focused on improving community support for people living with Energy Limiting Conditions (ELCs). You’ll be at the heart of strengthening understanding, coordination, and sector capacity across Dumfries & Galloway — with the opportunity to shape future work around wider long-term conditions.

If you thrive on engagement, insight-gathering, and helping organisations build their confidence to support people with fluctuating conditions, this role is for you.

What you’ll do

• Carry out a region-wide mapping and gapping exercise to understand current community support.
• Build strong relationships with third sector organisations, community groups, practitioners, and lived experience voices.
• Facilitate conversations, engagement sessions, and two forum-style events to deepen shared understanding.
• Develop resources, guidance, and introductory capacity-building activity to strengthen sector confidence.
• Capture insights, identify priority needs, and highlight opportunities for future development and investment.
• Produce clear reports, summaries, and a baseline evidence report with recommendations for future work.
• Explore how learning from ELCs can inform support for wider long-term conditions.
• Represent TSDG and support collaborative working across our community health and wellbeing portfolio.

More about you

• You bring experience from within, or closely alongside, the third sector — ideally in community health, wellbeing, or long-term conditions.
• You are exceptionally organised — able to manage multiple priorities, track actions, and keep workstreams aligned.
• You’re confident creating and maintaining documentation, whether that’s action notes, work plans, trackers, or briefing materials.
• You have strong communication skills and can build positive relationships with partners from different sectors.
• You’re comfortable analysing information, capturing learning, and communicating it clearly and accessibly
• You’re digitally confident, with experience using tools such as Teams, shared drives, spreadsheets, or project management platforms.
• You work well both independently and as part of a dispersed team, sharing knowledge and supporting colleagues.
• You are self-motivated, committed to improvement, and keen to contribute to a programme that strengthens the sector and the communities we serve.

About Volunteer Scotland

Volunteer Scotland is the national centre for Volunteer Development. Our vision is for ‘a nation of volunteers strengthening Scotland’s communities’. Our purpose is to ensure that people volunteer, early and throughout their lives, that volunteers feel safe, valued and heard, making a difference to themselves and others and that volunteers represent their communities.

We lead the Volunteering Action Plan (VAP) on behalf of the Scottish Government and deliver five interconnected programmes — Participation, Development & Membership; Events, Campaigns & Promotions; Research & Policy; Disclosure Services; and the Knowledge Gateway.

These programmes collectively aim to widen participation, improve the quality and visibility of volunteering, support volunteer organisers, and promote volunteering through major campaigns and events. They generate and share national evidence, influence policy, and foster volunteer voice. They also ensure free access to the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme for volunteers and provide trusted guidance, development services and Quality Standards across Scotland.

Our Values

We are determined to make a difference when and where it matters most, by applying our values in everything we do: CARES

• Collaborative
• Accountable
• Respectful
• Effective
• Supportive

Through our values we will make the greatest difference for volunteers, those who support them, and Scotland's communities.

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity for a Participation and Membership Manager to join Volunteer Scotland, in a new role. The successful candidate will work closely with our Head of Innovation and Operations, and across teams, to develop our Participation and Membership Programme.

As the Participation and Membership Manager you will lead and support the delivery of Scotland’s Volunteering Action Plan (VAP) by working with colleagues and the sector to facilitate action focused working groups and sector-wide engagement events and activities.

A major strand of the Participation and Membership Programme focuses on widening participation. To support this, you’ll oversee national participation development projects that enable practical action to develop opportunities for everyone and guide targeted work on inclusive volunteering, helping to remove barriers faced by volunteers, and in doing so, share best practice across sectors.

Another key activity will be facilitating the growth of our membership and Knowledge Gateway services. This will focus on supporting our organisational members and championing volunteer organisers across Scotland by developing a new membership category for paid and voluntary practitioners. You will also share your volunteer development expertise through our Bespoke Support and Development Service.

Volunteer Scotland is an equal opportunities employer, committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Volunteer Scotland.

We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We positively welcome applicants from all backgrounds and all protected characteristics.

What will you receive?

You will have plenty of opportunities to enhance your abilities with the opportunity to make a real difference every day. In addition, you will have excellent development opportunities including training, career development, and a range of e-learning courses.

You will also receive:

• Hybrid Working
• Enhanced parental leave
• Group Life Assurance
• Eye Care Vouchers
• Company contributory pension
• Employee Assistance Programme, including counselling services
• Employer Supported Volunteering Days x 3 (pro-rated)
• 28 Days Annual leave (inclusive of 3 floating public holiday days), rising to 33 days plus 5 fixed public holidays. (The office is normally closed between Christmas and New Year and any weekdays in between are given as additional leave).
• Annual Learning and Wellbeing allowance