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.

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 colleague who is passionate about the best start for all our children, the importance of community-led neuro-diverse support around families and who recognises the essential role the third sector plays in achieving positive outcomes for people across Dumfries and Galloway. You will lead our new partnership project focused on the delivery of a community-led model of support for neurodivergent children, young people and their families. Working closely with families, third sector and statutory partners, you will lead this exciting project from through implementation to evaluation, sharing and embedding the learning across our cross-sector partnership.

What You’ll Do

• Work alongside third sector organisations supporting a diverse range of families, children and young people, with a focus on listening to their neurodevelopmental needs.
• Work closely with cross-sector partners to build a community-led pathway to advice and support that is accessible, inclusive and easy to navigate.
• Identify third sector training needs; working closely with all partners to co-design, deliver and evaluate a programme of accredited training to meet the identified community need.
• Plan, implement and evaluate community engagement activities, workshops, and meetings in a variety of informal settings.
• Work in a way that facilitates the delivery of safe, effective, rights-based and person-centred practices.
• Work within community engagement competencies and local and national guidelines.
• Collaborate with staff across all agencies, developing and maintaining good relationships and clear lines of communication.
• Effectively prioritise workload, recognising the requirement to be flexible whilst working alongside the third sector and community members.
• Be involved in the delivery and collection of outcome measures related to the programme of work.
• Contribute to partnership working using knowledge, data and insights from across the sector to better inform decision making.
• Represent the third sector/TSDG at partnership meetings.

More about you

• You will be able to demonstrate your experience of leading programmes in the third sector and/or cross sector
• You will be able to show your understanding of family engagement or community work and be able to evidence best practice in participatory working
• You will be able to show your approach to effective and compassionate leadership, achieving outcomes and demonstrating impact.
• You will bring a keen interest in building and sharing knowledge, particularly in relation to good practice and to new policy.
• You will be able to show examples of effective application of key skills, including organisation and planning, problem solving and communications.
• You will have had experience of building effective professional relationships inside and outside of your organisation.
• You may have had experience, knowledge or lived experience of neurodivergence

Given the nature of this role in community and family engagement, PVG registration is required.

Who we are

At Volunteering Matters, we believe people have the power to create change. Whether through volunteering by helping others and giving time, or through social action such as speaking up, campaigning, or leading change, everyone can make a difference. We bring people together to build stronger communities across England, Scotland and Wales, making sure everyone has the chance to get involved and create real change.

Creating stronger communities through the power of volunteering

Volunteering Matters is a nationwide charity that exists to create stronger communities through the power of volunteering. We work with local partners to develop impactful programmes that support individuals and communities across the UK.

Since 1962, we’ve used our influence to champion volunteering as a powerful tool to build a thriving, resilient society. Our projects are co-created with the people and communities we work alongside: an approach that encourages our participants to become future volunteers and leaders, not just beneficiaries.

We understand the pressures of day-to-day life and create flexible, inclusive opportunities for people at all stages of life. And beyond delivering projects on the ground, we use our voice to shape policy and practice – ensuring volunteering stays recognised, supported and sustainable for generations to come.

What we do

We help people of all ages and backgrounds get involved in volunteering and social action. We focus on making sure that everyone, no matter their situation, has the chance to take part. We work with local people.

How we do this

We support people to share their time and skills to help others and tackle big challenges in their communities.

• We remove barriers to volunteering and social action, making it easier for people who don’t always get the chance to take part.
• We listen to and amplify voices that aren’t always heard, helping volunteers and communities influence change.
• We help volunteers beyond their first experience, offering training, support, and pathways to new opportunities.
• We connect businesses with communities, creating meaningful employee volunteering projects.
• We show the impact of volunteering and social action, proving how it changes lives for the better.

Role Purpose

Grandmentors is our award-winning, inter-generational mentoring project running in almost 20 locations across the UK. We recruit, train and support Volunteer Mentors (normally people aged 50+) who are matched 1:1 with young people (aged 16-26) facing a range of life challenges and barriers. This includes young people with experience of the care system, or with Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Through our mentoring support, young people are more likely to have improved physical and mental health and wellbeing, achieve better outcomes around Education, Employment or Training, build independent living skills, and generally enhance their life chances. In 2026, we are excited to be launching the Grandmentors project in Fife.

We are now looking to recruit a talented, dynamic and professional Volunteer Coordinator to join our team. In this role, you will lead all aspects of the coordination and delivery of Grandmentors Fife.

The right candidate would be someone with great experience of supporting and managing volunteers, working with young people facing a range of life challenges, as well as someone who can work flexibly and demonstrate a commitment to our organisational values.

Our Values & Way of Working

In all that we are guided by our values: Empowering, Inclusive, Compassionate, Positive & Straightforward.

Diversity & Inclusion

Volunteering Matters welcomes all applicants and are keen to ensure our team reflects the diversity of the UK and the communities we serve. We encourage applications from disabled, LGBT and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, along with candidates with any protected characteristics and from disadvantaged groups.

Disability Confident & Reasonable Adjustments

We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role. Please provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required in the Job Description under skill and experience. To be considered for a guaranteed interview or to discuss any reasonable adjustments during the process, please state this in your cover letter.

Benefits

Our employee benefits reflect our culture which is built on an approach of full flexibility with accountability, and designed to let you make your most positive contribution; we offer:

• Flexible Working by Default (re hours & place of work)
• Unlimited Annual Leave
• Employee Pension scheme
• Life Assurance
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Season Ticket Loan
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Enhanced sick and family leave.
• Lifestyle Discount Scheme

We are also open to discussing job share applications.