Feniks Counselling, Personal Development and Support Services Ltd. is seeking a passionate and driven Policy Development Officer to champion the rights of Polish and other Central and Eastern European (CEE) communities in Scotland.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape policy, influence decision-makers and amplify community voices at local and national level.

The Role

You will lead on policy and advocacy work, engaging with stakeholders including statutory services and the Scottish Government. Working closely with colleagues and community members, you will gather evidence, develop briefings and consultation responses, raise awareness of key issues, and support greater civic participation.

The role is primarily home-based, with occasional office attendance and travel as required. We warmly welcome applications from candidates based outside Edinburgh.

About You

You will bring at least two years’ experience in policy or advocacy work, excellent research and report-writing skills, and confidence engaging with stakeholders at all levels. Fluency in English and Polish is essential.

We are looking for someone who is self-motivated, collaborative and committed to equality, human rights and social justice.

Annual leave:34 days per annum, pro rata

Following the launch of our new strategy in 2025 and the continued expansion of our services for young people, we are investing further in our fundraising capacity through the recruitment of a new Community & Corporate Fundraiser Role. As an organisation, we have traditionally relied heavily on grants and trusts as our main source of income. While this will remain an important funding stream, we are now looking to diversify our income by increasing support from community fundraising, events, and corporate partnerships. At this important stage of growth, we are also keen to raise the profile and awareness of U-evolve and the impact of our work supporting young people’s mental health.

This is a new role, offering a real opportunity to shape and develop sustainable income streams, create meaningful fundraising opportunities, and make a tangible impact on the future of our services. Working alongside our Fundraising Lead — who focuses primarily on grants and trusts — you will play a key part in generating income through community fundraising initiatives, events, and corporate sponsorship. Responsibilities will include planning and managing a calendar of fundraising events, identifying opportunities to raise awareness of U-evolve within local communities, delivering talks and presentations to encourage support, and developing and managing sponsorship relationships.

What we are looking for

We’re looking for someone who is passionate about improving young people’s mental health and who genuinely connects with our mission and values. You will have:

• Experience in fundraising, ideally including community fundraising, events, or corporate partnerships
• Experience working directly with young people and/or within mental health or a related field or an understanding of the challenges young people face today.
• Experience in building networks or contacts that could support awareness-raising, partnerships or fundraising activity.
• Confidence in building relationships and representing U-evolve externally
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a friendly and approachable manner.

Above all, we are looking for someone who shares our commitment to making a meaningful difference in the lives of young people and who is excited by the opportunity to contribute to the growth and impact of our work.

Job Specifics

Salary: £27,500 pro rata

Hours: 14 hours per week, with flexibility and option for hybrid working.

Contract: Fixed Term, 18 months, with the potential to be extended, dependant on funding.

What We Will Give You

• Generous Holiday Package
• Enhanced Sick Pay
• Flexible working patterns
• Staff Wellbeing Scheme
• Learning and Development Policy to support staff training and development

Feniks is seeking a dedicated and compassionate Polish Community Link Worker to support mainly the Polish community in Edinburgh to access public and third-sector services. This is an exciting opportunity to join a well-established organisation working to improve the wellbeing and protect the rights of Central and Eastern European communities.

About the role

The Link Worker will provide information, advice and guidance to individuals, helping them overcome barriers and access appropriate services. The postholder will support clients with practical, emotional, health, education and welfare needs, and where necessary accompany them to appointments.

Working closely with healthcare professionals, social services and community organisations, you will play a key role in social prescribing and advocacy. You will also contribute to awareness-raising through social media, maintain accurate case records in line with GDPR, and support monitoring and reporting processes.

The role forms part of Feniks’ wider advocacy work supporting the rights of the Polish community in Scotland.

About you

You will have at least two years’ experience in a similar role working directly with marginalised or hard-to-reach groups.

You will demonstrate:

• Experience supporting vulnerable individuals facing complex issues
• Strong assessment and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Fluency in both English and Polish (essential)
• Good knowledge of issues affecting CEE communities, including mental health, social exclusion and immigration matters

A relevant qualification (for example, in social work, healthcare, psychology, community development or similar) is desirable.

Additional information

The role may involve occasional evening or weekend work. Some office and face-to-face work will be required. The successful candidate will be required to join the PVG Scheme.

Feniks offers a supportive team environment and in-house clinical supervision in recognition of the emotional demands of the role.

If you are passionate about equality, human rights and supporting communities to thrive, we would be delighted to hear from you.

This is a key new role in Beira’s Place where your expertise as a supervisory practitioner gained from your provision of trauma informed support services, will be utilised to directly provide high quality line management to Support Practitioner front line staff. Working under the supervision of the Support Services Co-ordinator, you will be a first point of contact to staff, providing support, advice, supervision, direct leadership and case management oversight.

This work will include safeguarding, operational & risk management and overseeing individual performance to ensure high standards of practice, continuous improvement and enhancement of practitioner standards in line with service objectives.

It is expected that this post holder will have substantial frontline experience in working with and supervising staff providing support services to women impacted by sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence.

This role requires strong leadership and a stated commitment to providing direct support services to women from aged 16 years, in a single sex, women only environment.

The Team Leader will be directly supervised by the Support Service Co-ordinator and will work closely with the Senior Management Team to help maintain the working principles, objectives and policies of Beira’s Place including to:

• Provide effective daily leadership & line management to Support Practitioners ensuring high standards of trauma-informed practice and services are delivered to women who are survivors of sexual violence, abuse and exploitation.
• Support the Support Service Co-ordinator to ensure smooth operating practices and procedures.
• Contribute to service delivery in accordance with the organisation’s ethos, policies and procedures by providing effective case and performance management, promoting safety and well-being for staff and service users alike.
• To provide reflective practice sessions in addition to existing internal and external staff support provision, to ensure high quality of standards and highlight areas of improvements.
• To recommend to the Support Service Co-ordinator a schedule and focus for service specific practice development sessions for workers, setting clear expectations of such sessions and how these developments positively impact practice and support staff wellbeing & development.
• To support the robust information gathering and evidence-based reports with the Support Service Co-ordinator, and for the CEO to report to the Board of Directors at their meetings.
• Attend internal or external meetings as appropriate to the post, as well as participating in regular internal and external supervision meetings.
• Participate in an ongoing programme of training and continuous personal and professional development to ensure that skills, knowledge and working practices are up to date and evidence based.
• Any other duties relevant to the post of Team Leader as directed by the Support Service Co-ordinator or Senior Management Team.

Requirements

The Team Leader will have a high level of professional experience working in sexual/gender-based violence services at both practitioner and management level and experience in supporting a team of Support Practitioners. They will also have extensive experience in staff supervision, delivery of support services, workforce development and performance management of support staff.

Duties

The duties of the Team Leader post will be to:

• Provide support and supervision to Support Practitioner staff, ensuring all operational service delivery processes are implemented effectively.
• Monitor cases and workloads of Support Practitioners to ensure that services are delivered in a supportive and safe environment for staff and service users.
• Work closely with the Support Service Co-ordinator and Support Service Administrator to ensure that the service is effectively delivered, with referrals and service users being responded to in a trauma informed and timely manner.
• Contribute to the identification & development of Support Practitioners overall training and development plans.
• Work closely with relevant staff to manage and minimise waiting times for service users.
• Contribute to regular team meetings, peer support meetings and facilitate individual support & supervision sessions.
• Meet regularly with the Support Service Co-ordinator, Support Service Administrator and Senior Management Team.
• Assist and participate alongside the Senior Management Team in the recruitment and induction of support staff.
• Provide input into the effective monitoring and evaluation of the organisation’s support services.
• Record and pass on any safeguarding issues or concerns raised by staff as a priority.
• Report any risk in relation to Health & Safety, confidentiality, GDPR, etc as soon as possible to the CEO or member of the Senior Management Team.
• Ensure the maintenance of accurate records in OASIS in accordance with best practice and the organisation’s policies.
• Assist with the improvement of organisational policies and procedures as appropriate.
• Liaise with external agencies, building and sustaining multi-agency partnerships as required.
• Reporting directly to the Support Service Coordinator for regular supervision and providing updates on the support service and any issues that may be occurring.
• To carry out any other duties relevant to the post of Team Leader as directed by the line manager or Senior Management Team.