Victim Support Scotland – Empowering People Affected by Crime

Who We Are

Victim Support Scotland (VSS) provides support and information to people affected by crime and campaigns for victim and witness rights. Regardless of whether a crime has been reported, or when it happened, our services are free, confidential, and tailored to individuals’ needs.

Our vision is that people affected by crime – victims, witnesses, and their families – are treated with dignity and respect and are at the heart of the justice in Scotland. We put victims and witnesses at the heart of everything we do so they are heard, have improved health and well-being, feel safer, more secure, and informed and that we are an effective organisation, that makes a lasting difference. Our mission at Victim Support Scotland is to ensure that those affected by crime receive high quality support that will help them recover from their experiences. We aim to do this by adhering to our own organisational values: Organisational Values

• Victims Are at the Heart of Everything We Do
• We Care
• We Work with Intent
• We Are Ambitious
• We Persevere

Everything we do is driven by our dedication to supporting and empowering victims and witnesses, so they have improved health and well-being, feel safer, more secure, and informed. We are an effective organisation that makes a lasting difference to the people we support, and these values are reflected in the behaviours expected of all staff and volunteers.

VSS is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all of our service users and has a thorough and rigorous recruitment and selection process including PVG scheme checks in place to ensure this commitment is met.

What is the role?

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Support Coordinator working 26 hours per week. Working week will be between the following days and hours:

• Monday - Friday between 8am - 8pm & Saturdays 10am - 4pm

Salary band: £27,598 - £36,445 (pro-rata). Salary on appointment will normally be at the lower salary point, with progression subject to review - in line with VSS progression arrangements. A higher salary placing will only be considered in exceptional circumstances subject to experience demonstrated.

Primary location: Broadside, 2 Powderhall Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4GB, with travel to Jedburgh. You will also be expected to cover throughout Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders.

You will be reporting directly to a Locality Manager, and you will be responsible for ensuring, within your Service(s), that VSS’s local service development and delivery plan is being implemented within your geographical area(s). Service delivery is provided by a team of skilled and knowledgeable volunteers and you will be responsible for planning their deployment to ensure that the service delivered meets the desired outcomes of victims and witnesses of crime and our service users. You will also be responsible for all aspects of volunteer engagement with VSS at your services, including recruitment, induction, learning and development, ongoing performance management and support. Contributing to business planning and co-ordination ensuring that continuous learning takes place to monitor that the outcomes of service users are being met is also part of the role.

You will bring experience from a similar role and a commitment to your own professional development. As a confident and supportive leader, you will know how to motivate others, build trust, and drive performance. You’re comfortable working with data gathering, analysing, and presenting insights that help shape decisions. Some court experience would be advantageous. You believe in fairness and inclusion with the confidence to challenge discrimination, bias, or stereotyping when you see it. Alongside this, you have a solid understanding of the voluntary and charity sector, and willingness to be flexible in working hours and able to travel as required.

If you are looking for a role with a purpose, where you can really make a difference, we want to hear from you!

Further details of this role are available in the job description & the candidate pack Support Coordinator

Please note - This post will be subject to a satisfactory PVG/Disclosure check.

What we offer

Holiday

When you work for Victim Support Scotland, your wellbeing is important to us. We offer an enhanced annual leave package of 39 days (pro-rata) holiday. 42 days (pro-rata) from Grade 6 and above.

Pension

Save for the further and join the Standard Life Pension. Your future self will thank you. Our generous employer contribution will help you plan for the future.

Support

Sometimes we all need support and a listening ear. Our free and confidential Employee Assistance Programme can support your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. We also offer enhanced maternity and paternity pay and access to a credit union.

Discounts

You will have access to our free health cash plan which includes cover for you and your family across a range of benefits, which include, dental cover, access to a virtual GP, counselling, legal support and discounts on gym memberships, cinema tickets, retail and much more.

Flexibility and development

We are proud of our flexible and inclusive work policies, which help you balance work and life. Supporting employee development is important to us, we offer comprehensive learning and development opportunities.

Sessional Workers - National Intensive Support Package Service

Sacro’s mission is to deliver life-changing services that empower people, give hope and protection, and help to build safe communities.

Sessional workers are required for our Intensive Support Packages services operating across Scotland, particularly in Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and the Lothians.

To join this team, you will need experience of working with offenders and/or working in a social care setting.

This work is challenging and rewarding. You will need to have a non-judgmental value base, good interpersonal and communication skills, and be flexible to meet the changing needs of our services. You will also need to be able to work as part of a team and to agreed plans.

Hours of work are as and when required and include evenings and weekends.

A valid driving license and access to a car are essential for this post.

Membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme will be a requirement for the above posts for which Sacro will cover the cost.

Please state in your application the location/s you are willing to work in.

About the role

The Legal Policy Manager plays a key role in empowering the children’s sector to use the law to drive systemic change and ensure children experience their rights in practice.

This role is employed by Clan Childlaw and is central to delivery of a jointly funded partnership project between Clan Childlaw and Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), supported by the Human Rights Fund. The post holder will work closely across both organisations to deliver shared objectives.

Clan Childlaw is a leader in child-centred strategic litigation that drives systemic change, while Together represents over 600 organisations working to promote and protect children’s rights in Scotland.

The post holder will support strategic legal interventions, including the use of the UNCRC, to drive change for children and young people in Scotland.

The project aims to empower and enable Scotland’s children’s sector to use the law to advance children’s rights. These legal interventions may include strategic litigation, and seeking legal opinions, as well as wider measures such as supporting Together members to challenge rights breaches through informal processes etc.

Responsibilities include managing Clan’s Strategic Litigation Group, helping Together members identify opportunities for legal intervention, identifying strategic cases for Clan, and developing resources to promote the implementation and advance of children’s rights.

About Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)

Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) is a national alliance working to make children’s rights real for babies, children and young people across Scotland. We do this by supporting changes in law, policy and practice in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other international human rights standards. We bring together over 600 members, from large national and international NGOs to small volunteer-led after school clubs and interested professionals.

About Clan Childlaw

Clan wants a Scotland where all children and young people’s rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled. For that to happen, Scotland has to be a place where all children and young people can stand up for their rights. That means children and young people need:

• Lawyers that are experts in working with children

• People around them who can enable them to use their rights and amplify their voices

• To be respected as rights-holders, who are entitled to hold duty-bearers to account if their rights are not fulfilled.

Clan is an award-winning, independent children’s charity that actively supports children and young people to take ownership of their rights. We are the only charity in Scotland that provides free, independent legal representation exclusively for children and young people, which is child-centred by design. Because our lawyers work directly with children and young people whose lives are affected by legal decisions, we bring that unique practice-based knowledge to every aspect of our work. This includes our specialist training, our helpline supporting others who help children to use their voices and their rights, and our work to influence children’s rights respecting changes to practice, policy and law.

What We Do

• We stand with others who help children use their rights –

Through our membership and training for legal professionals and in legal education we are making being a “children’s lawyer” an accredited legal skill set in Scotland. Our practical training and helpline and support for advocacy in Children’s Hearings provides adults that support children and young people information and guidance that they can use to empower young people to stand up for their rights.

• We stand out through the excellence of our work –

We want our work to have as much impact as possible. We listen to what children and young people tell us about what they need from lawyers and others who support them to use their rights. We use what we learn to develop and design the services they need and talk about why young people’s rights matter, and why children and young people need lawyers.

• We stand for change –

We are lawyers for children and young people representing children and young people in court, at Children’s Hearings, and in important meetings working to give them equal opportunity to heard and use their rights. We take cases that make change for individual children and young people and help shape better rights respecting policy and practice. We use our knowledge of the law, and experience as practising lawyers for children and young people, to ask decision makers and lawmakers to change the law and the way the law is used to make sure that children and young people's rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.

Our Values

Our values are the principles we uphold in all our work, no matter what. They are the foundation of our workplace culture. Everyone who works at Clan shows our values in all they do and say.

We are supportive: We listen and respond, we provide encouragement and emotional help to children and young people, to others who support young people, and to each other.

We are bold: We are confident and courageous in amplifying the voices of children and young people. We are prepared to take risks when we need to, to defend children and young people’s rights.

We are dynamic: We are always active, always progressing. We are positive, full of energy and new ideas. We ask for change where it is needed.

"I love my job at Clan. It's busy and varied and no two days are ever the same. We have a great team here and everyone is really supportive." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team

What we can offer you

Clan Childlaw’s mission is very important to us, but our people are important too. We recognise the importance of a good work-life balance and a friendly supportive work environment. We offer:

• 33 days annual leave (inclusive of public holidays) increasing to 35 after 2 years’ service

• Auto-enrolment into our pension scheme after 3 months service

• Offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the option to choose the base location that works best for you.

• Flexibility around your working day, with the opportunity to work your hours within the hours of 7am to 7pm, and the option to work from home some of your working week.

• Access to our employee counselling service.

Learning and development is important to us and our team. We hope it’s important to you too. You will be encouraged to engage in learning and continued professional development.

"I have never worked in such a lovely organisation before! I feel valued, seen and heard as an individual here." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team

"I love my job at Clan. It's busy and varied and no two days are ever the same. We have a great team here and everyone is really supportive." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team

*You can choose the location that works best for you. We operate hybrid working with the opportunity to work from home some of the time. The role will also require travel between our office locations on a regular basis and throughout Scotland as required.

Our Administrators play a key role in supporting day-to-day operations of the organisation. Responsibilities span across service delivery, office administration, financial administration and general support. A key aspect of this role includes supporting our Helpline and ensuring compliance with health and safety, financial processes and confidentiality policies.

About Clan Childlaw

Clan wants a Scotland where all children and young people’s rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled. For that to happen, Scotland has to be a place where all children and young people can stand up for their rights. That means children and young people need:

• Lawyers that are experts in working with children
• People around them who can enable them to use their rights and amplify their voices
• To be respected as rights-holders, who are entitled to hold duty-bearers to account if their rights are not fulfilled.

Clan is an award-winning, independent children’s charity that actively supports children and young people to take ownership of their rights. We are the only charity in Scotland that provides free, independent legal representation exclusively for children and young people, which is child-centred by design. Because our lawyers work directly with children and young people whose lives are affected by legal decisions, we bring that unique practice-based knowledge to every aspect of our work. This includes our specialist training, our helpline supporting others who help children to use their voices and their rights, and our work to influence children’s rights respecting changes to practice, policy and law.

What We Do

We stand with others who help children use their rights – Through our membership and training for legal professionals and in legal education we are making being a “children’s lawyer” an accredited legal skill set in Scotland. Our practical training and helpline and support for advocacy in Children’s Hearings provides adults that support children and young people information and guidance that they can use to empower young people to stand up for their rights.

We stand out through the excellence of our work – We want our work to have as much impact as possible. We listen to what children and young people tell us about what they need from lawyers and others who support them to use their rights. We use what we learn to develop and design the services they need and talk about why young people’s rights matter, and why children and young people need lawyers.

We stand for change – We are lawyers for children and young people representing children and young people in court, at Children’s Hearings, and in important meetings working to give them equal opportunity to heard and use their rights. We take cases that make change for individual children and young people and help shape better rights respecting policy and practice. We use our knowledge of the law, and experience as practising lawyers for children and young people, to ask decision makers and lawmakers to change the law and the way the law is used to make sure that children and young people's rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.

Our Values

Our values are the principles we uphold in all our work, no matter what. They are the foundation of our workplace culture. Everyone who works at Clan shows our values in all they do and say.

We are supportive: We listen and respond, we provide encouragement and emotional help to children and young people, to others who support young people, and to each other.

We are bold: We are confident and courageous in amplifying the voices of children and young people. We are prepared to take risks when we need to, to defend children and young people’s rights.

We are dynamic: We are always active, always progressing. We are positive, full of energy and new ideas. We ask for change where it is needed.

"I love my job at Clan. It's busy and varied and no two days are ever the same. We have a great team here and everyone is really supportive." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team

What we can offer you

Clan Childlaw’s mission is very important to us, but our people are important too. We recognise the importance of a good work-life balance and a friendly supportive work environment. We offer:

• 33 days annual leave (inclusive of public holidays) increasing to 35 after 2 years’ service
• Auto-enrolment into our pension scheme after 3 months service
• Flexibility around your working day, with the opportunity to work your hours within the hours of 7am to 7pm, and the option to work from home some of your working week.
• Access to our employee counselling service.

Learning and development is important to us and our team. We hope it’s important to you too. You will be encouraged to engage in learning and continued professional development.

"I have never worked in such a lovely organisation before! I feel valued, seen and heard as an individual here." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team

"I love my job at Clan. It's busy and varied and no two days are ever the same. We have a great team here and everyone is really supportive." - A member of the Clan Childlaw team