Are you an experienced Money or Welfare rights advisor – we want to hear from you! …

This is an exciting opportunity to work within our Financial Wellbeing Team as part of our Money, debt, benefits and Energy advice delivery, supporting our additional services across the charity.

Our Financial Wellbeing service works alongside families to address the challenges and risks which may have led to vulnerability, promote connection to their local communities, and improve financial stability and resilience. Our aim is to support communities to become more resilient and a place where children feel safe, valued, understood and supported.

The Financial Wellbeing Advisor will work across East regions offering support, community connection, and expert benefit, energy and debt advice. This will enable families to resolve debt and money problems, become more financially resilient and break the cycle of poverty.

A priority for the financial wellbeing advisor will be to increase the capacity of our current service to provide Type I and II Financial wellbeing in one of the most deprived areas in Scotland.

You will work as part of our National Financial wellbeing team offering remote advice to families across Scotland by telephone or webchat. You will support families within their homes, deliver workshops within the community and in schools, and offer drop-in sessions within the community.

If you have experience of delivering money, and debt advice, understand the impact trauma and adversity can have on children and families, and believe that you can apply this to your practice, we want to hear from you.

This is a full time, 35 hours post funded until the 31 March 2029 with the intention to explore funding options beyond this date. Hours to be worked flexibly to suit the needs of families, including evenings and weekends as required.

The Benefit, Debt and Money Advisor will contribute to the organisation’s vision of a Scotland in which single parents and their children are valued and treated equally and fairly, by supporting the delivery of various components which contribute to the Glasgow service, including high quality welfare benefits, money, and debt advice.

The Benefit, Debt and Money Advisor supporting the delivering of the National Debt Service and local Welfare Benefits Service. The role will focus on offering practical support in areas such as budgeting, debt management, access to benefits, and financial literacy. The Advisor will work closely with clients to help them navigate financial challenges and connect them to the services and resources they need to improve their financial situation.

All roles at OPFS contribute to our mission of working with and for single parent families, providing support that enables them to achieve their potential and help create lasting solutions to the poverty and barriers facing many single parents and their children. Our core values of Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion are at the heart of everything we do and underpin all aspects of our work.

About the role

As a Children in Scotland Participation and Policy Officer you will have an important role supporting the work of the Participation and Policy Team.

Your role will involve delivering a diverse range of project work, in particular our direct work with children and young people. You will deliver this in line with Children in Scotland’s Principles and Guidelines for Meaningful Participation of Children and Young People.

You will also be responsible for supporting the wider work of the Participation and Policy Team, ensuring the views of the children and young people you work with inform our work as an organisation.

About Children in Scotland

Giving all children in Scotland an equal chance to flourish is at the heart of everything we do.

By bringing together a network of people working with and for children, alongside children and young people themselves, we offer a broad, balanced and independent voice. We create solutions, provide support and develop positive change across all areas affecting children in Scotland. We do this by listening, gathering evidence, and applying and sharing our learning, while always working to uphold children’s rights.

Our range of knowledge and expertise means we can provide trusted support on issues as diverse as the people we work with and the varied lives of children and families in Scotland.

Diversity

Children in Scotland values the contribution of all our staff, whatever their background. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open processes, with appointment on merit. We welcome applications from everyone.

Further information

For an informal chat about the job, please contact Roisín Laing, Participation and Policy Manager by email on rlaing@childreninscotland.org.uk

About Aberlour Sycamore Children’s Houses

Aberlour Sycamore Services’ vision is to provide warm, loving homes for children where everyone learns, laughs, grows into their future and is treasured always. At any one time, the residential houses within Sycamore require additional support to help to maintain stability and balance within the teams. Sycamore services are widely recognised in Scotland for providing a range of quality therapeutic residential houses for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. The Service is a national resource and as such receives referrals from throughout Scotland.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for individuals who can integrate seamlessly into our existing team, working alongside it and relief adults to support excellent service delivery. We are looking for 2 Residential Workers to work 37.5 hours per week to work within our home in Glenrothes. You will work as part of a residential rota including early, late, sleepovers and weekend shifts. You will have a knowledge and understanding of the importance of attachment, trauma and how this can impact on an individual’s development. At times our children express their distress through their behaviour and the role can be emotionally and physically challenging; we are therefore looking for someone who is resilient, understands that behaviour is a means of communication and is trauma responsive.

You will be skilled in building therapeutic relationships with the children, young people and young adults to enable them to feel safe, loved and cared for.

You must have the ability to quickly build your relationships with the adults within the house. The nature of the role is such that you could be working to cover a shift or longer periods as required, including days and wakened nightshifts and you may also be supporting young people to attend school or participate in other learning programmes. You must therefore be able to quickly adapt to the working environment within each house.

You will be comfortable with working within Aberlour’s culture embracing respect, integrity, innovation and the ability to challenge. Demonstration of these qualities will be particularly important in this role given that you will be dipping in and out of the different teams. You must be able to be an exceptional role model for other staff and the young person.

Undertaking the role of Residential Worker will afford you the opportunity to develop and build on a range of transferrable skills which are valued in a range of employment. You will be able to demonstrate excellent flexibility and adaptability with exceptional interpersonal skills, ability to work with different teams and different children, young people and young adults living within our Sycamore Houses.

To have a look at our values to understand more about what we are looking for from our employees click here.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers. Please click here to have a look at our Employee Benefits.