Where the role fits in our organisation

Our Communities and Place team consists of our Community Transport, Employability, Volunteering, Children and Families and Locality teams. This role sits within the Community Transport team, although the focus of the role is on Business Support, Employability and Volunteering – no technical knowledge of Transport or bus driving is required.

What You'll Do

The Connecting Communities Development Officer will play a critical role in creating and assuring the sustainability of Community Transport across Dumfries and Galloway over the next 4 years. There is significant value to be unlocked within this sector by the addition of development capacity through this role and we are excited about the opportunities for this new team.

A detailed knowledge of Transport or Community Transport is not needed for this role – it is a business support role, and will not involve the direct delivery of any community transport operations. There will be no driving, no logistics planning and no working directly with drivers.

Instead, this role will support Community Transport Operators (CTOs) with the evolution of their Business Plans, grant finding, volunteer recruitment and employability opportunities. You will form great relationships with the CTO Managers, making sure you add real value amongst their daily jobs.

This role would suit someone with experience of working in business support or administration for a third sector organisation and with ambitions to make an even bigger difference to the people of Dumfries and Galloway through a regional role, or a new entrant with the correct skills and approach.

The role will be line managed and supported by the Lead for Community Transport and further supported by the wider TSDG Comms and Business Support teams. We are advertising for the Lead Officer in parallel with this post, so this is an exciting opportunity to join and shape a new regional project in Dumfries and Galloway.

It is principally a 9am – 5pm, 4 day/week role, with very limited evening or weekend working anticipated. The actual work pattern would be discussed at interview but we can offer a high degree of flexibility through our flexi-time policy. A minimum 25% of time would be expected to be in the Dumfries office, 25% out with the CTOs across the region and the rest home-working or in the Dumfries office.

• Be the visible face of TSDG to the Community Transport Operators so that they feel well-supported in their delivery.
• Support CTOs in their development aspirations such as decarbonisation, fleet replacement, governance etc.
• Work with CTOs to ensure that their Business Models are better able to attract grant funding and earned income.
• Work with the TSDG Employability team and CTOs to plan and deliver effective Employability programmes through CTOs.
• Plan and deliver a programme of region-wide volunteer-recruitment to CTOs, in partnership with CTOs to ensure that it matches local need.
• Work with CTOs to gather and evaluate relevant information as per the agreed plan around the impact of their services.
• Support colleagues across TSDG to deliver on our joint outcomes and contribute to effective team working to make TSDG a great place to work.

More about you

• You will have experience of business support or administration, or equivalent Training / Qualifications – this role would suit a new entrant with the right skills and approach.
• You will be able to quickly form excellent working relationships with a wide range of partners.
• You will highlight emerging opportunities to line management, displaying good judgment and a bias for action.
• You will take responsibility for delivery of your own outcomes, and to escalate challenges or concerns in good time.
• You will be a good team player, with good verbal and written communication skills and good knowledge of current common workplace IT systems.

You can read more about our exciting new approach to Community Transport, and the Business Case for the new model, here: Community Transport Dumfries and Galloway | Supporting the Development of Community Transport

Where the role fits in our organisation

Community Health and Wellbeing Our Community Health and Wellbeing team works alongside third sector organisations, partners and communities across Dumfries and Galloway to strengthen community health, wellbeing and social care support. The team supports collaboration, sector development, community engagement, partnership working and the development of innovative approaches that help communities thrive. The team includes Lead Officers, Development Officers and Coordinators working across thematic and place-based programmes to support collaboration, build sector capacity, strengthen connections and improve outcomes for communities across the region.

What You'll Do

We are looking for a highly organised and proactive colleague who is passionate about strengthening community health and wellbeing through effective coordination and partnership working. You’ll thrive on keeping complex workstreams running smoothly, supporting collaboration, and making sure information, communication, and resources flow seamlessly across our programme.

With a solid understanding of the third sector and strong coordination skills, you will play a key role in supporting the development of DGCollectives, helping to organise activity, maintain shared work plans, and ensure that our programme delivers high-quality support to organisations across Dumfries and Galloway.

• Coordinate collaborative activity across the Community Health and Wellbeing programme, scheduling meetings, preparing agendas, recording actions, and supporting meaningful follow-up.
• Maintain contact lists, communication channels, shared resources, and documentation for programme areas and collaboratives.
• Support Development Officers with planning and coordination across multiple thematic and place based workstreams.
• Prepare, update and organise shared work plans, trackers, reports and programme documentation to support smooth programme delivery.
• Support the coordination of shared systems, workflows and programme trackers to help maintain visibility across activity and priorities.
• Assist with the organisation of events, workshops, sector engagement sessions, and collaborative activities.
• Coordinate and support the delivery of forums, events, workshops, sector engagement sessions and collaborative activity across the programme.
• Produce clear, accessible updates, summaries and briefings for internal and external stakeholders.
• Help organise and maintain programme data, insight and records to support reporting, learning and continuous improvement.
• Support the Lead Officer and offer light-touch organisational support to the Deputy CEO when required.
• Represent TSDG professionally and contribute to a positive, supportive team culture.

More about you

• You bring experience of working within or alongside the third sector, ideally within health, social care, or community wellbeing.
• 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 Communities and Place team consists of our Community Transport, Employability, Volunteering, Children and Families and Locality teams. The Community Transport team reports to the Head of Communities and Place and works with the other teams to support our sector across a wide range of portfolios.

What You'll Do

We are looking for a colleague who is passionate about the impact and potential of our third sector and who is excited about leading a new project to success. As the lead for our new 4-year funded project CommunityTransportDG, you will be at the forefront of a different way of working in D&G. You will thrive on building strategic partnerships and relationships to achieve outcomes and will have a clear view of the challenges that this region faces and the many ways that community transport could mitigate those challenges. The successful candidate will be the policy lead for Community Transport across Dumfries and Galloway, working with regional and national partners and leading a small team to deliver outcomes that support local, regional and national challenges.

A detailed knowledge of Transport / Community Transport is not needed for this role– it is a leadership and strategic role and a full handover will be given to ensure all technical knowledge is transferred.

This role would suit a Development Officer or similar with experience of working in a leadership role for a third sector organisation and with ambitions to make an even bigger difference to the people of Dumfries and Galloway through a regional role.

The role will be line managed and supported by our Head of Communities and Place, but will have a high degree of autonomy as to how best to deliver the outcomes for our new model, CommunityTransportDG. They will be supported by an 80% Development Officer who will work with the Community Transport Operators to enhance their capacity, as well as by the wider TSDG Comms and Business Support teams. We are advertising for the Development Officer in parallel with this post, so this is an exciting opportunity to join and shape a new regional project in Dumfries and Galloway.

It is principally a 9am – 5pm, weekday role, with very limited evening or weekend working anticipated. A minimum 50% of time would be expected to be in the Dumfries office, with the rest home-working or in the community if preferred. We have a Flexi-time policy that supports this.

• Lead and grow CommunityTransportDG – a new regionwide organisation hosted within TSDG. See all details (including Business Plan) here. Community Transport Dumfries and Galloway | Supporting the Development of Community Transport
• Animate, coordinate and support community transport regionally, working closely with the existing Community Transport Operators.
• Partner with the regional agencies such as SWestrans, D&G Council and Health to understand and work to deliver better regional outcomes through community transport.
• Better understand and communicate thevalue of community transport regionally.
• Work to enhance volunteering and employability opportunities within the Community Transport sector.

More about you

• You will have evidenced experience of leadership, ideally within the third sector or comparable environments.
• You will have the ability to effectively represent TSDG and CommunityTransportDG in region-wide meetings.
• You will be able to act on emerging opportunities to achieve agreed outcomes, displaying good judgment and strategic consistency.
• You will be able to work as part of an internal team, share knowledge and benefit from the experience of others. You will be collegial and committed to our organisational values.
• You will be able to work collaboratively with external partners in order to achieve shared outcomes through influence and relational working.

The post will be one of a team of development officer posts specifically intended to work closely with Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) throughout the Inner Moray Firth. This role will be focused on capacity building role that will support organisations around their governance, board development, or strategic planning as well as health checks. This role will work with organisations who are starting out, going through difficulty, changing their governance or closing down.

The post holder will be responsible for guiding groups around these topics, ensuring that they are informed of the regulatory and legal information necessary.