Purpose of Job

This internship will support the Midlothian Climate Action Hub to strengthen how we communicate our work and demonstrate our impact.

The role will focus on capturing and sharing the stories, learning and outcomes of community-led climate action across Midlothian, helping to amplify the voices of local groups and evidence the difference they are making.

The intern will gain hands-on experience in communications, storytelling, and monitoring & evaluation (M&E), contributing to reports, case studies and digital content.

About our organisation

Midlothian Community Action (MCA) is the Third Sector Interface (TSI) for Midlothian, supporting local community organisations, volunteers, and social enterprises.

The Midlothian Climate Action Hub is hosted by MCA. The Hub works alongside communities to support grassroots climate action, build local networks, and enable projects that respond to the climate emergency in inclusive and practical ways.

Where the role fits in our organisation

Our Communities and Place team consists of our Employability, Learning and Skills, Community Transport, Volunteering, Children and Families and Locality teams. This role sits within the Employability, Learning and Skills, although the focus of the role is on Business Support and community engagement. No technical knowledge of Employability issues is required.

What You'll Do

The Employability Development Officer will play a critical role in evolving the role of the third sector in employability over the next three years. There is much potential in the sector that can be unlocked by discovering and implementing new ways of working that directly benefit the people of Dumfries and Galloway.

A detailed knowledge of Employability is not needed for this role – it is a business support role, and will not involve the direct delivery of any employability activities.

Instead, this role will support third sector organisations to understand how they could offer employability opportunities, and work with our public sector partners to make the support for individuals effective and seamless. You will form great relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, making sure you add real value to the lives of people seeking employment or training across Dumfries and Galloway.

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 Employability and further supported by the wider TSDG Comms and Business Support teams. 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 maximum of 50% of time would be home-working, with the rest in the Dumfries office or out with partners.

Role responsibilities

Research, mapping and evidence development

• Create, maintain and analyse a comprehensive mapping of third sector employability and skills activity across Dumfries and Galloway.

Service design and co-production

• Co-facilitate Action Collabs or other engagement activities in communities across Dumfries and Galloway to identify barriers and generate solutions to remove barriers to TSOs offering employability opportunities.
• Produce insights reports, practice notes, and briefings for the Lead Officer and wider TSDG Leadership team.

Digital platform and resource development

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the shared digital knowledge hub.

Advice and support to third sector organisations

• Provide signposting, information and early-stage advice to TSOs developing employability-related activities.

Project administration support

• Ensure that accurate project documentation, databases, minutes, action logs and reporting trackers are maintained.
• Plan and administrate Employability events and activities, with Lead Officer support.

Excellence and continuous improvement

• 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.

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.