Lead a small organisation making a big difference across Ayrshire

The opportunity

Are you an experienced, values-led leader who wants to help people have greater choice and control over their lives?

The Community Brokerage Network is looking for a new Operations Manager to lead our small, committed team and help shape the next stage of our development. Working across Ayrshire, we provide free, independent brokerage support to people navigating Self-directed Support and an increasingly challenging social care system.

This is a varied and influential role for someone who can combine strategic thinking with practical, hands-on leadership. You will work closely with our Board, lead and support our staff team, oversee funded services and organisational systems, build strong partnerships and ensure the voices and experiences of the people we support remain at the heart of everything we do.

About us

For 12 years, CBN has helped disabled people, unpaid carers and others who need social care to understand their rights, explore their options and plan support that works for them. We believe in independent living, inclusion and finding creative solutions that build on people’s strengths, relationships and communities.

We are entering an important period of development. Demand for our support is growing, the social care environment is changing rapidly and a new funding cycle is approaching. We are looking for someone who can provide confident leadership now while helping CBN develop new opportunities and build a sustainable future.

What you’ll do

• Lead the day-to-day management and development of CBN.
• Work with the Board to turn strategy into practical plans and effective delivery.
• Lead, support and develop our staff team and promote a positive organisational culture.
• Oversee service quality, referrals, complex practice issues and organisational systems.
• Manage budgets, funding agreements, monitoring and impact reporting.
• Develop strong funding applications and identify new income and partnership opportunities.
• Maintain effective governance, compliance, risk and health and safety arrangements.
• Represent CBN and build strong relationships with Health and Social Care Partnerships, funders and third-sector partners.
• Use evidence and lived experience to contribute to wider discussions about Self-directed Support and social care.

About you

You do not need to have done this exact job before. You will, however, need experience of leading people and services, sound organisational judgement and the confidence to manage a broad remit within a small organisation.

You will be comfortable moving between Board reports, staff support, funding applications, budgets, partnership meetings and practical operational issues. You will share our commitment to human rights, inclusion and person-led support, and you will understand the importance of combining challenge with constructive relationships.

Knowledge of Self-directed Support and Scotland’s social care landscape would be valuable. We would also welcome applicants who bring strong transferable leadership experience and are ready to learn.

What we offer

• A home-based role with flexibility in how your working week is organised.
• 35 days’ annual leave, inclusive of public holidays.
• A 5% employer pension contribution, subject to scheme rules.
• The opportunity to lead a respected, values-driven organisation and influence its future direction.
• A planned handover with the current Operations Manager, subject to the successful candidate’s start date.

Contract and funding

The post is currently funded to 31 March 2027. CBN has maintained continuous funding since it was established 12 years ago, and applications for the next funding period and other income sources will form an important part of the role. While continued funding cannot be guaranteed, the Board is committed to pursuing a sustainable future for the organisation.

Travel and other requirements

Regular travel across North, South and East Ayrshire is required, including to some rural locations that are not well served by public transport. A driving licence and access to a vehicle are therefore normally required, although we will consider reasonable alternatives that allow the full requirements of the role to be met.

Occasional evening or weekend work may be required for events, meetings or conferences. The successful applicant will also be required to join the appropriate PVG Scheme and complete a three-month probationary period.

Change Mental Health is a leading national mental health charity providing unique support to people with severe and enduring mental ill health. With over 50 years’ experience across Scotland, we believe people affected by poor mental health and illness deserve the highest quality of support in the community and that every person has the right to be valued and to share in the opportunities, challenges, and joys of everyday life.

Creating Hope Together

Creating Hope Together is Scotland's suicide prevention strategy and action plan (2022–2032), published by the Scottish Government and COSLA. Its vision is to reduce the number of suicide deaths in Scotland while tackling the inequalities that contribute to suicide, so that any child, young person or adult who has thoughts of taking their own life, or who is affected by suicide, gets the help they need and feels a sense of hope.

All of the work is delivered in line with the strategy's guiding principles: putting inequalities and diversity first; co-developing our work with people with lived and living experience; embedding Time, Space, Compassion; keeping the voices of children and young people central; connecting people across sectors to learn together; reducing the stigma of suicide; and ensuring our work is evidence-informed.

The role

This is a new role, hosted by Change Mental Health on behalf of Suicide Prevention Scotland, created to support delivery of Outcome 3 of Creating Hope Together: that everyone affected by suicide is able to access high quality, compassionate, appropriate and timely support.

The postholder will work alongside colleagues in the delivery collective - primarily the Time Space Compassion (TSC) Lead and the Children and Young People (CYP) Lead - to support delivery of a range of actions across the Delivery Plan. In practice this means helping partners in community, primary care, unscheduled care and mental health settings to put person-centred, compassionate approaches into everyday practice; growing the reach of Time, Space, Compassion across Scotland; and strengthening support for children and young people at higher risk of suicide.

The role focuses on enabling practical change in real-world settings through strong partnerships, effective communication, and the thoughtful use of learning and evidence to support continuous improvement. It sits within a small, collaborative team and works across a wide network of national and local partners, including NHS Boards, local authorities, third sector organisations, the Lived and Living Experience Panel (LLEP) and the Youth Advisory Group (YAG).

About us

Uplift supports efforts to create a rapid and fair transition away from oil and gas production in the UK.

We urgently need to phase out oil and gas drilling to stay within safe climate limits. Yet, despite having renewable resources in abundance, the UK remains Europe’s second largest oil and gas producer.

We can and must be ambitious about moving past oil and gas production, while empowering and supporting workers and communities who rely on the industry for their livelihoods.

Working with everyone from policy-makers and Parliamentarians, to academics and campaigners, Uplift undertakes research, analysis and campaigning to support a rapid and fair transition away from oil and gas production in the UK.

Role summary

As one of Uplift’s Political Advisers, you will play a central role in building political support for a fair transition away from oil and gas extraction in the UK. Your role will sit within Uplift’s Politics Team and support the Senior Political Adviser (Scotland) to create political impact for Uplift in Scotland.

This role will involve working closely within political networks across Holyrood and occasionally also at Westminster. You will be a skilled communicator able to support the implementation of Uplift's political strategy, and use your initiative and political instincts to further the political debate on phasing out fossil fuels and securing a fair transition for workers and communities in Scotland.

The Market Building Manager (Engagement), based within the Market Building team, plays a key role in connecting organisations with SIS and the support they need to grow and thrive.

The role builds and manages relationships with customers, partners and stakeholders through the delivery of SIS Funding Socials and Growth Funding Surgery events, while coordinating tailored business support for social enterprises through SIS’s network of expert Business Associates