Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our strategic vision is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland.

At the heart of Who Cares? Scotland’s work are the rights of Care Experienced people, and the power of their voices to bring about positive change.

We provide individual lifelong relationship-based independent advocacy and a broad range of imaginative participatory and engagement opportunities for Care Experienced people across Scotland. We work alongside Corporate Parents and communities to broaden understanding and create change. We work with policy makers, leaders, and elected representatives locally and nationally to shape law, policy, and practice, working together to build on the aspirations of The Promiseand secure positive change.

As a project, Communities that Care works to create a world where Care Experienced children, young people, and adults are known, understood, welcomed, celebrated, and loved. The aim of the Communities that Care Team is to educate the public about the reality of care (as told to us by Care Experienced people), challenge stigma around care experience, and create the conditions for children, young people, and adults with care experience to thrive.

We are seeking a passionate and talented communicator to join our Communities that Care Team as a Development Officer. Working to shape, deliver, and evaluate our work in schools nationwide, with a particular focus in Edinburgh, you will provide training and support to educational establishments and organisations. You will also lead on the local participation offer for Care Experienced people within Edinburgh; supporting, developing and facilitating our current group and considering how we grow its reach within the local authority.

You will be welcomed into the team and expected to play a key role in supporting the delivery of our wider Communities that Care work, including Care Aware workforce training to employers and organisations.

As an individual with a background working with children and young people, you are adept at creating and delivering learning, teaching, and project plans, with experience providing dynamic training to a range of audiences. Confident writing reports and evidencing practice and impact, you have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the ability to develop strong professional relationships. Committed to child and human rights, working inclusively, and with the belief that young people can make transformative change in their lives, you understand how structural barriers, social oppression/liberation and intersectionality shape our world. With a deep knowledge and desire to learn about the issues affecting Care Experienced people, you are keen to help create meaningful positive change, challenge stigma, and to keep The Promise.

There is an expectation that the postholder will have a regular presence within the Edinburgh office to connect with the wider team, and across Edinburgh. Home working is offered as part of our commitment to flexible working and wider travel across Scotland will be necessary. Given the remit of the role and the expectation that team members contribute to our diverse programme of local and national participation groups, some evening and weekend work, including overnight stays, will be required. The role also requires a driving licence and access to a car for business use.

The successful candidate will be joining Who Cares? Scotland at an exciting time, when the voices of those who are in or have experienced care are growing in power, individually and collectively – bringing with them insight, challenge, hope and change. While we would welcome the knowledge gathered through relevant qualifications, we are just as interested in relevant work experience. We welcome and encourage applications from those with experience of care.

If this sounds like the role for you, we would love to hear from you. For an informal conversation about this opportunity please contact Donna Nicholas at dnicholas@whocaresscotland.org.

The postholder will be expected to operate in line with our values which are: Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion.

Overview:

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.

The Childcare Connector 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 Edinburgh service, including proactively supporting single parents to find, secure and access flexible childcare that meets their needs, allowing single parents to progress within their current employment, enter employment or enrol in education or training.

The role will include direct work with single parents to understand their needs, their current childcare limitations, and their current barriers to work, education or training. Liaising with childcare providers within Edinburgh, helping single parents access flexible childcare options and know and understand flexible payment options at local and national level is a key element of this role.

This role will include networking and events to promote the Childcare Connector service and will include outreach work with single parents, stakeholders, and partners in and around Edinburgh.

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 Aberlour …

Aberlour is Scotland’s leading children’s charity and has been recognised as a Top 100 best places to work winner by the Sunday Times.

Our strategy is to be bold and brave, to ensure that every child in Scotland has an equal chance. As an organisation we are ambitious to deliver real and lasting change for children, young people and families. At Aberlour we strive to deliver the highest quality care and support to babies, children and families across Scotland and are committed to doing all we can to deliver on Scotland’s Policy aspirations (The Promise, UNCRC).

We have a number of services across Scotland offering residential and short breaks support for children and families affected by disability. We believe children and young people with disabilities, together with their families, should receive care that treats them fairly and values their needs.

What we are looking for...

You will play a key role in this new post supporting the development of Aberlour’s strategic approach to disability practice and continuous improvement.

You will use your extensive knowledge gained from managing disability services to support managers to implement consistent standards of practice ensuring statutory obligations are met. You will use data and insights to review the quality of service delivery and make recommendations for improvements.

The post will build Aberlour’s organisational capacity to be a leading children’s organisation in relation to disability, improving quality of care, reducing risk and supporting sustainable service growth.

Your experiences in management, coaching and mentoring others and overseeing quality assurance will enable you to give guidance and direction to operational managers.

You will have knowledge of disability legislation, children’s rights, safeguarding and equality. You will hold a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 9 or above.

To find out more about the requirements of the role check out our jobs page on our website.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team, 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, life assurance worth 3x salary and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers.