Established in 1944, One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) is the leading charity working with single parent families in Scotland. We provide expert advice, practical support and campaign with parents to make their voices heard to change the systems, policies and attitudes that disadvantage single parent families. We work alongside single parents and their families, placing them at the centre of everything we do. Creating ways to overcome barriers, changing their lives and

fulfilling their potential. We also celebrate the many achievements of single parents and their children.

Our vision is to see a Scotland where single parent families are celebrated in all their diversity, are treated fairly and live free from discrimination and poverty. Our mission is to amplify the voices of single parent families in their unique role as sole carers and providers and together challenge stigma, poverty and inequality to achieve change.

Our values are trust, equity, justice, collaboration and compassion. These are the principles or standards that we consider important in life. They shape behaviour and guide our decisions and actions.

Our strategic objectives shape and guide all roles at OPFS. They are the pillars that underpin all our work. We all will:

1. Support single parents to build on their strengths and attributes to achieve their goals.
2. Strengthen single parent families’ wellbeing, enabling children to be happy and thrive.
3. Influence policies to eradicate child poverty taking an intersectional, equalities approach to policy making.
4. Involve single parents, experts by experience, to co-produce OPFS services and policy priorities.
5. Challenge societal attitudes and behaviours to fully support and respect single parent families.

About this role

We're looking for an experience Research Officer to join our Policy, Participation and External Relations team. This is an exciting opportunity to drive forward research projects, produce compelling findings, recommendations and high quality impact reports and webinars that bring our findings to life. We're looking for a creative and insightful person who is passionate about creating a Scotland where single parent families can thrive.

For more information, please download the Job Description & Person Specification below.

This is a unique opportunity to influence positive change for blind and partially sighted people across Scotland. You’ll be supporting partnership working with the third sector, government, health and social care and academia through Vision Collaborative Scotland and other joint initiatives. Join Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans to help drive impactful projects, develop your professional network and play a key role in shaping the future of the vision impairment sector.

What does a day in this role look like?

The Strategic Partnership Specialist works closely with the Head of Strategic Partnerships to build and maintain relationships across third sector partners, government, health and social care and academia, to support collaborative projects that improve outcomes for people with vision impairment across Scotland. A typical day may involve co-ordinating Vision Collaborative Scotland activity, engaging with partners, organising meetings and events, undertaking research, preparing reports and presentations, supporting workforce development initiatives, and ensuring partnership actions and projects are delivered effectively and on schedule.

What development opportunities are available within the role?

Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans provide a wide range of training opportunities to support your career development. In this role, you’ll have the chance to support meetings with Scottish Ministers, third sector leaders and academic institutions, while building skills in research policy, programme development, communications and influencing. You will represent the charities at events and get involved in large-scale impactful projects which will shape the future of the vision impairment sector in Scotland.

What is expected of you within this role?

A motivated and organised person, you will work collaboratively with colleagues and partners to build positive relationships, co-ordinate activity and maintain momentum. You will use your great communication skills adaptably, building trust with partners. A self-starter, you’ll be expected to work independently and collaboratively and adopt a solution-focused approach to balancing priorities and outcomes.

Summary of requirements of the role

Essential

• Experience of developing and maintaining effective partnerships and stakeholder relationships.
• Understanding of the vision impairment, sensory impairment or similar sector.
• Experience of coordinating projects or collaborative activity involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience of undertaking research and bringing together information from a range of sources.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage different audiences.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, work collaboratively and deliver activity to agreed timescales.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the charity or voluntary sector.
• Experience of working with Government, public sector, health and social care or academic organisations.
• Experience of policy, workforce development or professional education initiatives.
• Experience of managing website or social media content.

You don’t need to meet every single requirement to be a great candidate. Most people learn parts of the job once they’re in post, so if a role interests you and you believe you could grow into it, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re committed to fair, accessible recruitment. If you need any adjustments, like extra time, a different format, or other support, at any stage of the process, just let us know. Please contact People and Culture on 0131 378 2793 or via peopleandculture@sightscotland.org.uk who can arrange for any support you need.

About us

For more than 230 years we've been supporting and empowering people with sight loss to live fulfilling lives. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, but we want to do more. We will build on our rich history to create an organisation which is prepared for the future, and ready to respond to the needs of people impacted by vision loss.

Our vision is bold. We want to be at the leading edge of positive societal change by:

• Investing our funds in the support that makes the biggest difference
• Putting our community at the heart of what we do
• Campaigning for change
• Accelerating prevention and treatment of eye conditions
• Fostering a collaborative culture of innovation and learning

We're determined that no-one should face sight loss alone. We're committed to improving, diversifying and growing our services to make sure we can reach many more people with sight loss - when and where they need us.

Our organisational values - Transform, Unite and Thrive - underpin all the work we do at Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans.

Benefits

• Generous employee pension scheme
• Learning and Development opportunities
• Employee assistance programme
• Discounted cinema tickets
• Discounts for carers

Join the Scottish Recovery Consortium and Help Shape Recovery Across Scotland

Are you passionate about learning, recovery and the power of lived and living experience to create lasting change?

We're looking for a Recovery Training, Learning & Development Officer to join our team and help design, deliver and evaluate learning opportunities that strengthen recovery communities across Scotland. Working with individuals in recovery, Lived Experience Recovery Organisations, communities and professionals, you'll play a key role in ensuring lived and living experience is recognised, valued and influential at every level.

This is an exciting opportunity to help build recovery learning pathways, support peer-led learning, strengthen participation and contribute to developing recovery-oriented systems that improve lives and communities.

Be part of a team committed to making recovery visible and creating meaningful opportunities for people to learn, grow and lead change.

The role is offered on a fixed-term basis, for a period of 12 months initially.

What you will do

As an employee of the Scottish Recovery Consortium (SRC), the post holder will report directly to the Community Team Manager. Working alongside our Community Team, you will play a key role in developing and delivering high-quality, engaging learning (online and in person) for individuals in recovery, Lived Experience Recovery Organisations (LEROs) and professionals with an interest in recovery and human rights.

The role focuses on:

• Building accessible recovery learning pathways

• Supporting co-production and peer-led learning development

• Promoting peer-led learning initiatives that harness lived and living experience to build confidence, resilience and practical skills, creating a supportive and empowering learning environment

• Ensuring learners receive access to high-quality learning opportunities that strengthen lived and living experience participation in local and national government

• Embedding a robust framework to measure the impact of learning opportunities on recovery outcomes, wellbeing and social inclusion, using data to drive continuous improvement and demonstrate value

What you will bring

• Excellent training facilitation and training delivery skills

• Demonstrable experience in writing training sessions, creating interactive workshops and producing training materials

• Excellent relationship building and communication skills

• Ability to monitor, evaluate and contribute to robust impact measurement

About us

The Scottish Recovery Consortium (SRC) is a national intermediary organisation dedicated to supporting the development, growth and sustainability of recovery in Scotland. We work at individual, community, organisational and policy levels, across communities and prisons, to make recovery visible, and champion lived experience as a driver of change. Through collaboration and co-production, SRC supports the creation and implementation of recovery-oriented systems of care and strategic system change, ensuring recovery is embedded in policy, practice and culture.

We offer a wide range of staff benefits, including flexible working, an Employee Assistance Programme, an excellent pension scheme and 25 days’ paid holiday plus nine public holidays per year.