Student Opportunities Officer (Societies)
- Full time
- £23,836 – £26,696
- Edinburgh
- Closing 4th February 2024
- Advertised from 15th January 2024
- 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday.
Role
Edinburgh University Students' Association is looking to recruit a Student Opportunities Officer (Societies) to join our Student Opportunities team.
Edinburgh University Students’ Association is an award-winning organisation, which exists to provide diverse services, representation, and welfare support to the community of over 49,500 students at the University of Edinburgh. By providing opportunities, helping to create change and offering support, we're here to help students get the most out of their time in Edinburgh.
We are a registered charity and all of the income we generate from our commercial activity goes back in to supporting our members. We’re also an organisation with a strategic commitment to support and empower all our staff, and have some exciting plans for the future. There's never been a better time to apply and join our organisation.
We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons. Edinburgh University Students’ Association is committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment and encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination.
The Student Opportunities team supports over 300 student-led societies; encourages a range of volunteering opportunities for students to participate in; and manages the Peer Learning and Support programme across the University.
The Student Opportunities Officer (Societies) supports the Students’ Association’s work to empower student leaders and groups to deliver engaging and inclusive activities for all students at the University of Edinburgh.
As one of the key staff contacts for over 300 student-led societies, they are involved in volunteer recruitment, induction, and training, as well as the strategic development of the groups, ensuring as many students as possible have access to and a positive experience of these opportunities.
Salary: £23,836 - £26,696 (Band C) (subject to review from 1st April)
In line with our Pay Policy, the successful candidate will typically be offered the lowest salary band point, dependent on experience.
Plus a generous benefits package:
- 35 days per year holiday entitlement
- Company pension with 14.5% employer contribution
- Enhanced company sick pay, leave and loan policies
- A comprehensive package of support via our Employee Assistance Programme
- Access to money saving discounts from hundreds of retailers via our Sodexo Discounts Hub
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Discounts on food and drink across the University Campus, among others
Hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday
Contract: Permanent
The Role:
The Student Opportunities Officer (Societies) supports the Students’ Association’s work to empower student leaders and groups to deliver engaging and inclusive activities for all students at the University of Edinburgh.
As one of the key staff contacts for over 300 student-led societies, you will be involved in volunteer recruitment, induction, and training, as well as the strategic development of the groups, ensuring as many students as possible have access to, and a positive experience of, these opportunities.
To support this work, the Student Opportunities Officer (Societies) must maintain a large network of student and staff contacts across the Students’ Association, be confident at engaging in stakeholder management, and have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
The Person:
We’re looking for someone with a genuine passion for student-led groups, to join our tight-knit team, committed to empowering our members to make the most of their time at the University through extracurricular opportunities.
If you can work in partnership with our incredible volunteer student leaders to not only ensure their groups are running smoothly, but also help develop and enhance our support for them based on student feedback and robust evaluation, then this could be the role for you.
You’ll need to be unphased by big spreadsheets or a busy inbox, and able to take initiative when faced with tricky situations, but you’ll always have the support of colleagues within the team and beyond.
Application notes
For further information and to apply, please visit our website.
Downloads
sparqs is a charity funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), working with Scotland's university and college sectors. Our purpose is to ensure students are partners in shaping the quality of learning, making positive change to their own and others’ experience, however and wherever they learn. It aims to foster a culture of partnership between students and staff which enables the Scottish education sector to respond to challenges and realize its ambitions to provide the best possible experience for each and every student.
Volunteer Chair of Trustee Board
We are looking for a chair of Trustees who will lead our Board with integrity, insight and enthusiasm. This is an opportunity to guide a highly-regarded charity into its next exciting chapter.
As our new Chair you will have:
- Experience of being a strategic leader, including experience of working with a board either as a CEO/Director reporting to board, or as a board member/chair.
- Commitment and enthusiasm to the work of sparqs in terms of a student-led approach, role of student engagement in quality enhancement and value of partnership approaches.
- Ability to represent and promote the organisation publicly, acting as an ambassador and networker to further the attainment of organisational aims.
- Ability to influence, at a senior level, partner, and other stakeholder organisations particularly in the Scottish post-16 education sector.
- Commitment to the positive value of diversity, promoting equality and challenging discrimination and willingness to play an active role in creating an environment that promotes these values.
If you believe you have the experience and qualities we are seeking to contribute to this important organisation, we very much look forward to hearing from you. Working in a diverse sector and with diverse students, we are keen to receive applications from people of all backgrounds and with all different kinds of life experiences.
Top job! Director
- Full time or Part time
- £45,000 – £48,000
- Hybrid: Edinburgh
- Closing 19th January 2026
Firefly International was founded 30 years ago as a children’s arts project using creativity and collaboration to overcome the deep wounds of civil war in Bosnia. Since then Firefly has grown to support children in other parts of the world affected by war and its aftermath.
Firefly International, now working with local partners to support Bosnian, Syrian and Palestinian children and young people, is looking for a new Director to lead the charity. This is an exciting opportunity to help Firefly realise its ambitions to support its partners to extend and develop their programmes and to secure their sustainability.
Organisation Profile
Firefly International was established as an arts-based playgroup, as civil war was coming to an end in Bosnia, to bring Bosnia’s Croat, Serb and Muslim children together. The founder, Ellie Maxwell, was a student at the University of Edinburgh at the time. Firefly still works in Bosnia, supporting its locally registered partner, Svitac (Firefly in local language) which is based in Brcko in the north-east, where the population is divided between the three ethnicities. It runs daily classes for pre-school children, outreach sessions with high schools and a youth group for the 16+ age group. All activities aim to build tolerance between different ethnicities and tackle the ignorance that fuels hatred and fear.
Since 2016 it has also been working with a Syrian partner organisation, delivering trauma-informed education. Initially it was working just in the Syrian refugee communities in Turkey. Later, it began work in northern Syria and more recently it has begun teaching in and around Latakia in western Syria. This is the largest of our three programme areas and the one with the most pressing demands for expansion, in response to the gaps in education in Syria today.
Until 7th October 2023 we partnered with a child mental health centre in Gaza. We have had to close the centre but aim to return to Gaza when we can. Meantime, we partner with an Egyptian group who help child medical evacuees from Gaza with therapeutic and educational activities.
Firefly is a long-established charity, small but with a long reach and ambitious goals. It is distinctive in its stated aim of remaining with its partners for as long as it is needed and useful. It encourages the development of projects by local staff in response to local needs. Its income and scope have grown considerably in recent years. It is driven by the need to be as effective as it can be, supporting partners in their aspirations for the children and young people of their own communities.
The Role
The Director is one of a team of three, the other team members being the Projects Director and the Finance & Admin Manager (both part time). There may be capacity to recruit a fourth, dependent on funding. There is an active Board of Trustees. The Director reports to the Chair who is Edinburgh-based. The Director has prime responsibility (supported by Trustees) for ensuring that the charity can raise sufficient funds to meet the funding needs of its partners in Bosnia and Syria and its own in Edinburgh. The Director will play an important role in working with the Trustees to develop and then implement Firefly’s strategy for 2026/2027 to 2029/2030. There is also the ambassadorial aspect of representing Firefly in public fora and highlighting the long-lasting impact of war on children.
Project Workers
- Full time or Part time
- Sessional
- On site: Edinburgh sites (St Margarets House and Links House)
- Closing 19th December 2025
We are currently recruiting Project Workers to work within our Edinburgh services. You will be joining our dedicated team supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism to reach their individual goals and ambitions.
Rate:£12.60 per hour
Working Hours: 10:00 – 16:00, Monday – Friday, with full time hours at 30 per week
Contract Type:Permanent, Full Time & Part Time: we’d love to hear from all applicants interested in part time or full time work, however we won’t be able to consider applicants looking to work less than 2 days per week.
Holiday:30 days pro rata, enhanced at 3 years’ service by an additional day (pro rata) per year thereafter, up to a maximum of 5 days. Upmo regularly closes during the Christmas/New Year period.
About the role
As a Project Worker, you will be part of an enthusiastic and creative team who provide daily support to adults with learning disabilities and autism as they participate in workshop activities of their choosing within our site-based services, and café sites.
This role includes supporting students on a 1:1 basis, facilitating workshops, and supporting people with personal care tasks throughout the day such as assistance with eating and drinking, toileting needs, and other private hygiene needs.
For this vacancy, we are particularly interested in hearing from individuals with musical and performance skills, but will consider those with all round skills for our services, which run varied workshops throughout the week which involve the following areas: art & crafts, IT, music, drama, dance, cooking, gardening, and outdoor activities.
While previous experience in care or support is highly advantageous, it is not required as we provide full training and ongoing support to our staff team.
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Youth Practitioner
- Part time
- £26,865 pro-rata
- Hybrid: based at HMP & YOI Polmont, with some hours home based
- Closing 12th January 2026
Unique Opportunity: Youth Practitioner at Paws for Progress
Do you love dogs? Are you passionate about helping young people thrive? Do you believe in the power of human-animal interactions to create meaningful change?
Paws for Progress is seeking a Youth Practitioner to join our expert team, delivering our rescue dog training programme at HMP & YOI Polmont. This is a unique, hands-on role combining practical work with dogs and educational support for young people aged 18–23. You’ll help both students and dogs grow, learn, and succeed in a positive, inclusive, and trauma-informed environment.
About the Role
As a Youth Practitioner, you will:
- Collect and transport rescue dogs safely to and from Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home and HMP & YOI Polmont (normally twice weekly, with 8am collections)
- Co-deliver practical dog training and educational sessions, supporting students’ personal development and learning
- Monitor and enhance student progress and dog welfare
- Collaborate with Scottish Prison Service staff, partners, and volunteers
- Help create an enjoyable, strengths-based, dog-centred and person-centred learning environment
Please download our Recruitment Pack for the full Job Description and Person Specification.
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