Do you want to make a real difference to people's lives?

CHAP is looking for an Information & Advice Officer to join our growing team and help support people facing some of life's most difficult challenges.

Every day, we work alongside individuals and families experiencing housing difficulties, financial hardship, debt problems and welfare rights issues. We provide free, independent advice, advocacy and representation, helping people understand their rights, access support and overcome barriers.

In 2025 alone, CHAP secured over £4.2 million in financial gains for people across Ayrshire. We are proud of the difference we make, but we know there is more to do.

Demand for our services continues to grow, with increasing numbers of people seeking support with housing, debt and welfare rights issues. These new posts will help us reach more people, earlier, and provide the support they need before problems reach crisis point.

About CHAP

CHAP is an independent charity providing specialist housing, welfare rights and debt advice throughout Ayrshire.

As the only organisation in Ayrshire accredited to deliver Scottish National Standards Type III advice across all three areas, we provide practical support to people facing a wide range of challenges. We help people understand their options, navigate complex systems and access the support they need.

We exist to provide hope and to stand alongside our clients as they deal with some of life's most difficult circumstances.

About the Role

This role involves working directly with individuals and families experiencing a range of housing, welfare rights, and financial issues.

You will:

• Provide information, advice and advocacy to clients.
• Support people to understand their rights, options and available support.
• Work with clients to identify solutions and achieve positive outcomes.
• Represent and negotiate on behalf of clients where appropriate.
• Manage a varied caseload and maintain accurate case records.
• Work closely with partner organisations to ensure clients receive the support they need.
• Contribute to the delivery of a high-quality advice and advocacy service.

This is a rewarding and varied role where no two days are the same. Whether helping someone avoid homelessness, maximise their income, challenge a decision or overcome debt problems, your work will make a genuine difference.

About You

We are looking for people who share our commitment to helping others and who believe everyone deserves access to high-quality advice and support.

You may already have experience in advice work, advocacy, housing, welfare rights, debt advice, employability, social work, community development, support work or similar fields.

Most importantly, you will be someone who:

• Has experience supporting people facing difficult circumstances.
• Can build positive relationships and communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
• Is organised, reliable and able to manage a varied workload.
• Has a genuine desire to help others.
• Is willing to learn and develop new skills.
• Can work independently and as part of a supportive team.

Experience of welfare rights, debt advice, housing advice or advocacy work would be advantageous. However, we are committed to supporting the successful candidates through training, supervision and professional development.

In Return We Offer

• The opportunity to make a genuine difference in people's lives
• A supportive and experienced team environment
• Ongoing training, supervision and professional development.
• The opportunity to develop specialist knowledge and skills within an accredited advice service.

A full driving licence and access to your own vehicle are essential as travel throughout Ayrshire will be required.

About BEACON:

Citizens Advice Edinburgh, Capital City Partnership, Fife Gingerbread, Midlothian Sure Start, Circle, Passion4Fusion, The Poverty Alliance and Glasgow Caledonian University are working in partnership to deliver BEACON, a service designed to tackle the roots cause of poverty experienced by ethnically diverse families.

BEACON — Building Equity, Accessibility and Connecting Opportunities Network — will support 200 ethnically diverse families and up to 600 individuals through a relational, wrap-around whole-family keyworker model.

The project will ensure support is available where and when families need it across the Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland region.

Each partner in the consortium will provide additional capacity and specialist expertise to reach ethnically diverse families and improve engagement and outcomes.

Maximising Income and Reducing Barriers to Employment: Citizens Advice Advisers will provide specialist advice, focused on helping families address financial, welfare rights, debt and immigration-related barriers that can prevent them from stabilising household circumstances and progressing towards longer-term outcomes.

You will provide specialist financial, welfare rights, debt and immigration advice that complements whole family keyworker support. This is targeted at low-income ethnically diverse families, particularly those facing overlapping barriers to poverty reduction and those falling within Scottish child poverty priority family types.

You will support the Advice Service Manager in capacity building, strengthening other organisations and advisers to work more effectively with families facing immigration barriers, including the no recourse to public funds condition. This will involve delivering presentations and creating and updating resources.

The overall role of Citizens Advice therefore strengthens the BEACON model by helping families address immediate financial and advice-related pressures while supporting wider outcomes around stability, wellbeing, income maximisation and progression.

This is an excellent opportunity to join one of the cities leading charities and make a substantial contribution to your local community. Competitive salaries and a 7% Employers Pension Contribution are among the many benefits of joining this fantastic organisation. If you are looking for a new opportunity, full details are included in the role descriptions. For an informal discussion about any of the roles, please contact Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive on 07840770563 or by email at bejaminnapier@cabedinburgh.org.uk

About Thrive Early:

Citizens Advice Scotland, Home-Start UK, and Save the Children UK are working in partnership to deliver Thrive Early, a programme aligned with the Scottish Government's Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

The aim of Thrive Early is to prevent and mitigate the impacts of poverty for families with children under five years of age by providing integrated, whole family support within local communities.

The project addresses the root causes and effects of poverty by improving families' financial wellbeing, emotional resilience, social connections, and access to services. Families receive practical and emotional support from Home-Start, alongside expert financial, welfare, and holistic advice from Citizens Advice. Support is tailored to individual family needs and provided for as long as required.

A key feature of Thrive Early is its commitment to embedding the voices and experiences of families into both service development and wider systems change. This work is led by Save the Children UK, ensuring that lived experience drives continuous improvement and informs national policy and practice.

Job purpose:

The Thrive Early Family Adviser role combines elements of a Generalist Adviser and Caseworker, delivering seamless, holistic support to families in close partnership with Home-Start colleagues and other project partners. The role focuses on building trusted relationships with families who may be experiencing significant barriers to engaging with advice services. Many families supported through Thrive Early may not feel ready or able to access traditional advice channels. As a result, establishing trust, confidence, and sustained engagement is a critical part of the role. Family Advisers work with families over the medium to long term, providing tailored advice, advocacy, and practical support to help them move towards greater financial security and wellbeing. The postholder will also work collaboratively with Save the Children UK to support family participation activities and ensure that lived experience informs service improvement and project learning.

This is an excellent opportunity to join one of the cities leading charities and make a substantial contribution to your local community. Competitive salaries and a 7% Employers Pension Contribution are among the many benefits of joining this fantastic organisation. If you are looking for a new opportunity, full details are included in the role descriptions. For an informal discussion about any of the roles, please contact Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive on 07840770563 or by email at bejaminnapier@cabedinburgh.org.uk

The Organisational Administrator will provide practical administrative support across Citizens Advice Edinburgh, helping to reduce routine operational tasks currently carried out by the Chief Executive and management team. The role will support basic finance processing, manage incoming post and shared email inboxes, facilities administration, data processing and the preparation of accurate minutes and action notes from management meetings. The postholder will help ensure that core administrative systems are reliable, well organised and responsive to the needs of a busy city-wide advice charity.

This is an excellent opportunity to join one of the cities leading charities and make a substantial contribution to your local community. Competitive salaries and a 7% Employers Pension Contribution are among the many benefits of joining this fantastic organisation. If you are looking for a new opportunity, full details are included in the role descriptions. For an informal discussion about any of the roles, please contact Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive on 07840770563 or by email at bejaminnapier@cabedinburgh.org.uk