We’re Scotland’s national human rights institution, promoting and protecting human rights in Scotland.

This key post provides a bridge between people’s lived experience of human rights and human rights legal, policy and project work. The role involves working alongside a Lived Experience Leadership Group of people from diverse backgrounds, supporting people’s participation in a range of human rights policy processes and projects, and delivering outreach to raise awareness of human rights more generally.

We’re Scotland’s national human rights institution, promoting and protecting human rights in Scotland.

This key post delivers legal advisory and legal policy work, and develops the Commission’s work in relation to use of its statutory legal functions. The role involves providing human rights legal analysis, engaging with stakeholders and ensuring that the Commission’s work is informed by high quality advice on human rights law, the law of Scotland and is compliant with the Scottish Commission for Human Rights Act 2006, the UN “Paris Principles” and international best practice.

Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP) is a pioneering, internationally-praised collaboration, designed to improve how international human rights are implemented in practice in Scotland.

This strategic development role will be responsible for establishing and leading a new independent Secretariat for SNAP, setting it on a sustainable and effective footing with strong governance and effective ways of working.

Working closely with people affected by human rights issues and senior leaders from government, the public sector and civil society, the role will also coordinate collective work to develop, refine, prioritise and begin to implement SNAP actions.

The role is funded by the Scottish Government for an initial period of 9 months, with the possibility of extension. The role is currently employed and hosted by the Scottish Human Rights Commission. This is an interim arrangement for the duration of the initial contract.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission’s role is to promote widespread awareness, understanding of, and respect for human rights.

We are looking for a talented individual to be the next full-time Chair of the Commission. You will have a proven track record of promoting human rights and significant experience of leading an organisation and delivering results.

The appointment is for a fixed term of 6 years. The salary scale is £72483 - £ 86928

The Commission is based in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is an independent public body, accountable to the people of Scotland through the Scottish Parliament.

The Commission acts as a bridge between human rights in Scotland and the international human rights system. It monitors the implementation of international human rights treaties in Scotland, working closely with civil society to gather evidence and produce recommendations for change.

It also acts as a bridge between civil society and the state, working with both to progress understanding, awareness and respect for human rights.

The Commission has a general duty to promote awareness, understanding and respect for all human rights – economic, social, cultural, civil and political – to everyone, everywhere in Scotland, and to encourage best practice in relation to human rights.

The Commission fulfils this duty through education, training, guidance, publications, awareness-raising and research, and by recommending appropriate changes to Scottish law, policy and practice.

The Commission promotes and protects the human rights guaranteed by all the international conventions ratified by the UK.

The Commission also has the powers to:

• Conduct inquiries into the policies or practices of Scottish public authorities.
• Enter some places of detention as part of an inquiry; and
• Intervene in civil court cases where relevant to the promotion of human rights and where the case appears to raise a matter of public interest.

The Commission has undergone several changes recently, including the appointment of a new full-time Chair of the Commission who sits alongside four other part-time Commissioners. An organisational restructure has taken place which has resulted in the Commissioners seeking to appoint three new senior roles to lead the organisation into the future. They are an Executive Director who will lead the Executive Team, a Head of Commission Secretariat and Business Support and a Head of Communications and Engagement. They will be charged with instigating a programme of cultural change and driving the mission, vision, ambition and strategy forward.

The team leader roles report to the Executive Director and we are looking to recruit to two of these roles:

The role of the Head of Communications and Engagement has been updated to include a strong emphasis on engagement, which reflects the Commissioner’s determination to raise the profile of the Commission and its work, with a particular emphasis on engaging groups and individuals whose rights have been undermined or are under threat. You will be responsible for developing and delivering a communications strategy that prioritises growing and deepening the knowledge and understanding of Scotland’s citizens about their human rights and which will place specific emphasis on the Commission’s identification of and working alongside marginalised people and groups.

This role requires significant high-level experience of a range of communication and engagement methods. You will bring confidence, excellent presentational skills and abilities to represent the Commission to a range of stakeholders. With a largely new team of Commissioners and a new Executive Director, you will develop and support the confidence and expertise of the Commission’s representatives to engage proactively and confidently with a wide range of stakeholders, especially those with lived experience of their rights being under threat, by introducing and using a range of appropriate media and approaches.

This role offers challenging but exceptional opportunities to use and develop your senior leadership skills and capabilities within a unique organisation driven by a values-led vision of a Scotland which will take action to support the human rights of every citizen. Each role offers a high profile and a fantastic career opportunity with an excellent salary, pension and benefits.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is an independent public body, accountable to the people of Scotland through the Scottish Parliament.

The Commission acts as a bridge between human rights in Scotland and the international human rights system. It monitors the implementation of international human rights treaties in Scotland, working closely with civil society to gather evidence and produce recommendations for change.

It also acts as a bridge between civil society and the state, working with both to progress understanding, awareness and respect for human rights.

The Commission has a general duty to promote awareness, understanding and respect for all human rights – economic, social, cultural, civil and political – to everyone, everywhere in Scotland, and to encourage best practice in relation to human rights.

The Commission fulfils this duty through education, training, guidance, publications, awareness-raising and research, and by recommending appropriate changes to Scottish law, policy and practice.

The Commission promotes and protects the human rights guaranteed by all the international conventions ratified by the UK.

The Commission also has the powers to:

• Conduct inquiries into the policies or practices of Scottish public authorities.
• Enter some places of detention as part of an inquiry; and
• Intervene in civil court cases where relevant to the promotion of human rights and where the case appears to raise a matter of public interest.

The Commission has undergone several changes recently, including the appointment of a new full-time Chair of the Commission who sits alongside four other part-time Commissioners. An organisational restructure has taken place which has resulted in the Commissioners seeking to appoint three new senior roles to lead the organisation into the future. They are an Executive Director who will lead the Executive Team, a Head of Commission Secretariat and Business Support and a Head of Communications and Engagement. They will be charged with instigating a programme of cultural change and driving the mission, vision, ambition and strategy forward.

The team leader roles report to the Executive Director and we are looking to recruit to two of these roles: The role of Head of Commission Secretariat and Business Support is a new role and will play a pivotal part in working closely with the Commissioners and staff team to develop, recalibrate and introduce appropriate and ambitious management approaches to ensure that the Commission is accountable and responsible for the full range of its strategic and operational functions. Taking responsibility for the identification and implementation of appropriate performance management, monitoring and reporting arrangements, your leadership role will enable the Commissioners to focus on achieving the vision, purpose and strategy of the Commission.

Your role at the heart of the organisation will require the development of strong relationships within the staff team to plan, prioritise and deliver a busy and productive schedule of monthly meetings of the Commissioners. Your contribution will enable the Commission to align the delivery of its strategy with clear organisational and operational goals and objectives. You will have a deep understanding of managing and mitigating strategic and operational risks, together with experience of providing and managing the high quality financial and operational requirements of a national public sector organisation.

This roles offers challenging but exceptional opportunities to use and develop your senior leadership skills and capabilities within a unique organisation driven by a values-led vision of a Scotland which will take action to support the human rights of every citizen. Each role offers a high profile and a fantastic career opportunity with an excellent salary, pension and benefits.