Do you want to make a difference to people experiencing poverty and trauma?

The Robertson Trust is the largest independent grant making trust in Scotland, providing financial and other types of support to charities and individuals. It was established in 1961 when sisters Elspeth, Agnes and Ethel Robertson gave shares in their family whisky businesses to the Trust to use income from those businesses for charitable purposes.

The Trust has a clear vision; a fair and compassionate Scotland where everyone is valued and able to flourish. Through funding and supporting organisations, The Robertson Trust works to alleviate poverty and trauma in Scotland through short- and long-term projects. They also use their research, knowledge and networks to inform, support, champion and inspire the third sector across the country with the aim of delivering service and system change.

The dedicated team is led by a new CEO, Jim McCormick, and have recently launched a 2020-2030 strategy; it is an exciting time to be involved with an ambitious organisation which is not afraid to take on difficult issues and will take risks in pursuit of positive change.

The Robertson Trust are now looking to appoint three new Trustees to their board. One Board member will have the skills and experience to chair the Audit and Risk Committee and the two other new recruits will have personal and/or professional experience of supporting people and places affected by poverty and trauma. Applicants will, ideally, show a working knowledge of community development, system change, social change, funders and the charity sector. No previous board experience is required, and the Trust are looking for candidates to bring a diversity of thought, experience and background.

The Robertson Trust is one of the leading grant-making charitable trusts in Scotland. Our aim as an organisation is a fair and compassionate Scotland where everyone is valued and able to flourish. Our new strategy is to work with others, using all of our tools and resources, to improve the wellbeing of people affected by poverty and trauma. The Trust awards each year, around £20 million in grants to Scottish charities and financial support to students in further and higher education supported by our Scholarship team.

The Robertson Trust is now recruiting a Scholarship Administrator to assist the Scholarship team, in all aspects of their role, in the delivery of our Journey to Success Scholarship Programme. The key focus of the role is assisting with the provision of information, support and guidance to students throughout their journey into and through university. We welcome applications from individuals who would enjoy being part of an enthusiastic team dedicated to improving the life chances of young Scottish undergraduates and who may have experience of working with students.

The successful candidate should be committed to supporting Scholars on various aspects of their academic journey and experience of working with students in further and higher education is desirable.

As a member of the Trust’s Scholarship Team, you will assist with:

• The first point of contact for daily queries; monitoring scholar inbox and allocating support requests to the relevant team member

• Reporting on Scholar activity, often working to tight timeframes

• Support the communication of upcoming events and news via email

• Create accurate records of Scholar activity, using Salesforce

• Assist in providing online delivery support including managing bookings, resources and surveys

• Contribute to the annual selection of candidates for Scholarship

• Assist in the organisation and delivery of the Welcome Weekend

• Support the administration of internship opportunities

• Support the administration of volunteering opportunities for 2nd and 3rd year Scholars

• Support the administration of our Alumni Network

• Assist in the evaluation of all training and development projects undertaken

• Assist in providing annual updates on fair access and academic progression rates

• Highlight any changes required to the Programme

• Provide any other adhoc duties as required, assisting the smooth running of the Scholarship Programme

Benefits

• £25,345 - £30,413

• 35 days holiday per calendar year, inclusive of public holidays

• Pension - 10% employer contribution or 14% if employee contribution is 7%

• Death in Service 4 x salary or 8 x salary if employee contribution to pension

• Private healthcare

• Annual Travel Pass Loan

The Each and Every Child initiative is a new programme of work which aims to tell a compelling story about children and young people in the care system, transforming the current public narrative and mobilising people at all levels in the community to take action to improve their life chances. Informed by robust research and the established practice of ‘reframing’, the initiative aims to:

• shift public attitudes towards children, young people and their families who are in and around the care system to build improved support for progressive policy and practice implementation

• engage and inform professionals in the sectors working with children, young people and their families around their communications to strengthen their practice and impact

• support and equip people with experience of care to be at the heart of efforts to develop more consistent and effective communication to mobilise people in communities to take action to improve the life chances of children and young people

The Each and Every Child Initiative is a partnership initiative between CELCIS, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Life Changes Trust, The Robertson Trust, Scottish Government and Social Work Scotland. The initiative is hosted by The Robertson Trust.

The Robertson Trust is the largest independent grant-making trust in Scotland with the vision of a fair and compassionate Scotland where everyone is valued and able to flourish. The Trust has recently launched a new 10-year strategy which will focus on helping improve the lives of people and communities with experience of poverty, trauma or both.

We are recruiting for a part-time Administrator for the Each and Every Child initiative on a fixed term contract until January 2024.

The Role

• Assist the Each and Every Child team in the delivery of the initiative

• Provide administrative support in all aspects of the initiative, ensuring the smooth running of all activities

• Assist with the organisation and evaluation of framing sessions (both virtually and in person)

• Ensure all processes are followed and all programme information is collated and stored appropriately

The Individual

• Highly organised team-player with ability to manage workload including multiple priorities

• Strong communicator with attention to detail

• Competent with Microsoft Office and good understanding of GDPR

Benefits

• 35 days holiday per calendar year (FTE), inclusive of public holidays

• Pension - 10% employer contribution or 14% if employee contribution is 7%

• Death in Service 4 x salary or 8 x salary if employee contribution to pension

• Single-member health insurance

• Annual Travel Pass Loan

• Employee Assistance Programme

The Robertson Trust are looking for two Learning Officers to help us to make a real difference to reducing poverty and trauma in Scotland.

The Robertson Trust is one of the largest independent funders in Scotland. Our vision is for a fair and compassionate Scotland where everyone is valued and able to flourish. Over the next decade, we will use all of our tools and resources to work with others to reduce poverty and trauma. We are driving our work through four themes:

• Education pathways
• Emotional wellbeing and relationships
• Financial security
• Work pathways

The Learning and Communications Team supports all of The Robertson Trust’s teams to generate insights into ways of tackling and preventing poverty and trauma and understanding the differences that we help to make happen. We support the work of colleagues across The Trust, share insights internally and externally to support our continuous improvement, and to influence the work of others.

We are looking for two people to join our Learning and Communications Team as Learning Officers to help us.

The role

The Learning Officers will support with the creation, use and sharing of key insights both internally and externally. Your key responsibilities will include:

• Help develop and sustain in-depth understanding of the views and needs of people with experience of poverty and trauma, and of relevant evidence, policy and practice.
• Provide learning, communications and advocacy support to teams across the Trust.
• Support communications and advocacy work across The Robertson Trust.
• Help to understand our contribution to making change happen.

A full job description is available on our website.

The person

We are looking for someone with relevant experience in research and evaluation, who will embody the values of The Trust.

You should have a passion for tackling poverty and trauma, an understanding of the causes and impacts of poverty and trauma for individuals, families, and communities and ideally some understanding of one or more of our themes.

You must have a keen interest for increasing participation and finding appropriate ways to amplify the voice of those with experience of poverty and trauma in the work that we do.

You should feel confident working collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation so that we can create a shared ownership of learning and communications.

Benefits

• Salary £31,842
• 35 days holiday per calendar year, inclusive of public holidays
• Pension - 10% employer contribution or 14% if employee contribution is 7%
• Private healthcare
• Annual Travel Pass Loan
• Employee Assistance Programme

The Robertson Trust is testing approaches to hybrid working. Applications for flexible working will be considered.

The Robertson Trust are looking for two Programme and Practice Officers to help us to make a real difference to reducing poverty and trauma in Scotland. If you would like to be part of one of Scotland’s biggest independent funders, with the clear aim of tackling poverty and trauma, this role could be for you.

We want to see a Scotland where everyone is valued and able to flourish. Over the next decade, we have committed to use all of our tools and resources to work with others to reduce poverty and trauma across four themes:

• Education pathways

• Emotional wellbeing and relationships

• Financial security

• Work pathways

The Programme and Practice team work collaboratively with internal colleagues and a range of external stakeholders to drive ‘big change that lasts’ on poverty and trauma. We work to develop and deliver our proactive funding strategy within the four thematic areas above. In doing so, the team will help to shape the Trust’s influencing work and build our subject and policy expertise across our thematic areas.

Key to our approach will be building relationships with our colleagues, our grantholders and with external organisations and expertise. Crucially, this will include a commitment to placing people with experience of poverty and trauma at the heart of our work.

We are looking for two people to join our Programme and Practice Team as Programme and Practice Officers - one role is permanent and one role is fixed term maternity cover until July 2023.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Helping to develop and deliver the Trust’s proactive funding plans (our Programme Awards) including learning from what we fund now to shape our plans to do so in the future

• Supporting and enabling collaboration across the Trust’s full staff team in relation to our thematic areas across our work to fund, support and influence.

• Building the Trust’s relationships and connections with diverse stakeholders in our thematic areas, placing people and families with experience of poverty and/or trauma at the heart of our work

• Helping the Trust build its subject and policy expertise in our thematic areas

• Helping to shape the Trust’s plans around influencing and delivering social change

A full job description is available on our website.https://www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/about-us/job-vacancies/

The Robertson Trust are looking for a Fixed Term Scholar Development Officer to help us make a real difference to reducing poverty and trauma in Scotland. If you would like to be part of one of Scotland’s biggest independent funders, with the clear aim of tackling poverty and trauma, this role could be for you.

We want to see a Scotland where everyone is valued and able to flourish. Over the next decade, we have committed to use all of our tools and resources to work with others to reduce poverty and trauma across four themes:

• Education pathways

• Emotional wellbeing and relationships

• Financial security

• Work pathways

The Scholar Development Officer will have current experience of working with students in further and/or higher education to assist in the delivery of our Journey to Success (JtS) Scholarship Programme with a particular emphasis on career pathways to graduate employment and alumni engagement.

The key focus of the role is on planning, developing, and coordinating a structured series of activities to engage young people from underrepresented groups in higher education. This involves organising and delivering interventions to address various aspects of social mobility, diversity and inclusion, working in a collaborative environment and developing strong partnerships with key stakeholders.

Key responsibilities:

• Working as part of a team to organise and deliver interventions that address the challenges faced by underrepresented groups at university through facilitated group work and events.

• Building a network of Scholars and Alumni through co-produced events.

• Designing and delivering a suite of training activities (online and in person) to build careers related confidence and awareness.

• Assisting in the delivery of a range of targeted employability projects such as the Career Pathways and Summer Internship schemes.

• Contributing to the review and assessment of applications to the programme.

• Responding to Scholar Progress Reports before following up with support as required.

• Assisting in the evaluation of all training and development projects undertaken.

• Maintaining accurate records to support effective targeting, monitoring, and evaluation.

• Interpreting patterns and trends to support informed decision making and to improve and develop programmes and activities for Scholars and Alumni.

• Providing annual updates on fair access and academic progression rates.

• Identifying any opportunities and improvements to the JtS programme.

• Assist in the organisation and delivery of the residential induction weekend.

• Assist in any other duties required for the smooth running of the whole Scholarship Programme.

The role is fixed term for 18-months. A full job description is available on our website.

The Person

We are looking for someone with a relevant qualification at HNC or above and/or with current experience of working with students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, in further and/or higher education. You should understand issues surrounding widening participation and social mobility in a university environment with experience of facilitating, developing, and delivering engaging training sessions and events aimed at young people. You should have high emotional intelligence with the ability to form collaborative relationships with many different types of people both internally and externally, building and maintaining active networks to successfully deliver project aims. It is essential to have a commitment to co-production methods and collaborative approaches to working.

We are an Equal Opportunities employer. We want to encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds to work with us. We believe that greater diversity of experience, skills and ways of thinking will challenge our thinking and practice on poverty and trauma and broaden our collective knowledge and networks. We encourage applications from suitably qualified candidates from all parts of the community, regardless of age, disability, race, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief or socio-economic background. We also encourage applications from those with experience or knowledge of how poverty or trauma impact on people’s lives.

Benefits

• Salary £31,842 FTE

• 35 days holiday per calendar year, inclusive of public holidays

• Pension - 10% employer contribution or 14% if employee contribution is 7%

• Private health insurance

• Annual Travel Pass Loan

• Employee Assistance Programme

The Robertson Trust is testing approaches to hybrid working. Applications for flexible working will be considered from day-one of employment.

We are a Living Wage employer accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.

Each and Every Child and The Robertson Trust are looking for a Practice & Participation Coordinator to join our team. The Each and Every Child initiative is a programme of work which aims to tell a compelling story about children and young people in the care system, transforming the current public narrative and mobilising people at all levels in the community to take action to improve their life chances. Informed by robust research and the established practice of ‘reframing’, the initiative aims to:

• shift public attitudes towards children, young people and their families who are in and around the care system to build improved support for progressive policy and practice implementation
• engage and inform professionals in the sectors working with children, young people and their families around their communications to strengthen their practice and impact
• support and equip people with experience of care to be at the heart of efforts to develop more consistent and effective communication to mobilise people in communities to take action to improve the life chances of children and young people

The Each and Every Child Initiative is a partnership initiative between CELCIS, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Life Changes Trust, The Robertson Trust, Scottish Government and Social Work Scotland. The initiative is hosted by The Robertson Trust.

For more information on Each and Every Child please visit our website: Each & Every Child | Help reframe the system. (eachandeverychild.co.uk).

With this role we are actively seeking to appointment a person with lived experience of care to support our work by

• Supporting the development and expansion of Voices of Experience to include more diversity of care experience and involvement of people with lived experience in service re-design
• Work with key partners across the sector to embed framing care recommendations within practice particularly focussing on report writing and life story work
• Support and assist the Programme Director and Programme Officer with project delivery and development of the initiative

Lived experience of care can be anyone who has been in care, regardless of length of time, in any of the following settings:

• Kinship Care
• Looked after at Home
• Residential Care
• Foster Care
• Secure Care
• Adoption

The role is fixed term for 2 years and is funded through The Promise Partnership. A full job description and person specification is available on our website.

Benefits

• Salary £31,842 FTE
• 35 days holiday per calendar year, inclusive of public holidays
• Pension - 10% employer contribution or 14% if employee contribution is 7%
• Private health insurance
• Annual Travel Pass Loan
• Employee Assistance Programme

The Robertson Trust is testing approaches to hybrid working. Applications for flexible working will be considered from day-one of employment.

We are a Living Wage employer accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.