Outside the Box is looking for a Community Development Adviser to help us develop and expand our work with people and communities.

If you would like to be part of a creative and enterprising community development organisation, working across Scotland and alongside communities and people who want to make a difference, this role could be for you.

Our vision is inclusive and welcoming communities, where people’s contributions are valued, welcomed and supported. We recognise people’s experiences, the barriers and inequalities they face, and work alongside them to identify practical approaches for change that build on people’s skills.

We use a human rights-based approach in all our work to promote respect, dignity and equality. Find out more at otbds.org

Some examples of the work we are currently involved in are

• Working in Clydebank with a Syrian refugee women’s support group.

• Developing peer support for families who are experiencing social isolation or other challenges, including where a parent has mental health problems.

• Working with older people and older people’s groups exploring what equalities and rights look like in everyday lives and communities.

• Borders Buddies supports people to reconnect and return to doing things they enjoyed before but which, due to the pandemic or ill health or other factors they have stopped doing.

• In Moray we are working alongside coastal communities supporting people to get involved in community led activity around their passions and interests.

• Carrying out inclusive evaluations for projects, organisations and community groups that tell people’s stories and show the difference they make to people and communities.

• Developing and taking part in creative community engagement activities and events

Our work is not limited to these topics and all staff contribute to identifying and developing new opportunities.

This post may be covered by the Protection of Vulnerable Groups or Disclosure arrangements. All staff may be required to have PVG clearance at any time, and failure to secure clearance is grounds for dismissal.

Location

We have an office base in Kinning Park Complex in Glasgow. We offer hybrid and home working.

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 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 are a Living Wage employer accredited by the Living Wage Foundation

This is a new post within Outside the Box, as part of developing the organisation and strengthening our overall capacity to achieve our charitable and strategic objective and continue to adapt in the future.

The post is for 2 years. We expect that by the end of that time we will have a clearer understanding of what we need for the future and any future post may have a different focus and remit.

We aim to support and promote equality and diversity and respect each employee as an individual person within our workplace.

We are happy to discuss how people from diverse backgrounds and situations can apply for the post and work with us.

It is important that the person is a member of our staff team, and we are not considering a contract with a fundraiser or similar external arrangement.

About Outside the Box

Outside the Box was established in 2004. We provide development support, shared learning and capacity building for people who want to make changes in their communities.

There is more about what we do on our website: otbds.org

The people, groups and communities with whom we work are mostly those affected by disadvantage or who feel that they do not have a voice. The work we do alongside them focuses on the contributions people make and what can change their situation and/or the consequences of it. We do not get involved in activities that reinforce messages of dependency and we aim to reduce stigma and raise awareness among wider communities.

We have a strong focus on equalities, diversity and human rights and aim to promote these throughout the work we do and in how we work. We work as a team and support colleagues to develop what they do.

We are a learning organisation where we listen, use our experience to adapt and refine what we do, try new approaches and follow up opportunities, and do not expect to get everything right first time.

Our income sources need to reflect and support the way we work, including supporting innovation and impacts for communities rather only on individual people.

About this post

The focus of this post is to get Outside the Box in a stronger position on our income levels and sources.

We have been relatively successful in securing income for our work and we use grant funding to make an impact for people and communities. We want to build a better balance with income from other sources, including earned income and donations or other support through corporate and other sources that gives us even more flexibility in how we work with communities.

We are looking for someone who is part of our team’s work in building on current and previous achievements and relationships to create innovative approaches that benefit people in many more situations and places.

More information

The Business Development Manager Job Description which can be downloaded below (or emailed on request) provide more detailed information on the post and cover points related to:

• Key responsibilities of the role
• Qualities and experience that we are looking for
• Working arrangements
• The way we work

Our website is a good source of information about what we do and about specific projects and areas of work: otbds.org

We will try to answer questions people have about the post. The first contact is Angela Ross, who is the Finance Co-ordinator: angela@otbds.org