Volunteering Matters are looking for a talented, dynamic, and professional Engagement Manager to join our team in the City of Edinburgh. The right candidate would be someone who can work flexibly, while demonstrating a strong understanding and commitment to our organisational values.

In this role you will work as part of a small staff team, coordinating the delivery and development of our established Family Supporters programme across the City of Edinburgh.

Family Supporters is an effective mentoring programme which offers practical, emotional, and social support to parents and families across Edinburgh, empowering them to face a range of life challenges and issues. We recruit, train and match dedicated, local volunteers to help families every step of the way, spending 1-1 time together on a personalised set of goals chosen by the family, for the family.

The programme supports parents and families in lots of ways such as help to access Employment, further Education or Training, improved living standards, budgeting skills, healthier eating, better school life and behaviour, access to physical and mental health and wellbeing resources/aid, as well as introducing parents to community resources and volunteering, to name a few.

This role has a particular focus on supporting parents/families who are New Scots (Refugee’s, Asylum Seekers, Displaced people) as well as parents/families from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Further details and information on Family Supporters Edinburgh can be found on the Volunteering Matters website.

Skills / Knowledge Required

· Excellent knowledge & understanding of the life challenges and issues that families face in Scottish society, particularly New Scots, or families from ethnically diverse backgrounds

· An understanding of how to assess the needs of an individual using a person-centered approach

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills including being able to have strategic conversations with partners and stakeholders one minute, and talk to an anxious or unsure parent

· Excellent people skills with the ability to build professional, long-term relationships with various stakeholders, to influence and motivate others

· Excellent organisational and IT skills including the ability to manage workload, prioritise effectively and strong attention to detail

· Able to use own initiative and work independently at times

Experience Required

· Significant experience working directly with families, particularly those who face barriers/life challenges

· Experience in supporting volunteers through quality Volunteer Management practices

· Evidence of relationship management experience with a wide range of stakeholders

· Experience of project coordination, achieving high targets, a busy workload and working to strict deadlines

· Proven ability to communicate effectively and work as part of a larger regional team

· Experience in Safeguarding / Child Protection / Adult Protection

· Understanding of, and full commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

Qualifications

Relevant experience and an understanding and commitment to our organisational values is more important for this role than any specific qualifications.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Consistently role modelling and displaying Volunteering Matters organisational values Contribute to effective teamwork across the regional team and the wider charity, in line with our “flexible working by default” and “self-managed teams” philosophy

• Deliver and develop the Family Supporters programme across the City of Edinburgh, meeting ambitious targets and milestones, ensuring all families/parents engaged achieve positive outcomes

• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders including colleagues, volunteers, families, social work, NHS, Education partners, third sector organisations and others.

• Effective recruitment, selection, training, and ongoing support of a diverse pool of talented and dedicated volunteer mentors from a wide cross-section of the community

• To maintain Volunteering Matters standards around quality and effective Volunteer Management

• To manage all elements of family’s experience, from referral to completion of their support journey

• To manage the risk assessment, safeguarding, quality assurance and audit processes as appropriate

• Ensure monitoring, impact and evaluation information is collected and that Family Supporters meets it’s agreed targets, reporting format and schedule. Assist the Project Manager by preparing Impact Reports.

• Administration tasks including maintaining effective and accessible records, the use of Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom and other software such as Canva (use to develop relevant promotional material and information)

Other

Part of your working week will be based in local Edinburgh communities, meeting families, volunteers, colleagues, and other stakeholders. For the remainder of the time, you can choose to work from home (must be based locally) or from our Edinburgh office premises (EH7 5JT). If working from home, you will need good internet access and a suitable home working environment. All I.T. equipment, mobile phone and infrastructure will be supplied by our organisation.

Role Purpose

ProjectScotland, part of the national charity Volunteering Matters, supports people to move on in life, through the power of volunteering. We are looking for a talented, dynamic, and professional Parental Engagement Manager to join our team in the City of Edinburgh. The right candidate would be someone who can work flexibly, while demonstrating a strong understanding and commitment to our organisational values.

You will provide intensive Employability Support to 25 parents over the next 12 months. This role will focus on parents who are New Scots (Refugee’s, Asylum Seekers, Displaced people) and parents from ethnically diverse backgrounds. You will:

• Work 1:1 with parents to understand their strengths, skills, and barriers to employment, putting steps or strategies in place to overcome these barriers or challenges
• Support with vocational activities – developing CV’s, job search, applications, mock interviews etc.
• Provide work-ready support – access to volunteering experiences, identifying training opportunities etc.
• Work alongside colleagues in the ProjectScotland Mentoring Team, ensuring that parents can benefit from an empowering and positive Mentoring relationship - provided by our team of local volunteers
• Work with external partners across Edinburgh to secure referrals for our service, and to set up new opportunities for parents.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Consistently role modelling and displaying our organisational values

• Contribute to effective teamwork across the regional team and the wider charity, in line with our “flexible working by default” and “self-managed teams” philosophy

• Provide intensive support to parents in a person-centered way, to achieve positive outcomes for all

• Understanding each parent’s skills, strengths, experience, barriers and development areas, resulting in the creation of a personal development plan

• To manage all elements of the parent’s experience, from referral to completion of their support

• Work alongside the ProjectScotland mentoring team to ensure parents have the opportunity to benefit from the experience and life skills of a dedicated volunteer mentor

• To identify, develop and maintain excellent relationships with referral partners, third sector organisations, statutory agencies, and others, who can provide training, volunteering placements, or other opportunities

• To manage the risk assessment, quality assurance and audit processes as appropriate

• Ensure monitoring, impact and evaluation information and data is collected and that the project meets its agreed targets, reporting format and schedule. Assist the Delivery Leader by preparing reports to funders

• Administration tasks including maintaining effective and accessible records, the use of Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom and other software such as Canva and Salesforce – full training will be given

This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. It is neither exhaustive nor exclusive but while some variations will be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.

Person Specification

Skills Required

• An excellent knowledge and understanding of the life challenges and barriers that parents face today in Scotland, particularly those who are New Scots (Refugee’s, Asylum Seekers, Displaced people) or those from ethnic minority backgrounds

• An understanding of how to assess the needs of an individual using a person-centered approach

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including being able to have strategic conversations with stakeholders one minute, and talk to a nervous parent the next

• Excellent people skills with the ability to build professional, long-term relationships with various stakeholders, to influence and motivate others

• Excellent organisational and IT skills including the ability to manage workload and prioritise effectively, and strong attention to detail

• Able to use own initiative and work independently at times

Experience Required

• Significant experience working with people who have challenges/barriers to employment, particularly parents and carers

• Experience in providing Employability and vocational support

• Evidence of relationship management experience with a wide range of stakeholders

• Experience of project management, achieving high targets, a busy workload and working to strict deadlines

• Proven ability to communicate effectively and work as part of a team

• Understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities

Qualifications

Relevant experience and an understanding and commitment to our organisational values is more important for this role than any specific qualifications.

Other

Part of your working week will be based in local Edinburgh communities, meeting parents, volunteers, colleagues, and other stakeholders. For the remainder of the time, you can choose to work from home (must be based locally) or from our Edinburgh office premises (EH7 5JT). If working from home, you will need good internet access and a suitable home working environment. All I.T. equipment, mobile phone and infrastructure will be supplied by our organisation.

Social Enterprise Scotland are growing their Membership Team to support the successful delivery of member activities, events, campaigns and services and ensure that feedback from members is used to inform continuous development and improvement in the organisation and services. You will be expected to support the organisation and promotion of events across Scotland, contribute to relevant and timely content and data for the website, social media and marketing campaigns as well as maintaining and updating our membership CRM system. More detailed information on the role can be found on the Job Description.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about ensuring that Granton Information Centre (GIC) clients have access to free, impartial advice, advocacy and representation on matters relating to welfare rights entitlement, money advice and debt issues.

Main Tasks

• Provide advice, assistance and when necessary representation with welfare benefit entitlement claims and money, debt and general housing issues, via centre based, telephone, outreach and home visit appointments.

• Represent claimants at appeal tribunals.

• Maintain an up to date knowledge of changes and developments in welfare, housing and debt legislation and liaise with colleagues on any issues that need to be communicated wider.