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Top job! Head of Support (Secondments will be considered)
- Full time
- Circa £65,000
- Charlotte House, Edinburgh
- Closing 19th December 2022
- Advertised from 2nd December 2022
- 35 hours per week
Role
In October 2016, after meeting with and listening to children and young people in care, Scotland’s First Minister announced, “an independent, root and branch review of the care system” to look at “the underpinning legislation, practices, culture and ethos”. The aim was to identify and deliver lasting change in Scotland’s ‘care system’, leaving a legacy that will transform the wellbeing of infants, children and young people. The Independent Care Review began work in February 2017 and concluded on 5 February 2020 with the publication of seven reports.
On the same day, in the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister pledged to #KeepThePromise, a commitment that got the support of all political parties. Over 5,500 children and adults engaged with the Review and organisations, institutions, bodies, communities and groups all across Scotland also pledged to #KeepThePromise.
Between February 2020 and March 2021, due to COVID-19 restrictions, a small team from the Independent Care Review was incubated within Scottish Government to set up and start work to #KeepThePromise. Its achievements included:
- Detailed and robust engagement with a wide range of organisations on the actions, identified in the Review as necessary for change and to deliver transformation of Scotland’s ‘care system’. This has also included detailed analysis of the responses from over 100 organisations on the work they are taking forward to #KeepThePromise.
- Appointed an Oversight Board, with at least 50% representation of people with lived experience of Scotland’s system of care.
- Produced Plan 21-24, published in March 2021.
On 24 March 2021, The Promise Scotland was established as a legal entity and operates independently of Scottish Government. Its function is, ‘to support and monitor the implementation of the conclusions of the Independent Care Review until 2030, at the latest.’
Following significant engagement with every children’s services partnership and key national agencies, The Promise Scotland published Change Programme ONE on June 25 2021. This includes 25 actions required to be delivered by 2024 for Plan 21- 24 to be fully implemented and the goal of the promise being kept by 2030, and The Promise Scotland becoming obsolete. It also includes the support offers, which The Promise Scotland will lead to achieve the changes required. The Promise Scotland provides the secretariat for The Promise Oversight Board and on Thursday 26 May 2022, it published its first report.
Job Purpose – Head of Support
Scotland must maintain the focus required to #KeepThePromise which requires all organisations with responsibility for children and families to develop and implement proactive and dynamic approaches to engaging with infants, children, young people and their families for meaningful change to be achieved and sustained.
The Promise Scotland will support organisations by facilitating innovative work that involves children and families in service redesign and improvement and identifying appropriate and diverse means of communication and engagement in the pursuit of achieving change.
The Promise Scotland wishes to harness and support the people who are committed to #KeepThePromise and who want to lead the changes set out in Plan 21-24. They will include members of the paid and unpaid workforce, volunteers and citizens concerned to do what is right for children and young people. The Head of Support leads a team of 11 people in The Promise Scotland, supporting networks of Communities of Interest and ‘Promise Keepers’ across Scotland to pursue local and national activity to #KeepThePromise.
The postholder is a member of the Senior Leadership Team, working to the Chief Executive and alongside the Head of Insight, the Head of Governance and Operations and the Head of Public Affairs. The Senior Leadership Team has overall responsibility for ensuring The Promise Scotland is meeting its obligations in support of Scotland’s mission to #KeepThePromise by 2030 and is accountable to a Board of Directors.
Role Specification
Thoughtful, determined and committed, you will have a deep understanding of the principles which underpinned the Independent Care Review and how the legacy of learning and acting on the experiences described of life in care or on the edges of care, must be honoured throughout The Promise Scotland’s ambition to support the changes that must happen to #KeepThePromise by 2030, at the very latest.
You will be an experienced change leader who understands the challenges of complex cultural change and be able to work alongside a diverse range of individuals and organisations to make change happen, with children, young people and families at the heart of everything you do. You will be an experienced team leader and programme manager. You will be comfortable with both leading and supporting others, internally and externally.
Main Activities
- To participate fully as a member of the Senior Leadership Team to retain organisational focus on fulfilling the role and responsibility of The Promise Scotland, establishing enabling working practices and culture.
- To lead an experienced team of Promise Delivery Partners, enabling them to develop trusting relationships with and provide tailored support to organisations with statutory responsibilities to ensure they:
- Plan and implement changes to their strategy, practice and culture to #KeepThePromise, aligning activity towards Plan 21-24 and the accompanying Change Programmes;
- Retain a focus on what matters to children and families.
- To work with the Promise Delivery Partners to identify universal responses to the needs of organisations with statutory responsibilities, including:
- signposting wherever possible and sharing examples of innovative and effective practice;
- identifying gaps in provision and coming up with ways of filling those gaps
- building new ways of working, through the development of support offers, including:
- Communities of Interest and Practice;
- Sharing learning and expertise.
- To support the roll-out the Promise Design School programme, in keeping with its founding principles and in support of tangible, measurable change, and in doing so:
- working in partnership, actively engaging children and families in service design and;
- evaluating impact.
- As part of the Senior Leadership Team, to ensure The Promise Scotland’s Feedback Loop captures all engagements, and, more importantly, learning.
- To work closely with the Head of Insights, to ensure internal sharing of evidence and data about what is working, where and why; what is not working, where and why; and what else is needed, where and why.
- To work closely with the Head of Public Affairs, to identify legislative and policy barriers to change, in preparation for introduction of The Promise Bill.
- To contribute to the overall management and leadership of The Promise Scotland team, modelling and supporting organisational values of listening, reflection, compassion in support of continuous improvement and developing an understanding of the challenges involved in achieving change.
- To lead and manage the Support Team, supporting their performance and development.
Essential Criteria
- Skilled at building strong, collaborative, relationships and influencing outcomes.
- Experience of leading service delivery and change at a senior level, either in the children’s sector and/or wider public services, ideally with a focus on the care experienced community
- Working collaboratively in a leadership team to plan, direct, support, challenge and lead performance and improvement.
- Highly developed project management and reporting skills.
- Exceptional written, verbal and digital communication skills.
- Ability to absorb a wide range of complex information and develop solutions on both strategic and operational issues and have an ability to think analytically in the evaluation of competing needs.
- As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, to take shared and collective responsibility for leading The Promise Scotland team, supporting and fostering a positive approach to learning, development and improvement.
- Able to work proactively and with agility, to manage own workload and work flexibly to meet work demands and tight deadlines.
- An understanding of the political landscape in Scotland with particular insight into the challenges of public service reform and of engaging meaningfully with those who need and use these services.
- Lived experience of the care system and/or a deep, demonstrable understanding of the principles established by the Independent Care Review.
Working Conditions
The Promise Scotland’s office is at Charlotte House, 2 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh. As an organisation we are committed to supporting our colleagues to work flexibly.
Pension
The Promise Scotland has a pension scheme that employees will be contractually enrolled into, making a minimum contribution of 5.5% of their qualifying earnings, with The Promise Scotland contributing 13%. Employees may opt out at any time.
Application notes
To apply for this role, please download the attached application form from our website thepromise.scot/the-promise-scotland/jobs
Application Deadline: 5pm Monday 19th December 2022
Interview Date: week commencing 9th January 2023
Top job! Head of Operations (Scotland)
- Full time
- £58,568 – £67,725
- Edinburgh and Glasgow
- Closing 20th February 2023
Transforming the lives of those to whom all of us owe an enormous debt.
Combat Stress has been in existence since 1919 and, without doubt, provides a life-changing and, on occasion, life saving service.
For more than a century it has provided support to veterans from every service and every conflict. On average, it takes a veteran 13 years to ask for help after leaving their job and, for many, it is their darkest hour and they’re in a crisis situation. Combat Stress offers specialist support to deal with mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. It offers a range of services and therapy programmes across the UK. In Scotland, it offers residential and community-based care, together with online services, delivered by multi-disciplinary teams working across Scotland.
The charity is at an exciting time of its growth and is seeking a Head of Operations for Scotland who will provide forward thinking and inspirational leadership throughout this period and beyond.
You must be a registered professional, perhaps in occupational therapy, social work, mental health nursing, or clinical or counselling psychology, who can provide the highest quality strategic and operational leadership for Combat Stress in Scotland. The post holder will be the senior manager responsible for both representing and promoting Combat Stress across the country and build positive and productive relationships with statutory and third sector colleagues.
Combat Stress is looking for someone with the skills, experience and drive to support the Deputy Director of Operations to build on its current achievements and develop excellent quality services and support across Scotland.
The successful candidate will have considerable senior operational management experience delivered within a multi-disciplinary context; you should be strategic, have significant understanding of, and experience in, the field of mental health, have a robust understanding of the Care Inspectorate scrutiny framework and a desire for high quality and continuous improvement.
This is a role with considerable breadth and will exert change both within the charity and at a national level. You will have the opportunity to influence Scottish Government policy, represent Scotland at UK wide events and contribute to the growth and development of a national organisation. In addition, you will gain experience and expertise in the delivery of trauma-informed focused services, provide leadership for a multi-site national service ensuring regional equity, and provide high quality, effective and evidence-based care to Scotland’s veterans.
If you want to be part of the senior team at Combat Stress, providing specialist treatment and support for veterans with complex mental health issues; if you want to be part of the life-changing and unique work the charity provides and you’re able to demonstrate commitment to their values, then please contact us for the Candidate Pack today. In return, you will know that your daily endeavours are transforming the lives of those to whom all of us owe an enormous debt.
Apex Scotland (Apex) is a specialist organisation that, for over 30 years, has focused on addressing the personal development, employment and training needs of people who have come into conflict with the law. Our core mission is to support people to aim higher, behave differently and change their future, whilst also contributing to a Scotland that is fair, just and safe.
As our new Chief Executive, you will work closely with a relatively new, enthusiastic and ambitious Board to agree the core focus and future strategic direction of the organisation, delivering real value to those people who are most in need of our services. This will include the development of a new strategic plan, identifying opportunities to diversify income streams and overseeing the development of services that encompass trauma-informed practices and meet both the current and future needs of all the people that Apex Scotland serves.
Ensuring Apex continues to play a leading role in developing and shaping policy, including involvement in the Scottish Government’s conversation on the future of criminal and community justice, the new Chief Executive will also build networks and develop strategic partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders. This will ensure Apex continues to promote desistance and enables those people who are the most disadvantaged and disengaged from society to re-engage and work towards a positive future.
An innovative, solutions-focused and visionary leader, you will be able to demonstrate a proven track record in the development and delivery of both strategic and operational business plans and policies to achieve an organisation’s vision and growth. As an accomplished communicator, you will have demonstrable credibility when engaging with both internal and external stakeholders, coupled with the ability to work with a diverse range of stakeholders, create alliances and encourage increased collaboration. The successful candidate will also need to demonstrate strong political acuity coupled with knowledge of, or the ability to quickly gain an understanding of the regulatory and wider policy landscape in relation to justice in Scotland.
This role will be both rewarding and challenging as we continue to face the difficult financial constraints that the whole of the Third Sector has been experiencing, but if you share our passion to empower people to believe in the possibility of change and the prospect of directly shaping the future of our organisation excites you, we would welcome an application.
NB: Apex embrace agile working and whilst the organisation is headquartered in Edinburgh the successful candidate would not be required to be in the office on a full-time basis.
Held In Our Hearts provide specialist baby loss counselling and peer support in Scotland so no one is alone at this devastating time.
It is an exciting time of growth for Held In Our Hearts, and we are looking for a motivated and exceptional individual to join us as our Head of Operations. This newly created role is an opportunity to be part of an inspiring team and be at the forefront of providing the best bereavement care for families across Scotland.
The Head of Operations will work closely with the Chief Executive Officer as part of the senior management team to provide operational and financial management of Held In Our Hearts.. The Head of Operations has overall responsibility for smooth day to day operational running of the charity and champions the mission, aims and values of Held In Our Hearts in all their work. You will work support the CEO and our Board at a strategic level and be a team player and be able to engage well with people. You will work closely and collaboratively with the team to deliver operational activities as well as have close relationships with our volunteers and families .
This role would ideally suit someone who has managed a small team and looking to take that next step in their career.
We are excited to share this great opportunity to join our Board of Directors. It is a very important time for Cornerstone, as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and set a course for the future, with our new strategy ‘Future proofing Cornerstone’.
As a member of our Board, you would be instrumental in guiding the strategic future of the charity and ensuring exemplary governance and fiscal control. The main Board meets four times a year and, as members may be asked to support our key strategic subcommittees. You will also act as a local ambassador for Cornerstone.
Our Board are particularly keen to hear from those with skills, knowledge and experience in one or more of the following areas who feel they can make a positive contribution to our charitable activities: -
- Management experience in social care compliance / quality and standards
- Senior management experience in the social work / social care sector with strategic planning skills
- Business Development experience ideally with Marketing / PR experience
About Us
Cornerstone is one of Scotland’s largest charities and is a leading provider of social care services to more than 1,200 adults, children and young people with disabilities and other support needs. We employ over 1,900 people across Scotland and are fully committed to delivering high quality care and support.
In addition, we also operate our Cornerstone Self-Directed Support service. Across this service, we have over 200 Personal Assistants on our books and approximately 1000 active clients.
We’re committed to building a workforce that represents the true diversity of Scotland, where every single one of our colleagues feel enabled to deliver their best. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer who selects the best person for the job. We value the diversity of our workforce and work hard to create an inclusive environment where each individual can bring their unique skills, experiences and ideas to the table to help us grow, bring create innovative solutions and develop of our people. We are keen to receive applications for board position that reflect the diversity of the organisation.
We welcome applications from anywhere in Scotland.
There is no re-numeration attached to the role but expenses will be reimbursed.
Our Board of Directors
Cornerstone currently has board members with expertise ranging from HR, Finance, Social Care and Fundraising. The role of our Board is to ensure that Cornerstone is being well managed in the best interests of our stakeholders and most importantly the people we support. The Board ensures that the organisation’s strategy and policies are adhered to in line with our charitable purpose. The Board also ensures that Cornerstone complies with all applicable rules and regulations.
Learn more about our current Board Members here.
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