Biosecurity Officer - Scotland and NE England
- Full time
- £28,420 – £31,529
- Scotland and NE England (Flexible/Hybrid)
- Closing 12th January 2023
- Advertised from 4th January 2023
- 37.5 hours per week. Contract: 5 months fixed-term.
- Pension, Life Assurance, 26 days annual leave
- Reference: DEC20228315
Role
Biosecurity for LIFE is a UK-wide project set up by the RSPB, National Trust, and the National Trust for Scotland to protect our internationally important seabird islands from introduced mammalian predators, a major threat to ground-nesting seabirds. The project is working with conservation organisations, boat operators, island communities and volunteers to develop and implement biosecurity checks and measures, and has delivered extensive education and awareness-raising activities to promote biosecurity and the simple things anyone travelling to islands can do to help safeguard our seabirds.
This role is based in Edinburgh with occasional travel across Scotland and the rest of the UK, and involves working with a range of individuals from different age groups and diverse backgrounds.
What's the role about?
The Biosecurity for LIFE project is entering its transition phase into a maintenance programme, having developed comprehensive plans with biosecurity island managers and communities, and raised awareness of biosecurity with thousands of industry and island visitors and communities. The purpose of this role is to empower these new biosecurity heroes to look after our islands and seabirds beyond the project’s lifetime.
You will support island managers, volunteers and communities in Scotland and NE England to commit to their biosecurity plans and implement their checks and measures. You will lead on recruiting, developing and supporting a network of up to 160 volunteers across the UK to respond to biosecurity incursions with the other Biosecurity Officers in Wales, SW England, Northern Ireland, Shetland and Orkney. You will manage the distribution incursion hub in Edinburgh, ensuring the network of up to 7 UK incursion hubs are equipped and response ready.
This could be an ideal secondment opportunity.
What we need from you
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours
- Experience of managing volunteers and setting clear work priorities.
- Experience of remote field work either on islands or for biosecurity surveillance or incursion responses.
- Proven ability to advocate a position and influence others to negotiate desired outcomes.
- Excellent communication skills (written and verbal), including the ability to speak confidently and cogently to a variety of audiences.
- An ability to work well independently and as part of a dispersed team.
- Competent user of MS Office programmes.
Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours
- Knowledge of the ecology, species and habitats of mammalian predators and/or island seabirds.
- Effective project management skills.
- Experience of developing and supporting a volunteer network.
Application notes
To apply, please visit our website
The RSPB reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent on business needs at the end of the contract term.
The closing date is the 12th of January 2023 at 9 am.
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position from 18-19 January.
The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
No agencies please.
Victim Support Scotland – Empowering People Affected by Crime.
We put victims and witnesses at the heart of everything we do so they are heard, have improved health and well-being, feel safer, more secure, and informed and that we are an effective organisation, that makes a lasting difference.
Who We Are?
Victim Support Scotland provides support and information to people affected by crime and campaigns for victim and witness rights. Regardless of whether a crime has been reported, or when it happened, our services are free, confidential, and tailored to individuals’ needs. Our vision is that people affected by crime – victims, witnesses, and their families – are treated with dignity and respect and are at the heart of the justice in Scotland. Our mission is to ensure that all those affected by crime receive high quality support that will help them to recover from their experiences. All our work is guided and underpinned by our six core principles of being engaging and compassionate; inclusive and accessible; person-centred; adaptive, flexible, and responsive; collaborative; and knowledgeable and skilled. Now is the time to join Victim Support Scotland, helping us work towards the ambitions of our 5-year plan:
VSS is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all of our service users and has a thorough and rigorous recruitment and selection process including PVG scheme checks in place to ensure this commitment is met.
What is the role
This is an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Support Co-ordinator , working 14 hours per week.
- Thursdays 9-6pm
- Saturdays 10-4pm
The successful candidate must have access to their own vehicle and willingness to travel off the islands on occasion (e.g. for training or development activities)
Primary location: Lerwick, however you will be expected to cover throughout the locality is required.
Reporting directly to a Locality Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring, within your Service(s), that VSS’s local service development and delivery plan is being implemented within your geographical area(s). Service delivery is provided by a team of skilled and knowledgeable volunteers, you will be responsible for planning their deployment to ensure that the service delivered meets the desired outcomes of victims and witnesses of crime, our service users. Responsible for all aspects of a volunteer engagement with VSS at your services, including recruitment, induction, learning and development, ongoing performance management and support. Contributing to business planning and co-ordination ensuring that continuous learning takes place to monitor that the outcomes of service users are being met.
If you are looking for a role with a purpose, where you can really make a difference, then this may be the role for you.
What you’ll need to be successful
We are looking for someone who is experienced in a similar role and can evidence of continuing professional development, effective leadership style, able to build confidence, motivate and improve performance. Analytical skills, must be able to understand, collect, analyse, report and present data. The ability to challenge stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and bias. Good working knowledge of the voluntary/charity sector is required, as is a willingness to be flexible in working hours and able to travel as required.
Further details of this role are available in the Support Co-Ordinator - job description
Please note - This post will be subject to a satisfactory PVG check, references, and proof that you have the right to work in the UK.
What we offer?
When you work for Victim Support Scotland, your wellbeing is important to us. Not only do we offer an enhanced annual leave package of 39 days, but you will also have access to our free health cash plan which includes cover for you and your family across a range of benefits, which include, dental cover, access to a virtual GP, counselling, legal support and discounts on gym memberships, cinema tickets, retail and much more. In addition we offer a generous pension, enhanced maternity and paternity pay and access to a credit union. Supporting employee development is important to us and we offer comprehensive learning and development opportunities.
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Volunteer Engagement Manager
- Part time
- £25,000 pro-rata
- City of Edinburgh (Hybrid)
- Closing 29th April 2024
Volunteering Matters are a national volunteering and social change charity. We believe that everyone across the UK should have the opportunity to thrive. We bring people together through the unique power of volunteering, to overcome some of society’s most complex issues.
We are looking for a talented, dynamic, and professional Volunteer Engagement Manager to join our team in the City of Edinburgh. The right candidate would be someone who can work flexibly, is driven, and is passionate about supporting parents and families. It is also important that the post holder can commit to our organisational values – being Compassionate, Empowering, Inclusive, Positive and Straightforward.
An introduction to the role
In this role you will support 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 improved living standards, budgeting skills, healthier eating, better school life and behaviour, help to access Education, Employment or Training, access to physical and mental health and wellbeing resources/aid, as well as introducing parents to community resources, to name a few.
Further information on Family Supporters Edinburgh can be found online, and on our website.
Information on Employee Benefits
Our ambition is to be the best place to work in the charity sector. We offer lots of employee benefits including:
- Fully flexible working
- Unlimited annual leave, to achieve a positive work-life balance
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Interest free season ticket loan (public transport)
- Competitive and supportive maternity/adoption/family leave provision
- Competitive and supportive sick leave provision
- Access to our free Employee Assistance line
Our ways of Working
We offer flexible working by default. This means that our staff have significant flexibility when it comes to place of work, working hours, and are empowered with the responsibility of managing their own diary and workload.
Part of your working week will need to be based in local communities within the City of Edinburgh, meeting with volunteers, parents and families, partner organisations and others. For the remainder of the time, you can be based from our City of Edinburgh office or at home (must be locally). If working from home, you will need good internet access and a suitable home working environment, all IT equipment, mobile phone and any home working supplies will be available.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Role model and display our organisational values – being Compassionate, Empowering, Inclusive, Positive and Straightforward
- Teamwork across the regional staff team and the wider charity, working in a flexible way
- Deliver and develop the Family Supporters programme across Edinburgh, meeting ambitious goals and milestones, ensuring all volunteers and families involved achieve positive outcomes
- Attract, recruit, train and provide ongoing support to a team of dedicated volunteers, from a wide cross-section of the community
- Maintain Volunteering Matters standards around quality and effective Volunteer Management
- Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with stakeholders including colleagues, volunteers, families, Social Services, Health and Education teams, third sector partners and others
- Support appropriate risk assessment, safeguarding, quality assurance and audit processes
- Develop relevant promotional material and information, for Family Supporters, and for our organisation locally
- Ensure quarterly statistical data is collected and that the programme meets its agreed goals, reporting format and schedule as required by our funders.
- Administration tasks including the use of Office 365, Microsoft Teams and other relevant software
This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. While some variations may be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.
Person Specification
Skills & Knowledge Required
- Excellent knowledge of the life challenges and issues that parents and families face in Scotland, and an understanding of “The Promise”
- An understanding of how to assess the needs of an individual, using a person-centered approach
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent people skills, able to build professional, long-term relationships with various stakeholders, to influence and motivate others
- Excellent time management and organisational skills with the ability to manage a busy workload and prioritise effectively
- Excellent IT skills including the use of Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and other software (training provided)
- A good problem solver, able to work independently and use own initiative
Experience Required
- Experience working directly with families, particularly those who face life challenges
- Experience in all aspects of effective Volunteer Management (recruitment, training, support)
- Experience developing strong working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders
- Experience of project management, achieving goals, managing a busy workload, and working to deadlines
- Experience of measuring the impact of mentoring/volunteering, and understanding the results
- Understanding of, and full commitment, to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Role Reports To: Project Manager for Edinburgh
Qualifications
We are not looking for any specific qualifications, for this role. Relevant experience and skills are more important, along with a commitment to our organisational values.
Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG)
This role requires membership of the PVG scheme. Having a conviction is not necessarily a barrier to employment. If you are not currently a member of the PVG scheme, we can support you with the application process (fees will be reimbursed by Volunteering Matters).
Top job! Head of Ceremonies
- Full time or Part time
- £29,393 – £36,742
- Home based role with travel across Scotland (Remote)
- Closing 30th April 2024
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced individual to join Humanist Society Scotland as our Head of Ceremonies.
This is an exciting and unique opportunity to be involved in far-reaching wedding, funeral and naming services across the entire country. Over one million people in Scotland attend a humanist ceremony every year and this role holder has a unique opportunity to shape how these services are delivered across a wide range of communities the length and breadth of Scotland.
As the Head of Ceremonies, you will play a pivotal role in overseeing all aspects of our ceremonies department, ensuring seamless operations, maintaining high standards, and fostering relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
We are especially interested in hearing from someone who has experience in strategic development of marketing and promoting services.
As a highly motivated self-directed individual you will manage a network of over 140 celebrants and line manage two support staff. We are seeking someone with considerable people management skills and a strong knowledge of marketing and promotion to direct and ensure delivery of growing the current demand and market share for our services.
In order to avoid conflict of interest and as this role has key management responsibilities in overseeing the delivery of all of our ceremony services this role holder cannot also hold a position as a celebrant. Individuals who are interested in becoming a celebrant can register their interest here instead.
Responsibilities:
• Oversee Day-to-Day Operations:
- Provide guidance and support to the ceremonies support team, including line management of two staff.
- Maintaining strong relationships with key contractors such as our celebrant trainers, emergency out of hours support and celebrant area officers.
• Budget Management:
- Ensure good oversight and planning of related budgets including delegating responsibilities to members of team where appropriate
• Promotional Plan:
- Developing and implementing business plans for sustainable growth, based on sound research and analysis of the competitive markets and future opportunities and then creating and implementing strategies to grow the business.
- Utilise various marketing channels and techniques to reach target audiences effectively.
New Celebrant Recruitment:
- Oversee recruitment and training provision for new celebrants working closely with our trainers.
- Working with our celebrant network to develop meaningful mentoring relationships for new celebrants.
- Ensure feedback from trainees helps further develop and improve our training.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Coordination:
- Coordinate ongoing CPD opportunities for celebrants, including organising gatherings and training sessions to enhance their skills and knowledge.
Reviews Oversight:
- Oversee and coordinate professional reviews of ceremonies.
Complaints Management:
- Address and resolve complaints from clients in a timely and professional manner.
Relationships with External Stakeholders:
- Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with external stakeholders, including funeral directors, wedding venues and other relevant partners.
- Collaborate with external partners to expand our celebrant network and reach new audiences.
- Sharing best practices and learning from professional networks of other humanist leaders and groups.
Person Specification:
- Proven experience in a leadership role, preferably within service delivery. This could be in the public, private or third sector.
- Previous professional success in creating a meaningful promotional and marketing strategy to help increase market share.
- Ability to proactively anticipate emerging trends and threats and apply business intelligence to react in response.
- Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to multitask and prioritise effectively.
- Sound people management skills including the ability to handle delicate issues such as bereavement, complaints and conflict resolution.
- Strong customer service experience both internal stakeholder facing and external public facing.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build rapport with diverse stakeholders.
- Demonstrated proficiency in budget management.
- Independent work ethic with ability to self motivate and direct including ability to work on own initiative and prioritise workload.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality, and an understanding of GDPR principles.
- Has strong experience of ensuring that decisions are data-driven and evidence led.
- Is a committed team player and is used to collaborative working throughout the organisation.
- Good knowledge of humanist principles and practices.
- Professional experience of the wedding or funeral industries would be desirable but not essential.
Join our team and contribute to creating meaningful and memorable ceremonies that celebrate life and humanist values. If you're passionate about making a difference and thrive in a dynamic environment, we want to hear from you!
Members Support and Events Lead
- Part time
- £38,000 pro-rata
- Edinburgh (On site)
- Closing 28th April 2024
The role of ECCAN’s Members Support and Events Lead is dynamic and multifaceted, serving as an important bridge between the members and the organisation. Operating within Edinburgh's four localities, this person will frequently travel and be the primary point of contact for the network’s members, offering project development support and enabling groups to take forward their ideas.
This is an exciting opportunity for an individual who is passionate about community engagement to support the development of community climate action plans, climate resilience plans, or local place planning for groups, organisations, and neighbourhoods in Edinburgh.
You will be a hands-on, adaptable and approachable coordinator who can diligently curate and distribute resources, ensuring their relevance and accessibility for ECCAN’s membership while also designing and administering feedback mechanisms to sustain member participation.
This will include planning and delivering in ECCAN’s in person and virtual events of different scales throughout the year and building capacity of member organisations to deliver compelling climate and social justice activities of their own.
This will involve conducting outreach talks and workshops for groups, managing and collaborating effectively with volunteers, liaising with speakers and trainers, and delivering sessions on carbon literacy and other pertinent topics across Edinburgh's localities.
Hours of Work: 28 hours a week flexible with some evening / weekend work (for which time off in lieu is provided). Potential for job share or compressed hours.
Additional Requirements: The post holder will be subject to a Disclosure Scotland check.
Location: You will be based in member premises in the heart of the city, working closely with other agencies and colleagues across Edinburgh. Flexible hot desking is possible in various community locations as well as home working.
Responsible to: ECCAN Network Lead
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