This is an exciting new role designing and delivering digital communications to strengthen the reach and impact of the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) and offering some support to the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures (IICF) and aims to build on the synergies and complementarity between the two University centres. Both centres have complementary missions, yet with their own distinct partners, projects and work across Scotland and internationally. The post is based within CYCJ.

About Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice:

CYCJ works towards ensuring that Scotland’s approach to children and young people in conflict with the law is rights-respecting, contributing to better outcomes for our children, young people and communities. We produce robust, ground-breaking work by bringing together children and young people’s contributions, research evidence, practice wisdom and system know-how to operate as a leader for child and youth justice thinking in Scotland and beyond. An evaluation of CYCJ, published in 2020, highlights how our significant contribution stems from our unique role and positioning:

‘CYCJ is a boundary-spanning intermediary organisation. Boundary spanners are capable of contributing to system change. Their work to redress the imbalances of information, to connect and share insight across groups, to coordinate people to collaborate on key issues as well as focused interventions on seemingly intractable issues can come together to create paradigm shifts in the system’.

Our focus for 2020-2025 is on supporting Scotland to comply with its international commitments for children and young people in conflict with the law in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). You can read more about this in our strategy.

We work across three workstreams: Practice and Policy Development, Research, and Participation and Engagement.

CYCJ is primarily funded by the Scottish Government and is based in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde. Our Executive Governance Group has oversight of CYCJ and our strategic direction, and consists of representatives from across policy, practice, research and lived experience.

About the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures (IICF)

The Institute for Inspiring Children's Futures works with partners to reveal and resolve the structural barriers to children in adversity reaching their potential. We bridge multiple perspectives to tackle big, complex challenges. We seek new solutions to long standing problems. We have an international outlook, a policy orientation, and a focus on the role of government, drawing on multiple disciplines to enable sustained impact for children.

We partner with international organisations and young people, and across the University and around the globe. Together, we engage governments to support policy responses that benefit children who face adversity. Our work focuses on Justice, Rights and Wellbeing.

We are a small team with international reach, and a range of established networks, including UN, intergovernmental, service-delivery, governmental, academic and advocacy bodies.

We actively seek to bridge research with impact, across disciplines and perspectives, convening people with differing experiences and roles to identify new solutions intergenerationally, and to apply this learning together for transformative change, with and for children.

Together - with our staff team, our Doctoral Research Centre doctoral students, a wide range of Non-Governmental Organisations and multilateral agency partners, and at times with children and young people themselves - we work to develop the evidence-base, strengthen political will, and support effective policy and practice responses for children facing adversity worldwide.

Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Carly Elliott, Participation and Policy Lead (carly.elliott@strath.ac.uk).

​Freedom from Torture is the Winner of the Overall Award for Excellence and the top prize for Campaigns and Advocacy at the 2023 Charity Awards.

​We have an exciting opportunity for a Scotland-based Legal Advisor to join our Legal Advice and Welfare Service.

​Would you like to join our award-winning organisation?

About the role

Legal Advisors at Freedom from Torture deliver expert, detailed, advice to treatment clients and their clinicians on all areas of asylum and immigration law. There is a particular focus on complex, appeals rights exhausted cases where there is a risk of detention, and on supporting clients who are unrepresented. Legal Advisors review evidence produced by clinicians for use in clients’ asylum and immigration cases, ensuring that it complies with the standards required of a professional witness. Legal Advisors are also responsible for delivering internal and external training on a range of legal issues affecting torture survivors within the immigration and asylum system in the UK.

We are seeking to recruit a Legal Advisor for our Glasgow centre, who is a Scottish qualified legal professional with experience of advising on immigration and asylum matters within the Scottish legal system, and who could attend our Glasgow centre at least once every fortnight.

​About you

​You will be a legal professional qualified to practice in Scotland, with expertise in immigration and asylum law, particularly in relation to the legal protections available to survivors of torture. You will have experience of advising and representing clients in the Tribunals and Courts, including in judicial review claims. You will be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with people who have experienced trauma, and will be able to build professional relationships with a variety of colleagues both internally and externally. You will share our commitment to working with and empowering people who have experienced torture.

In return, we offer a competitive package, with a generous 30-day annual leave entitlement, and 6% employer pension contribution (minimum 1% employee contribution).

Freedom from Torture is committed to showing the salary for all advertised roles and not negotiating salaries for roles, in light of evidence that this contributes to structural inequality.

​Our policy is that all appointments will be at the start of the salary range but successful candidates will have the opportunity to move up the scale over time. The progression up the salary range is reviewed on an annual basis and subject to affordability. For this role, the salary range is £47,655 - £54,445 pro rata per annum.

Major Tasks

To be a subject expert on benefits and welfare related areas.

Prepare and brief colleagues and departments as required.

Main Job Activities

1. To be a subject expert:

Understanding the rules, laws and regulations within the relevant subject area.

Review and highlight key information to colleagues from relevant literature, journals, and reports.

Identify areas of improvement for the organisation’s advice service, working with colleagues to implement strategic development plans.

Support relevant marketing and media activities.

2. To influence the operational processes associated with the relevant subject area:

Identifying and implementing key improvements across both advisor and customer journeys.

Strong depth of understanding related to enquiry patterns and trends.

Planning and horizon scanning to provide the most up-to-date information for our advisors.

3. Identify and develop collaborative partnerships with stakeholders within the subject area:

Partnership working with organisations we are currently engaged with, in addition to establishing possible new partnership opportunities with those we are not.

Monitoring, understanding, and responding to external consultations and changes within the relevant subject area.

4. Prepare and brief both senior colleagues and external stakeholders as required:

Regular development of reports and written briefings.

Inform and collaborate with our internal training department to influence training content.

Support advisory staff when required, providing subject specific guidance.

5. To undertake any other duties as reasonably requested by Line Manager.