We're on the lookout for a Venture Support Manager to join The Ventures Lab team at The Challenges Group.

This role is at Senior Manager level and part of our senior team in Scotland, reporting to the Chief Executive.

Download the full recruitment pack below or from our website:thechallengesgroup.com/jobs

About us:

Challenges Group is an international enterprise development organisation which improves organisational capabilities through learning and leadership development for people and strengthening enterprises and their ecosystems. The Ventures Lab by Challenges Group provides an inclusive, supportive path for aspiring or early-stage entrepreneurs to bring their purpose-led businesses to life.

thechallengesgroup.com | theventureslab.com

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and influence the development of a new public body: the Scottish Food Commission. It is expected that the Commission will be formally established by mid-2025.

The Scottish Food Commission is a new non-departmental public body that is to be established to provide an oversight role of provisions made in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.

As the first chair of the Scottish Food Commission, this appointment will play a crucial role in shaping the future and strategic direction of this new public body.

You will be actively involved in the recruitment of the chief executive, the first member of staff to the Scottish Food Commission, and in appointing the other members of the board.

You will work closely with the sponsor team and the chief executive, once in place, to enable the new public body to take on its statutory functions and full budgetary control once it is established.

Once the body is fully established you will be key in ensuring the Commission effectively fulfils its oversight role and provides constructive challenge, that is evidence based, to Scottish Ministers and relevant authorities in relation to their Good Food Nation Plans.

This is a high publicity role that will attract great interest from key stakeholders interested in the Scottish food system.

Remuneration and time commitment

The chair role is paid at a gross daily rate of £211 per day (7.5 hours).This role is non-pensionable. This means that there is no pension contribution paid.

We expect that the time commitment will change over the life of the body. While the body is being established and during the first months of operation more engagement will be needed – i.e. up to 80 days/year. During the establishment phase there may also be phases of increased activity.

It is likely that once the body is established the chair’s time commitment will decrease to approximately 50 days/year.

The chair’s time commitment will be reviewed on a regular basis.

Skills/Experience Required

Scottish Ministers welcome applications from people from a wide range of backgrounds who have the following

skills/knowledge/experience:

All of the following priority criteria:

• Experience of setting up a new organisation, and setting the direction for that organisation
• Experience of navigating a complex policymaking landscape, including communicating with a range of stakeholders
• Leadership and Management

All of the following essential criteria:

• Analysis and Decision-making
• Seeing the bigger picture
• Communication, influence and constructive challenge
• Understanding of the complexity of the food system

Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association (‘ENSA’ to our friends) exists to enable students to make the most of their university experience. We do this by representing, supporting, and developing Edinburgh Napier students to be successful in their studies; to try out new things; to engage in, and contribute to university life; to be healthy and happy; to bring about positive change; and most importantly have fun to make it an unforgettable experience.

As our CEO is moving on to pastures new, we are now looking to recruit a new Chief Executive Officer who will lead a motivated and dynamic professional staff of 14 and develop and support our three sabbaticals who, each year, are elected by the student community at Edinburgh Napier. The post-holder will have the opportunity to lead on the development and delivery of a new strategic plan as our Strategy 2021 – 2024 comes to an end.

About the Role:

Under the direction of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer is accountable for the leadership, management, and sustainability of the Students’ Association, alongside providing support to the Elected Officers enabling them to fulfil their duties to the best of their potential.

In this role, you will be required to coach, develop, and provide leadership to the Students’ Association’s staff and to take responsibility for ENSA’s management and administration within the accountability frameworks established by the Board of Directors.

The role holder will not only be forward-looking, with a continuous focus on improvement but also have a deep understanding and appreciation for student issues and student experience.

We truly believe in the power of diversity and understand that different viewpoints are important to achieving goals, that's why we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences.

For a comprehensive list of duties and full job description, please see the Recruitment Pack PDF.

What we will need from you:

• Experienced working at a board-level, either reporting to, or serving on a Board

• Excellent leadership, coaching and influencing skills to drive change forward.

• An excellent understanding of governance, compliance and university structures

• Writing high-quality reports and policy pieces

• Managing budgets and setting and overseeing internal controls

• Developing strategies and implementing strategic change Forging productive partnerships with stakeholders