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: Empowering people affected by crime: VSS Strategy 2021-2026.

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

Reporting directly to the Head of Service, you will be responsible for a team of Co-ordinators who in turn manage groups of volunteers to deliver and evaluate the support to victims and witnesses, our service users, at local court and community-based services. You will be responsible for ensuring, within your services, that VSS’s organisational objectives are being implemented at a local level and have a role in business planning to ensure that all service users within your local area are aware of, and have access to, the support they need. You will be responsible for all aspects of people management for staff in your area, ensuring that employees and volunteers are supported, knowledgeable and capable to deliver the support that meets service user’s needs.

Location:Inverness office, with travel across the locality and further afield being an expectation of this role.

We offer a 28 hour working week. You will also join a rota of Service Managers to provide remote management support around the country on an on-call basis. You will receive an additional allowance for this.

Primary location: Inverness, however be able to travel throughout Highlands and Islands Locality essential (this includes Elgin, Inverness, Tain, Wick, Fort William, Portree, Stornoway, Lochmaddy, Oban, and Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).

Work pattern:Monday - Friday 8AM - 8PM & Saturday 10AM - 4PM (the work pattern can be in between these hours, further details can be discussed at interview stage)

What you’ll need to be successful

We are looking for a dynamic, driven, and motivated individual with a proven track record in managing and supporting the delivery of high-quality support and staff within our community and court services across the Highland area. You must have a degree qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience, continuing professional development and the ability to plan and organise complex workloads with shifting deadlines in order to meet specific targets, ensuring quality output. Good verbal and written communications skills, along with the ability and confidence to develop effective internal and external relationships which deliver organisational goals. And willingness to be flexible in working hours and able to travel as required. In return you will receive, regular training, supervision and opportunities to expand your skills including learning about the criminal justice system.

As well as being responsible for your team, you will have lead responsibility for safeguarding across the Locality Manager team. In this capacity, you will work closely with the Head of Service Delivery and peers to actively contribute to the continuous improvement of our safeguarding across the locally delivered services.

Further details of this role are available in the job description

Please note - This post will be subject to a satisfactory PVG check and two satisfactory references.

What we offer?

When you work for Victim Support Scotland, your wellbeing is important to us. Not only do we offer a generous annual leave package of 39 days (Pro-rata) for this post and a 35 hour week, 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.

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.

Water Witness works at the frontline of the global water crisis to shine a light on its impacts, to understand its root causes and to activate an effective and lasting response. Our ambitious 2030 Strategy sets out five imperatives for a water secure future: accountable governance, progressive financing, redefining corporate responsibility, confronting climate change and activating people power.

We are seeking an outstanding international development practitioner, with a technical background in water and environmental management, to support our growing portfolio of work to secure lasting water security and justice for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

From our headquarters in Edinburgh, the postholder will respond to the evolving support needs of our partners globally and ensure that the evidence emerging from their work drives positive change locally, and systemic change at scale. The successful candidate will support the design, launch and operation of the SDG6 Accountability Facility – a long-term initiative to channel financial, technical and legal support to those working for water justice on the front line of the global water crisis. We are looking for an exceptional individual who has a solid technical understanding of the issues and experience in forming effective relationships with international partners, ensuring joint ownership and positive impact. The post holder will support sub-granting to partners, coordinate monitoring, evaluation and learning, programme planning, oversight, problem solving and reporting, as well as external liaison and programme communications.

The post will be based in Water Witness’s Edinburgh offices, with flexibility for home working. The role will involve some travel within the UK and travel overseas.

If you are looking for an exciting opportunity to use your experience and skills to support positive change in the world, then come join our team!

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.

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).