Motivated person required to deliver the AIM HI Income Maximization Project across Midlothian.

Working closely with Midlothian Sure Start Centres, Midwives, Health visitors and Changeworks the post holder will be required to provide holistic money and benefits advice to improve the circumstances and well-being of Midlothian families. The worker will provide help and assistance with checking benefit entitlement, completing benefit applications and challenging benefit decisions. The work will also include income maximisation, advice on budgeting, utility, housing and other issues including some assistance with debt (including housing debt).

Good interpersonal skills are essential and the post holder will work closely with referring professionals and be responsible for developing innovative ways to engage with some hard to reach groups.

21 hours per week with some flexibility.

The Cost of Living crisis is unprecedented in social history and continues to have a devastating impact on the lives of many Stirling citizens. The need for advice, information and crisis intervention support around money, debt, shortages of fuel and food is huge and continues to grow.

The Cost of Living Support Worker is responsible for supporting volunteer advisers deal with the increase in casework / demand due to Cost of Living drivers.

The post holder will increase volunteer advisors capacity to deal with cost of living driven enquiries & support the main Bureau volunteer led generalist service to deal with the increased volume of enquiries.

The post holder will act as support and mentor to both office-based and remotely enabled advice volunteers ensuring they have the necessary support to deal with enquires effectively and efficiently.

General Responsibilities

• To act as the main point of contact and mentor for all advice volunteers seeking casework/advice support on Cost of Living driven enquiries

• To support bureau based & remotely enabled volunteers to assist in the delivery of the core advice service

• To provide advice support for remote & bureau based volunteer workers particularly in relation to complex/crisis Cost of Living crises driven client enquiries.

• Provide advice for maximising income & support volunteer advisers in the provision of advice & assist people maximise their income by accessing such support as is available to them (e.g. benefits and grants).

• Provide advice & support volunteer advisers in the provision of advice for managing debt. Helping people identify their options and strategies, enabling them to get control of their borrowings or removing the burden of debt entirely.

• To undertake supervisory roles within the office – e.g. 2nd tier technical support on complex Cost of Living driven enquiries

• To communicate frequently with volunteer advisers to ensure they are satisfied, well-placed and any concerns are addressed.

• To help ensure the purpose of the Stirling CAB, its actions, policies, procedures and the role of the volunteer is clearly communicated, understood and implemented.

• To help represent and present the views of volunteers and volunteering related matters to senior management.

• Help ensure that the required monthly CAB statistics are provided to the Deputy Manager

• To carry out any other reasonable task requested by CAB management or required by the Board of trustees.

Accountability

• Provide written reports to monthly supervision sessions with Deputy Manager

• Attend annual appraisal

• Attend Annual General Meeting and quarterly reviews of role with CEO

The Citizens Advice network in Scotland is the largest independent advice service in the country. Citizens Advice Scotland is a charity within this network – we act as a national organisation supporting and representing the service as a whole and the interests of citizens. At the heart of the network there are 59 individual citizens advice bureau across Scotland, all operating as independent charities in their own right, which focus on providing support and advice directly to clients. Each of these organisations is a member of Citizens Advice Scotland. We believe that every citizen should have access to free, impartial and confidential advice that helps them make informed decisions, whenever they need it and however, they choose to access it.

Our vision is for a Fairer Scotland where everyone has the advice and information they need to realise their rights, and that the barriers to accessing those rights are effectively challenged.

The advice provided by the Citizens Advice network in communities in every corner of Scotland is life-changing and often live-saving. We use that unique and unparalleled insight and evidence to advocate for people and secure change.

How we tell the story of our impact and the difference we make is critical – this role is a rare opportunity to shape the prevailing public and political debates and drive forward our strategic priorities to ensure that the Citizens Advice Network remains at the centre of decision-making.

Our brand is the most trusted of any advice network in Scotland. You will protect and enhance our brand and be alert to both risk and opportunity. You will retain and build on our sector-leading media presence. We will need you to be adept at identifying the stories that need to be told, and expert in terms of cultivating the relationships and platforms we need to tell those stories effectively and persuasively.

This role offers you the opportunity to work at the heart of supporting Scotland's largest independent advice network and to make an invaluable contribution to citizen’s lives.

Employee benefits

Citizens Advice Scotland offers excellent terms and conditions. We want our people to have a great work life balance and we have designed our working practices and benefits to support this. Here are some of things our employees benefit from: a 35-hour full time working week, 40 days annual leave, genuine flexibility in working hours with a flexi-time system, and blended/hybrid working opportunities for every role.

Citizens Advice Scotland is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies and flexible working arrangements to support all our staff. We are also committed to equality of opportunity for all and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

CAS provides options for blended working to allow employees to balance their time attending the office with time working from home. The number of days you will be able to work from home each week will be dependent on your job role and can be discussed as part of the recruitment process.

Financially Included is a project dedicated to tackling economic abuse and the economic impact of all forms of violence against women and girls in Scotland.

A partnership between GEMAP Scotland and the Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership, the work is funded by the Scottish Governments Delivering Equally Safe Fund.

We are seeking a highly motivated individual to help us develop and deliver a whole system solution in supporting women and girls whose ability to flourish economically has been impacted by gender-based violence.

If you are driven, committed and passionate about helping women and girls to achieve financial independence from coercive circumstances then we want to hear from you.

Our team needs to be creative, collaborative and understand the power of partnerships in finding solutions, challenging norms, and developing systems to support a sustainable framework for tackling economic abuse.