Head of Area Support and Community Improvement

Children's Hearings Scotland is part of Scotland's unique Children's Hearing System and provides an independent decision making function which protects and improves the outcomes and opportunities of Scotland’s children and young people. We recruit, train and support 2,500 volunteer Panel Members who take part in children’s hearings, making decisions with and for children and young people across Scotland. Our organisation also supports a network of 22 Area Support Teams made up of 400 volunteers who support Panel Members in their local communities.

Our new Head of Area Support and Community Improvement role has been designed to ensure volunteer sustainability and will provide strategic and operational leadership to a team of eleven geographically dispersed Area Support and Improvement Partners (the Partners) who work alongside our volunteer Area Support Teams.

You will play a vital role in ensuring that we meet the expectations of children, young people and strategic partners, when it comes to providing the best possible hearings experience ,you will be responsible for driving improvement and change initiatives locally, whilst enabling national consistency.

You will support the Area Support and Improvement Partner team in building relationships with our strategic partners at a local level, as you look for opportunities to implement change that will improve hearings for the children and young people attending them, both now and in the future.

You will be a strategic and organised leader with the proven ability to quickly build sustainable relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. You must be able to lead, drive and deliver change within a volunteer-centric organisation ensuring a sound understanding of our mission, vision and values and how to embed change at a local level. Experience of managing dynamic teams is also essential.

Educated to degree level or equivalent you must be able to evidence your recent commitment to continuing your professional development in your area of work. You must also possess a leadership/management qualification and have significant demonstrable experience in leadership, problem solving, planning and decision making. Ability to travel frequently across Scotland is therefore essential as is the ability to regularly work outside CHS’ normal working hours to meet the requirements of the job.

How to Apply

To apply for this post, please download the Application Pack from the CHS website, complete the CHS application form and email it to jobs@chs.gsi.gov.uk. CVs are not accepted. For an informal and confidential discussion on the role, please contact Maggie McManus on maggie.mcmanus@chs.gsi.gov.uk who will get be able to answer any questions and talk to you about the role in more detail.

We will assess candidates against all the essential criteria for this role (technical experience and behavioural competencies) as stated in the role profile through an interview and additional assessments as required.

Closing Date: Monday 28^th October at 12.00 noon. Interviews are anticipated to be held towards the end of w/c 4^th November in Edinburgh.

Due to the anticipated high volume of applications for this post, if you have not heard from CHS within one week of the closing date you should assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

This post requires an Enhanced Disclosure certificate from Disclosure Scotland and Scottish Government security clearance.

No agencies please.