Chief Executive
Salary: £65,000-70,000
Fully remote, with an ability to work flexibly, including some travel to reflect the distributed location of staff and services.
Forces Children Scotland was founded in 1815, to support Scottish children and young people whose parents were killed or experienced life-changing wounds during the Napoleonic Wars. Today, with over 200 years of experience, Forces Children Scotland is dedicated to supporting children and young people from armed forces and veteran families. The organisation provides a wide range of services, including mental health and wellbeing support and financial aid. By fostering opportunities for youth participation and advocacy, they ensure the voices of these children are heard, respected and acted on. Forces Children Scotland also collaborates with educators and policymakers to address unique challenges faced by forces families, driving meaningful change across Scotland.
The Vision: To make Scotland a place where all children & young people from armed forces and veteran families are listened to, their rights are upheld and empowered to realise their potential and thrive.
The Mission: to become the sector-leading charity in Scotland that supports children and young people, from armed forces communities. To embed their lived experience at the heart of everything we do to provide exciting opportunities to get involved to co-produce our services and amplify their voices to inspire meaningful change.
The role
Forces Children Scotland are searching for their next Chief Executive to lead the charity into the next stage of its history and are seeking a dynamic Chief Executive to lead their mission of supporting children and young people from armed forces and veteran families. The CEO will lead the team and work closely in collaboration with the rest of the senior management team and the Board of Directors, to drive strategic initiatives for the charity. At an exciting and opportunistic time, the successful candidate will join the organisation at a pivotal point to set the next strategic plan for the upcoming 3-4 years.
The ideal candidate will have:
- Education to degree level or equivalent with proven strategic and senior leadership experience.
- Skills in managing, motivating, and developing staff.
- Experience with service delivery for children, young people, and/or Armed Forces community.
- Expertise in resource and budget management, ensuring financial sustainability.
- Strong strategic and operational planning skills.
- Excellent listening skills, to be an advocate for children and young people from armed forces families.
- Inclusive, proactive leader approach with a focus on staff development.
- High interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships across a large range of stakeholders and at all levels
A clear passion for achieving the best outcomes for Armed Forces and veteran families, a commitment to children’s rights, and fostering collaborative partnerships is essential.
Strong political acuity coupled with knowledge of, or the ability to quickly gain an understanding of the regulatory and wider political landscape in relation to children and young people from armed forces communities in Scotland is desirable.
For more information on the opportunity and Forces Children Scotland, please visit www.aspenpeople.co.uk/FCS
You can contact Catriona Mackie or Lauryn Pringle at Aspen People for a confidential discussion about the role on 0141 212 7555.
Closing date for applications: Friday 23rd August 2024
To apply, please upload your CV and cover letter (as one document) below. FCS also ask that applicants complete a young-person friendly version of your CV / application. It should set out the values, skills and experience that you have that makes you suitable for this role. The format could be written, a graphic, a short film or picture, as long as it is suitable for review by a 14-17 year old. Your young-person friendly application can be emailed separately to mscholes@aspenpeople.co.uk