Volunteering & Employability Manager

Salary £49,588 - £54,187. (Band F)

In addition, Scottish Canals offers an excellent benefits package including:

• 28 days' annual leave, plus six public holidays
• Up to 10% employer pension contribution
• Enhanced sick pay
• Health Cash Plan
• Employee discounts and wellbeing benefits

We currently have a fantastic opportunity for a Volunteering & Employability Manager to join our People Team in Falkirk. We're looking for an enthusiastic, proactive leader to shape and deliver a structured, consistent and supported approach to volunteering and employability across Scottish Canals, with Lock 16 at its heart. You'll work closely with canal societies, community organisations, third-sector bodies and corporate partners to strengthen community participation and create meaningful opportunities to develop confidence, skills and experience.

You'll take the strategic lead on volunteering and employability, coordinating suitable opportunities that add value and capacity across the canal network. Additionality will be central to your approach: volunteering should extend what Scottish Canals and its communities can achieve. You'll maintain clear distinctions between volunteering, paid employment, employability and skills programmes, and partnership delivery, with appropriate training, supervision, health and safety and governance arrangements.

The role is offered on a permanent, full -time basis, working Monday - Friday, 35 hours per week (with some flexibility as required).

• Develop and implement a Volunteering and Employability Strategy aligned with the People Strategy and Corporate Plan, embedding additionality, meaningful participation, community benefit and safe, supported volunteering.
• Lead and manage volunteering and employability across the canal network, including Lock 16, developing consistent coordination, training, governance and support arrangements.
• Develop and maintain an effective volunteer engagement and support service, ensuring opportunities provide a positive experience and genuine benefit for volunteers as well as Scottish Canals.
• Oversee volunteer recruitment, induction, training, recognition and retention, ensuring activities are suitable for volunteers and take account of competence, risk, supervision and Scottish Canals' health and safety policies and practices.
• Build collaborative relationships with canal societies, community organisations, and other partners invested in our blue and green spaces.
• Develop structured corporate volunteering opportunities, such as Team Engagement Days, and build corporate partnerships with income generation.
• Create suitable opportunities for young people, including school pupils and students, through volunteering, work experience, traineeships and apprenticeships, keeping the status and arrangements for each programme clear.
• Devise and manage a corporate apprenticeship programme.
• Develop pathways from community participation and volunteering into skills development, employability programmes and paid employment, working with Lock 16, Historic Environment Scotland and other partners.
• Manage the Volunteering and Employability team, including reporting, budgetary support and line management of volunteer co-ordinators, supporting the planned growth of volunteering through dedicated resources and partnerships.
• Provide advice and guidance on volunteering and employability, maintaining clear distinctions between volunteers, employees, programme participants and people employed by partner organisations.
• Work with operational colleagues to identify suitable additional activity, including environmental stewardship, biodiversity, heritage interpretation, events and recording and monitoring, ensuring volunteering supplements rather than replaces planned paid work.

• Strong influencing and persuasion skills when working with key stakeholders and decision makers.
• Ability to work independently, using your own initiative and manage your workload effectively.
• Capable of applying strategic thinking and communicating effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Excellent writing, presentation and IT skills including the use of Microsoft Office.
• Experience of working with volunteers, partnership working and building effective partnerships with community organisations, colleagues and other stakeholders, including senior management.
• Project management experience would be advantageous.
• Ability to develop meaningful volunteering and skills pathways and work collaboratively with operational teams, the People Team and recognised Trade Unions on programme boundaries and workforce planning.

Scottish Canals reserve the right to close this vacancy before the closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received.

• Ability to build effective relationships that generate confidence, respect and collaborative working.
• Highly focused on service delivery and customer satisfaction
• Leads by example in demonstrating our values of We care, We create, We collaborate, encouraging colleagues to embed these behaviours in their work.