Charity registered in Scotland SC032662
The Scottish Youth Parliament represents Scotland’s young people. Our vision for Scotland is of a nation that actively listens to and values the meaningful participation of its children and young people. Our goal is to make this vision a reality, in order to ensure Scotland is the best place in the world to grow up.
We are a fundamentally rights-based organisation, and our mission, vision, and values are grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The Scottish Youth Parliament Board is looking to recruit up to 4 External Advisors to support the strategic direction and governance of the charity.
The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is the national democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people. Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) are elected in national elections for a two-year term and represent constituencies and national voluntary organisations. SYP is a rights-based organisation that campaigns for change to make Scotland the best place to grow up.
The board of SYP is entirely youth led, with 8 trustees being elected from our wider membership at our AGM to lead the organisation. SYP Trustees (including Chair and Vice Chair are elected for a 1-year term with the option of re standing for a further year). The SYP board is supported by External Advisors who have a governance role in brining their knowledge and experience in relevant disciplines to support the board and SYP CEO.
SYP is entering an exciting new chapter with a new CEO appointed in July 2023, a new strategy being developed in 2024 and a new youth manifesto launching in 2025. We are looking for passionate and committed External Advisors to support SYP to deliver for the young people of Scotland. We are looking for applications from a broad range of individuals who bring their unique experiences and expertise to the board.
SYP is specifically looking for new External Advisors with expertise in:
Accountancy, Audit and Risk
• Human Resources and People
• Fundraising and Income Generation
• Government/Political Engagement
• Equalities and Human Rights
We welcome applicants who may not have served on a board, but have board exposure at a senior level who are looking for a volunteer position and experience to support our charitable objectives and strategy. SYP is committed to providing a working environment in which employees, volunteers, stakeholders, partners and associates are able to realise their full potential and contribute to our work irrespective of age, disability, gender identity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity. In terms of our work, we expand this list to consider the needs of employees with part time status and disadvantaged groups, including care-experienced people, carers, people from a lower socio-economic background or living in poverty, asylum seekers and refugees. This is a key employment value to which all employees are expected to give their support.
Successful candidates will be required to be a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Participation Manager to join the SYP team.
Working within SYP’s youth-led structure, our Participation and Programmes Manager will support the Head of Participation and Programmes, working with the Participation and Programmes team to deliver SYP’s Participation, Project, Programmes and training activities, in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives.
Reports to: Head of Participation and Programmes
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Policy and Public Affairs Manager to join the SYP team. Working within SYP’s youth-led structure, our Policy and Public Affairs Manager will support the Head of Policy and Public Affairs, working within the Policy and Public Affairs team to deliver SYP’s policy and public affairs activities, in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives.
Reports to: Head of Policy and Public Affairs
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Policy and Public Affairs Officer to join the SYP team. Working within SYPs youth led structure, this role will be to support on the delivery of our policy, campaigns, influencing and public affairs work across the organisation. Including supporting Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, project participants, support workers, SYP staff and other key stakeholders. This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Participation and Programmes Officer to join the SYP team. Working within SYPs youth led structure, this role will be to support on the delivery of our participation, programmes, project and training work across the organisation. Including supporting Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, project participants, support workers, SYP staff and other key stakeholders. This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
Top job! Chief Executive
- Full time
- £57,867 – £63,225
- Working between the SYP Office at 1 Mansfield Place, and hybrid
- Closing 5th May 2023
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), the democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people, as the most senior staff member.
SYP has a proud history of delivering youth led campaigns that deliver meaningful policy change. Our campaigns for Votes at 16, for Equal Marriage, and for the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law, to name only a few, have led to many improvements to the lives of young people across Scotland.
SYP’s political profile and impact has never been higher, and the demands placed on our staff team and the MSYPs we support are significant. Like many youth organisations in Scotland, SYP is operating in a challenging and complex external environment, with central and local government funding becoming increasingly tight.
Our work in upholding young people’s rights has been recognised internationally, including by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child as well as domestically, through our work with the Children’s Parliament to deliver an annual joint meeting between children and young people and the Scottish Cabinet.
We have a number of exciting projects and activities that are upcoming, including:
• Our 79th National Sitting, which will take place in Orkney in July
• SYP National Elections in November, working in partnership with 32 local authorities and our 11 National Voluntary Organisation partners
• Our Children and Young People’s Takeover of the Scottish Government’s Cabinet meeting and our Takeover of the Scottish Government’s Executive Team.
• Supporting MSYPs to ensure young people’s rights are upheld in Scotland at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.
As CEO, your role will be to negotiate these challenges, identify and deliver on opportunities, while remaining true to our youth led ethos, and supporting a Board of Trustees (all of whom are aged 16 to 25) in leading the organisation, managing risks and delivering on our strategic objectives.
If you are a skilled and inspirational leader, with a track record of delivering results in a political environment, who is confident in supporting young people to excel, then this role might be perfect for you!
If you would like an informal and confidential discussion about our expectations for this role, please contact SYP’s Chief Executive, Ben McKendrick at ben.m@syp.org.uk.
Top job! Head of Policy and Public Affairs
- Full time
- £39,114 – £45,008
- Edinburgh
- Closing 28th February 2023
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) in a new role that will lead all of SYP’s political, policy and campaigns work.
SYP has a proud history of delivering youth led campaigns that deliver meaningful policy change. Our campaigns for Votes at 16, for Equal Marriage, and for the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law, to name only a few, have led to improvements to the lives of young people across Scotland.
SYP’s political profile and impact has never been higher, and our new Head of Policy will be responsible for driving forward all of our political work and ensure that we deliver even more of the changes to policy and legislation that young people expect of us.
If you would like an informal and confidential discussion about our expectations for this role, please contact SYP’s Chief Executive, Ben McKendrick at ben.m@syp.org.uk
Reports to: Chief Executive
Direct Reports: Policy and Public Affairs Officer and Policy and Project Officer
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Policy and Public Affairs Officer to join the SYP team. Working within SYPs youth led structure, this role will be to support on the delivery of our policy work across the organisation. Including supporting Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, to create policy, advocate for SYP policy to key audiences and stakeholders and support the wider policy work of SYP.
This post is subject satisfactory references and membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Project and Policy Officer to join the SYP team. Working within SYPs youth led structure, this role will be to support on the delivery of our projects and policy work across the organisation. Including supporting Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, project participants, support workers, SYP staff and other key stakeholders. This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Business Support Assistant to join the SYP team. Working within SYPs youth led structure, this role will be to support our staff team and volunteers work across the organisation with admin tasks, liaise with key suppliers and coordinate the SYP office. This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
Communications Officer
- Full time
- £23,639 – £30,448
- all staff are currently working flexibly between the SYP office and working from home
- Closing 29th April 2022
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Communications Officer to join the SYP team.
Reports to: Chief Executive (with reporting responsibilities to the Policy and Public Affairs Manager)
The Communications Officer is responsible for all external and internal communications and the delivery of agreed campaign objectives (with support from other colleagues) at SYP.
This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
This is a new and exciting opportunity to join the staff team at the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) as UNCRC Participation Manager.
We are looking to recruit a UNCRC Participation Manager to develop our offer to Scottish Government, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and other statutory bodies in supporting the meaningful participation of young people in decision making in a youth led way.
This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
Reports to: Deputy Chief Executive (with reporting responsibilities to the CEO)
We are excited to announce the opportunity for a Project and Policy Officer to join the SYP team. Working within SYPs youth led structure, this role will be to support on the delivery of our projects and policy work across the organisation. Including supporting Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, project participants, support workers, SYP staff and other key stakeholders. This post is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme. We are excited to announce the opportunity team.