Next Step Initiative is a registered Scottish Charity Incorporated Organisation and leading ethnic minority social enterprise that works to empower, improve, and transform the quality of life of African communities in Scotland.

We are looking for an exceptional and experienced project Manager to join our team to deliver a new project across Scotland, working with African and Caribbean & Ethnic Minority Communities, local communities, Museum and Built Environment Heritage Sector partners to deploy new approaches in empowering and mobilising communities.

You will be part of an innovative and learning organisation; our work builds strong, resilient African and Caribbean/Ethnic Minority Communities and gives people the tools to make real lasting changes in their lives.

Project Profile

Next Step Initiative (NSI), through the support of its strategic Heritage Partners, has created “The Heritage Leader Traineeship Programme” to support organisational and workforce development intended to address barriers to cultural change within the Scottish heritage sector thereby contributing to the wider decolonisation movement, and to train people from BME communities in Scotland to be agents of change within the heritage sector. The initiative is a 3-year scheme consisting of 12 paid traineeships for BME individuals. The programme will run for 14 months, with four traineeships offered each year. The aim is to provide leadership and heritage training, qualifications, mentorship, guidance, practical experience, and confidence to the trainees. The programme is designed to equip individuals from BME communities with the necessary skills and experience to kick-start their careers in the sector. The traineeships will focus on facilitating entry to the heritage sector, thereby enhancing the trainees' prospects of accessing future career paths in this field.

Your Role

As part of the team at Next Step Initiative, you will coordinate, manage, deliver and sustain ‘’ The Heritage Leader Traineeship Programme ‘’.

The project involves the delivery of high quality work-based training to people of African and Caribbean/Ethnic Minority Communities across Scotland in both Museum and Built Environment Heritage, outreach awareness raising events in the community, capacity building programme with Scottish Museums and Built Environment Sector on how to engage and work with African and Ethnic Minority Communities, provide support to 12 full time paid accredited work-based training and placements opportunities for African and Caribbean/Ethnic Minority Communities’ individuals within Scottish Museums/Built Environment and bring together Scottish Museums/Built Environment heritage organisations through a project steering group to support the long term sustainability of project activities. A key part of your role will be to lead the delivery of the project as well as package up all the learning and insights from the work into several engaging and well as written reports, tools, and other visual outputs and dissemination these through events, roundtables, and other communications. (To be reviewed)

What you will need to succeed

You will have experience of successfully leading the development of short term, high impact programme that support the development of new approaches. You will be skilled at building relationships and communicating with a range of stakeholders including community members, experience of working in or with the voluntary sector or with African and Caribbean/Ethnic Minority Communities’ organisations across Scotland. You will have the experience of working within museums or cultural heritage environment. You will be creative and innovative, designing new activities based on initial findings, and flexing your approach. You will be able to produce high quality influential reports and present them in a compelling to influence change. You can facilitate, encourage, motivate, and inspire. Like anything at Next Step Initiative, the work is fast moving, creative and varied, so we are looking for an exceptional individual who will be comfortable and experienced in leading this fixed term high impact and exciting project to influence change for the future while at same time being able to sustain the continuity of the project through viable and realistic income generation approaches.