Outside the Box
Community Development Advisors – 2 posts
Flexible hours, part-time with potential for full-time
£30,000 pa pro rata
Closing date: Monday 27th August
About Outside the Box
Outside the Box aims to create more opportunities and supports for people
that enable them to have the lives they want.
We provide community development support to community groups across
Scotland. We also work with larger organisations when they want to work in
partnership with the people who use their services of live in the local area.
We began in 2004 and since then we have worked with over 200 projects.
We are looking for 2 people to work with us as employees on a flexible basis.
You will be joining a small staff team, volunteers who work with us on specific
projects, associates who do additional tasks as needed and an active group
of board members.
There is more information about the organisation and what we do on the
website: www.otbds.org
Selection process
The closing date is Monday 27th August.
Applications should be made to
Anne Connor, Chief Executive
Outside the Box
Unit 23, 150 Brand St, Glasgow G51 1DH
anne@otbds.org
We will accept applications by post or by email.
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You should send
1: A CV
2: A statement which explains:
 Why you want this job.
 The strengths and experience you bring.
 How you could contribute to the organisation.
 Your understanding of the issues around community development work
with people who face additional disadvantages.
 How you could work in the ways we have described.
3: Contact details for 2 referees. If you are in current or recent employment,
one must be your current/last employer. If you have been doing consultancy
work, one must be someone for whom you have worked as a consultant.
We encourage people to learn about the organisation and how we work
before they send in an application. We will try to answer any questions you
have. You should note that Anne Connor is on leave from 31 July – 20
August and is not available for informal conversations over this period.
Interviews
The formal interview process is in 2 stages.
1: An information exchange where short-listed applicants meet with other
members of the staff team, board members and people we work with. This is
to enable applicants to learn more about us as well as letting us learn more
about you.
2: An interview with the Chief Executive and Board members.
The date for the information exchange is the 10th September.
The interview will be on the 13th September.
Focus of the Work
The people we recruit will take on some of the work that has been started by
other members of the team and develop new projects.
Our work is not limited to these topics and all staff contribute to identifying and
developing new opportunities.
This is the scope of the work which Outside the Box expects to be doing over
the coming year or so:
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
Developing and supporting a shared learning network for smaller, userled organisations that provide care services around the expansion of
Self-directed support.

Developing a web-based resource for people who use social care
services and carers about how to start getting care.

Development of projects using of social media to promote positive
mental wellbeing, provide peer support, disseminate material produced
by projects and for other purposes.

Capacity building for people who use services and carers around
participation in formal decision making systems.

Planning sessions, capacity building and funding applications for
projects.

Capacity building with older people, including financial inclusion and
social inclusion.

Developing peer support and social inclusion opportunities for mums to
promote their mental wellbeing.

Development support, shared learning and capacity building for people
who want to make changes in their communities.
For some of these areas the income has already been secured and we have
to fulfil specific tasks and responsibilities. For others, part of the role includes
developing detailed plans, confirming partners and securing funding.
These are the main elements of the role

Giving advice and support to community groups when they are trying to
develop a new activity or keep an existing activity going.

Developing links with local groups, with people who are taking on
activist roles, and with the people and organisations that can give them
on-going encouragement and support.

Developing good working relationships with staff in local authorities,
NHS and other larger organisations, including potential funders or
commissioners of new developments and staff who can work alongside
community projects in other ways.

Securing funding to enable us to carry out our development work, and
working with the groups to secure the resources they need to put their
ideas into effect.
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
Writing reports and other materials from what we and the projects do,
to help raise the profile of the projects, influence wider policy and
practice, and spread the ideas and methods that are emerging.
These are the qualities we want people to bring
You have experience of working with community groups as a consultant or
advisor or in a staff role.
You are able to work in ways that support people and groups to learn and
make their own decisions, rather than more conventional ways of working
such as delivering training or services, or being an expert who gives advice.
You have experience of generating income for this type of work through
contracts as well as grants.
You have experience of writing reports or other material to promote projects
or ideas, and of influencing decision-makers on matters such as setting
priorities or funding for services.
You are able to work in a self-directed way – managing your own workload to
provide a good quality of support within the time and resources available.
You have good professional and personal standards for the work you do.
This may be through membership of a professional association or network, or
working to the standards that such bodies have developed.
You are probably doing similar work for other people, and will have your own
suggestions about how you can maintain an appropriate balance between this
and the work you do for us.
You have contacts in a part of the country and/or with some sectors of
community groups, such as regeneration projects or young people’s projects.
You have, and understand the significance of, skills and knowledge that are
transferable to new situations.
These are features of how we work
Working arrangements
You will be employed by us on a flexible hours contract, and will have all the
rights and responsibilities of an employee.
Over the past year work of the Community Development Advisors has been
an average of 20 hours a week, although this is not guaranteed. There is
scope for staff to work an average of 40 hours each week if the work and
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income is there. Pay is based on the hours you actually work with us and is
based on an annual salary of £30,000 for a 40 hour week.
Holiday pay and other arrangements are based on the level of work the
person has done in the previous year, to let staff and the organisation plan
ahead.
The pattern of work is planned in advance, and the aim is to give the groups
the development advice they need and make up a good, predictable working
environment for the people who work with us.
We keep the level and pattern of work under review and may agree a change
if the volume of work increases or reduces.
There are no set hours and times for the work we do. Much of it is during the
week and in day-time, but evening and weekend working is an integral part of
this type of work.
We work all over Scotland and travel to projects is an integral element of the
work. Some projects are in locations which are difficult to reach by public
transport. You must have a current valid full UK driving license and access to
a car.
The office base for each person is by negotiation, to reflect their
circumstances and the pattern of work they do with us. The current staff,
apart from the Office Manager, work from home and are in the office once a
week. The team meetings take place at the office base at Brand Street in
Glasgow.
Planning the work
We plan and are accountable for the work through project planning and
monitoring systems, such as team meetings, professional supervision,
individual work plans and timesheets.
Professional support comes from within the staff team, the board and the
associates we work with.
The Office Manager based in Glasgow gives administrative support to all the
people working with us and sometimes to the local projects. She co-ordinates
central activities such as links with the graphic designer and printers for
publications and management of the website.
The staff, board and associates together bring a range of skills and
experiences. We all contribute and we all learn from other people. Everyone
is expected to be adaptable and able to work with a wide range of people and
situations.
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An ability to develop and carry through successful partnerships is an essential
element of what we do – both for the people we work with and for ourselves.
Over the next few years we are aiming to build stronger links with some other
organisations that do complementary work in Scotland and in other parts of
the UK.
We work as a social enterprise. The work we do has grant or contract funding
for specific projects. There is no core funding for the organisation as a whole.
We sometimes take on small pieces of work where there is no identified
funding – where we manage to cover this from our earned income from other
sources. This includes topics that are important to the people involved but
where it is difficult to secure independent funding for it at this stage.
We aim to promote equality and diversity in what we do and how we work.
We have a broad plan for the work of the organisation over the next 2-3 years.
Some specific areas have agreed plans. The detailed work plans for each
person are identified 3-6 months ahead. Most income sources are also
identified on this timescale.
When associates or part-time staff do similar work for other people or
organisations, we deal with this in an open and sensible way and aim to find
ways of handling this that are fair to all the people involved.
We aim to share the learning from the work we do with community groups to
enable other people to use it to help improve things in their areas, so a lot of
our work is described and disseminated through websites: this happens when
the group agrees to it and it also reflects their interests.
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