Strategic Partnership Specialist

Sight Scotland; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous employee pension scheme

Learning and Development opportunities

Employee assistance programme

Discounted cinema tickets

Discounts for carers

Job summary

Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans are seeking a Strategic Partnership Specialist to work with the Head of Strategic Partnerships, building relationships across third sector partners, government, health and social care and academia in Scotland.

You will coordinate Vision Collaborative Scotland activities, organise meetings, conduct research, prepare reports and contribute to workforce development, helping deliver impactful projects that improve outcomes for people with vision impairment.

Qualifications

• Experience of developing and maintaining effective partnerships and stakeholder relationships.
• Understanding of the vision impairment or related sector.
• Experience coordinating projects or collaborative activity with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience undertaking research and bringing together information from diverse sources.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with ability to engage different audiences.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver to timescales.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain relationships across third sector partners, government, health and social care and academia.
• Coordinate Vision Collaborative Scotland activity and organise meetings and events.
• Undertake research, prepare reports and presentations.
• Support workforce development initiatives and ensure projects are delivered on schedule.
• Represent Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans at events and engage with ministers and academic partners.

Skills

Partnership development

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Project coordination

Independent working

Job description

This is a unique opportunity to influence positive change for blind and partially sighted people across Scotland. You’ll be supporting partnership working with the third sector, government, health and social care and academia through Vision Collaborative Scotland and other joint initiatives. Join Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans to help drive impactful projects, develop your professional network and play a key role in shaping the future of the vision impairment sector.

What does a day in this role look like?

The Strategic Partnership Specialist works closely with the Head of Strategic Partnerships to build and maintain relationships across third sector partners, government, health and social care and academia, to support collaborative projects that improve outcomes for people with vision impairment across Scotland. A typical day may involve co‑ordinating Vision Collaborative Scotland activity, engaging with partners, organising meetings and events, undertaking research, preparing reports and presentations, supporting workforce development initiatives, and ensuring partnership actions and projects are delivered effectively and on schedule.

What development opportunities are available within the role?

Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans provide a wide range of training opportunities to support your career development. In this role, you’ll have the chance to support meetings with Scottish Ministers, third sector leaders and academic institutions, while building skills in research policy, programme development, communications and influencing. You will represent the charities at events and get involved in large‑scale impactful projects which will shape the future of the vision impairment sector in Scotland.

What is expected of you within this role?

A motivated and organised person, you will work collaboratively with colleagues and partners to build positive relationships, co‑ordinate activity and maintain momentum. You will use your great communication skills adaptably, building trust with partners. A self‑starter, you’ll be expected to work independently and collaboratively and adopt a solution‑focused approach to balancing priorities and outcomes.

Summary of requirements of the role

Essential:

• Experience of developing and maintaining effective partnerships and stakeholder relationships.
• Understanding of the vision impairment, sensory impairment or similar sector.
• Experience of coordinating projects or collaborative activity involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience of undertaking research and bringing together information from a range of sources.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage different audiences.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, work collaboratively and deliver activity to agreed timescales.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in the charity or voluntary sector.
• Experience of working with Government, public sector, health and social care or academic organisations.
• Experience of policy, workforce development or professional education initiatives.
• Experience of managing website or social media content.

You don’t need to meet every single requirement to be a great candidate. Most people learn parts of the job once they’re in post, so if a role interests you and you believe you could grow into it, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re committed to fair, accessible recruitment. If you need any adjustments, like extra time, a different format, or other support, at any stage of the process, just let us know. Please contact People and Culture on 0131 378 2793 or via [e-mail] who can arrange for any support you need.

About us

For more than 230 years we've been supporting and empowering people with sight loss to live fulfilling lives. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, but we want to do more. We will build on our rich history to create an organisation which is prepared for the future, and ready to respond to the needs of people impacted by vision loss.

Our vision is bold. We want to be at the leading edge of positive societal change by:

• Investing our funds in the support that makes the biggest difference
• Putting our community at the heart of what we do
• Campaigning for change
• Accelerating prevention and treatment of eye conditions
• Fostering a collaborative culture of innovation and learning

We’re determined that no‑one should face sight loss alone. We're committed to improving, diversifying and growing our services to make sure we can reach many more people with sight loss - when and where they need us.

Our organisational values - Transform, Unite and Thrive - underpin all the work we do at Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans.

Benefits

• Generous employee pension scheme
• Learning and Development opportunities
• Employee assistance programme
• Discounted cinema tickets
• Discounts for carers