Trustee (Board of Directors) - 438766

Birthlink; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A Scottish charity providing adoption support is seeking five board members, including a Secretary and Treasurer. This role involves governance and strategy to ensure the charity meets the needs of its beneficiaries. Candidates should have expertise in areas like adoption practice and fundraising. Understanding of trauma and generational issues in adoption is crucial.

Qualifications

• Understanding of adoption, forced adoption, abuse in care.
• Experience in a psychologically safe and trauma-informed environment.
• Ability to represent the diversity of beneficiaries.

Responsibilities

• Governance and strategy development for Birthlink.
• Ensuring proper representation of diversity in board composition.
• Working collaboratively with other board members.

Skills

Adoption practice

Adult and Child Protection

Business development

Fundraising and Philanthropy

Human Resources

Information governance

Risk Management

Volunteer growth and management

Education

Professional subject matter expertise

Tools

Microsoft Teams

Information management systems

Electronic finance systems

Job description

Overview

Joining Birthlink’s volunteer board of Directors to ensure our continued growth, future strategy and protection of the interests of our stakeholders. We will achieve this by ensuring we have the right skills and expertise to transform and drive the organisation.

As a member of Birthlink Board, you will play a key role in Governance and Strategy to ensure we can continue to serve our beneficiaries.

Board composition

We are looking to recruit five board members including a Secretary, Treasurer and Safeguarding Lead with professional subject matter expertise in the following areas:

• Adoption practice (historic to modern times)
• Adult and Child Protection
• Business development, strategy and management
• Corporate Partnerships
• Feminist issues impacting our beneficiaries, their children and families and the intergenerational and generational impact of these
• Fundraising and Philanthropy
• Human Resources including employee engagement and development
• Information governance and data protection
• Membership organisations
• Risk Management
• Senior Social Worker with practice teaching experience and experience of working in a psychologically safe and trauma informed organisation
• Social impact measurement
• Start-ups, non-profit, non-government, government or charity organisation
• Volunteer growth and management

All board members do not need to have professional subject matter expertise in all areas. However, an understanding of the impact of adoption, forced adoption, abuse in care and being in care in Scotland and an understanding of trauma and generational trauma is critical.

Birthlink is committed to representing the diversity of our beneficiaries on our Board and welcomes applications from people who have family or personal experience of adoption and forced adoption or experience of being in care in Scotland.

Excellent skills in using Microsoft Teams and associated packages are critical. Knowledge of information management systems and electronic finance systems is needed.

About Birthlink

Birthlink is an Edinburgh based charity, a charitable company governed by the board of trustees. Our services are life changing and are funded through a mix of grants and fund-raising including our two charity shops.

Birthlink holds the Adoption Contact Register (ACR) for Scotland which celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2024. Birthlink also works in partnership with the Scottish Government including through Future Pathways.

The organisation was first established in 1911 as the Eastern Branch of the National Vigilance Association to support vulnerable women and girls. Our mission is to enhance and promote the wellbeing of adults. Birthlink provides life changing support to adults affected by Adoption with a Scottish connection, adults who have experienced abuse in care in Scotland irrespective of where they live in the world today.

Birthlink supports those adults by:

• Supporting people to find and access their information and records
• Supporting people to make application to Scotland’s Redress Scheme
• Reuniting people and their families

Birthlink is at a developmental stage, undergoing a comprehensive business change programme to ensure the organisation is equipped to continue to deliver its functions in the future.

Birthlink’s Core Services are:

• Post Adoption Support Service: this includes the after-adoption information helpline, wrap-around practical and emotional support to people on their journey, accessing records, managing the adoption contact register, mediation for people who are matched on the adoption contact register in advance of when they meet for the first time
• Care Connect Service, supporting adults who have been in care to find information about their past or trace estranged family members
• Scotland’s Redress Scheme, Redress Support Service, supporting people to access their records in advance of applying to Scotland’s Redress Scheme
• Edinburgh’s oldest thrift shops

As an aspect of the change programme the following services are being grown:

• Genealogy Service
• Counselling Service
• Heritage programme

You can read more about Birthlink and these services on our website.