Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Full Time

Thank you for your interest in the role of Chief Executive Officer at Saheliya.

We are looking to appoint a new CEO who can take this unique organisation to the next level.

Saheliya is a specialist mental health and well-being support organisation for women and girls (12+) living with and/or surviving from experiences of racial inequality compounded by gender-based abuse, living in Scotland. We promote mental well-being by combating the effects of discrimination and abuse, reducing the stigma of mental health, improving access to mainstream services and dismantling the structural inequality that exists for minority ethnic women.

Saheliya’s services and partnership work extends through healthcare, housing, education, employment, immigration and access to justice- delivered across Edinburgh, the Lothians, and Greater Glasgow, as well as wider Scotland.

Our current CEO, who has enabled the organisation to flourish, grow and succeed over the past 13 years, will be stepping down from her position this year. We are therefore now seeking an individual who has passion to grasp and act upon our full potential, taking an exceptional organisation to an even higher level.

I hope you find this brief informative and are inspired to apply.

Shruti Jain, Chair of the Board of Directors

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About Saheliya
Saheliya means ‘women friends’ in Sanskrit.

Saheliya was created in 1992, by minority ethnic women for minority ethnic women, and has since grown to be a vital grassroot organisation supporting over 1300 women and young women each year experiencing mental health problems.

Saheliya has developed its work to engage with the most marginalised and vulnerable women who have low confidence coupled with high levels of fear, trauma, depression, isolation and anxiety resulting from multiple experiences of gender–based abuse compounded by institutional and wider discrimination.

Our work promotes sustainable wellbeing, reduces the stigma of poor mental health and improves access to mainstream services for women and girls experiencing racial inequality. We do this through specialist therapeutic, practical, and emotional support, including advocacy in 14 first languages, and a wide range of wellbeing and learning activities to enable and empower women. We have developed two-way referral systems and communication with key mainstream agencies, and social enterprises to harness skills and aspirations of the women we work with.

Our approach is based on the recognition that minority ethnic women are best placed to advocate for other ethnic minority women: they are experts at traversing mainstream services, at living within the multiple disadvantages of gender and ethnicity, they are specialists in their own cultural contexts, and they are highly proficient at speaking their first languages. The majority of our staff are ex-service users. Sustainable well-being, safety, and inclusion can only be achieved through tailored and targeted pathways of support which recognise eclectic skills and fervent aspirations, as well as desperate need.

We are a Company Limited by Guarantee (SC209861) with charitable status
(SC020069). Our turnover is in the region of £1.3m with approximately 80% of this from grant funding and 20% from enterprise activity.

On average we have around 50 staff employed directly by us but additionally benefit from many volunteers annually involved in childcare, counselling, social work and the Champions Programmes. www.saheliya.co.uk

Company No: SC209861 Charity No: SC020069

Our services are delivered predominantly (but not exclusively) in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We currently lease two operational bases: 125 McDonald Road in Edinburgh and St Rollox House on Springburn Road in Glasgow.

Saheliya also contributes to and engages in local and national strategic consultations and policy development, reporting, shared learning and providing training for mainstream and wider services. Saheliya is now a go-to organisation for Scottish
Government when seeking to consult on gender-based issues in minority ethnic communities.

Saheliya employs a team of skilled staff; the majority are women from minority ethnic backgrounds, speaking multiple languages and have lived experience of the issues and/or experiences faced by our client group. A majority or significant number of staff have decades of experience working with Saheliya or within the minority ethnic sector.

The Board of Directors is also made up of a majority of women from diverse minority ethnic backgrounds with a wide range of skills and experiences.

Our Mission

Our mission is to promote mental well-being by combating the effects of discrimination

Our Vision

Our vision is a fully inclusive Scotland where women are active citizens, socially engaged and economically integrated.

Our Core Objectives

Our Sustainability

We are keen to reduce grant dependency, a more innovative, enterprising model has been adopted in recent years and with good degree of success. An intense period of business planning across our services has already been undertaken, exploring how we could deliver better for less. A business plan and financial forecast were produced towards the end of 2019. As part of ongoing improvement and efficiencies drive, we have reviewed our leased premises.

St Rollox House in Glasgow has been of particular focus over the past 2 years. The building is in a prime location but currently lacks space for development and enterprise activity. We have now achieved longer term security through completing the very recent purchase of this property and thus with further investment, the building will be a significant factor in unlocking our sustainability.

Job Title: Chief Executive Officer *(female)

Job Hours: 25- 35 hours per week, negotiable

Location: Saheliya Offices, Edinburgh/Glasgow

Accountability: Saheliya Board of Directors

Salary: £49,500 pro rata, for full time equivalent of 35 hours per week

Duration: Permanent

Holiday Entitlement: 25 days pro rata increasing to 30 days pro rata after 5 years of continuous service + 15 public holidays
Other Benefits: Generous 8% of salary employer pension contributions

*Please note that due to the nature of our work the post is open to women only.

(exempt under the Equality Act 2010 (part 1, Schedule 9).

This is an exceptional opportunity to have a lead role in a unique and innovative organisation helping to change the lives of some of Scotland’s most marginalised and at risk women and children and gendered abuse, reducing the stigma of mental illness, and improving access to mainstream services while enabling women to also move on into opportunities for self-development and employment.

Role Description

Job Purpose:
The CEO will provide leadership of Saheliya with key priorities being:

To ensure implementation of the organisation’s vision and mission.

To take overall responsibility for effective organisational management and performance, and the financial health of the organisation, ensuring strong income generation plans are in place.

To lead the staff team to ensure high performance and standards, ensuring appropriate resources and activities are in place.

To work with the Board of Directors and staff to shape and deliver the organisation’s strategy and work with the Directors to monitor performance and set the future direction.

To act a strong brand for the organisation and represent Saheliya to a range of audiences including politicians, policy and decision makers, media, partners and other stakeholders.

CEO Line Management Chart

Chair of the Board

CEO

Counselling/
HR & Compliance Specialist Strategic

Casework
Manager Casework Development Glasgow Manager

Manager (Edi)
Manager (Edi) Manager

General Duties

To secure and manage income to support £1.5 million turnover.

To line manage all members of the Senior Management Team (currently 5 staff members).

To undertake support and supervision with the Senior Management team and partake in regular support and supervision sessions with the Chair of the Board of Directors.

To attend Board of Directors meetings.

To attend staff meetings in Edinburgh and Glasgow and full staff meetings, as well as senior management team meetings.

To maintain a professional profile on behalf of Saheliya in all contact with other agencies and in all areas of the role.

To participate in continuing professional development, including in-house training.

To undertake any other relevant duties that further Saheliya’s aims and objectives.

Main Responsibilities
Strategy and governance

To ensure clear strategic leadership and direction through co-working with the
Board of Directors.

To work closely with the Board of Directors leading on strategic development and promotion of Saheliya in Scotland and – as appropriate – across UK and
Europe.

To liaise with the Board of Directors providing comprehensive and timeous information to ensure they can make fully informed decisions.

To work in accordance with current best practice and legislation.

To lead the overall responsibility of day-to-day governance ensuring all legal and regulatory requirements and obligations are met including but not only Health and safety, Safeguarding and GDPR whilst working with the HR and
Compliance Officer, Services and Childcare Managers.

To work with the Business and Finance Managers, ensuring that the organisation is adequately resourced through income generation, and securing grants and donations.

To lead on succession planning for the Board of Directors and staff team.

Leadership and organisational development

To uphold Saheliya’s ethos and unique approach.

To provide visible leadership to the staff team by working closely with the Senior
Management Team ensuring priorities are clear, organisational values are upheld and progress is monitored.

To lead on organisational development so that service delivery meets the changing needs of our increasingly diverse service user group, as identified by service users and staff.

To maintain a collaborative working environment where everyone’s contribution is valued, staff are supported, and responsible schemes of delegation are used as part of staff development.

To maintain and stimulate an environment and organisational processes which attract, retain, motivate and develop a diverse team of skilled, quality staff and volunteers.

To take responsibility for the well-being of staff and other organisational resources.

To take responsibility for ensuring all maintenance requirements are fulfilled and services are planned, resourced and monitored in line with strategic and operational objectives.

To take responsibility for Saheliya being recognised as a key influencer on issues specific to its’ service user group.

Communication and Marketing

To lead, in partnership with the Information Officer on Marketing and
Communications planning; developing a communication and marketing strategy.

To be a public figurehead and key spokesperson, representing Saheliya and working with external organisations and individuals, building an environment for the development of networks, partnerships and strategic alliances.

To lead the Information Officer to deliver effective communications with and between staff, Directors, donors, partners, clients and stakeholders.

Finance and Income generation

To work with the Finance Manager, ensuring systems are in place for good financial management, monitoring and accountability.

To work with the Business Manager, ensuring a strong income generation focus for the organisation, maintaining and growing key income streams and developing and diversifying new leads for future income.

To take overall responsibility for the commercial and consultancy activities undertaken by Saheliya with a view to maintaining and growing income from this work.

To take overall responsibility for supporting all Saheliya Social Enterprises to grow and flourish; particularly through working with Childcare Managers in both
Glasgow and Edinburgh nurseries.

Influencing and campaigning

To act as the face and voice of Saheliya with external organisations at a strategic level, disseminating information generated to policy makers and mainstream service providers to develop policy and services to ensure the needs of our service user group are better met.

To establish and maintain effective relationships and networks with key strategic partners and supporters including civil servants, politicians, local agencies and the media whilst working closely with the Strategic Development Manager.

To ensure there is a strategy in place for influencing, campaigning and promoting the organisation, and that resources are in place to deliver these mission critical activities.

To advocate for and support the role of Champions within the organisation and ensure that views of our service user group are considered when prioritising influencing and campaigning work.

Person Specification
You should be able to demonstrate and provide evidence of the following skills and qualities as well as the criteria listed under Essential and Desirable within your application.

Skills and qualities

• Passion for creating a fully inclusive Scotland where women are active citizens, socially engaged and economically integrated.
• An alignment with and commitment to the Vision, Mission and Values of

Saheliya.

• Superb engagement skills with a high level of emotional intelligence and political astuteness.
• Ability to establish cross sector relationships and strong, diverse networking/partnership skills.
• Ability to self-organise, manage multiple priorities and make sound decisions.
• Ability to demonstrate the highest standards of discretion and integrity.
• Resilient with the ability to manage change and handle conflict and reach consensus.

Essential

Experience

• A proven track record of successful strategic leadership, strategy development and implementation.
• Significant experience of income generation and diversification.
• Experience of influencing and lobbying, policy development and campaigning for social change.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to listen, inform, engage, and influence a wide range of decision makers, policy and opinion formers.
• Significant experience of building, shaping, and motivating a high performing executive leadership team.
• Significant financial and commercial acumen, with a strong appreciation of risk management.
• Experience of developing, maintaining, and sustaining partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Successful experience of engaging and motivating volunteers.
• A deep understanding of governance and significant experience of working effectively with a Board.
• Knowledge of fundraising, tendering for contracts, and income generation www.saheliya.co.uk

• Understanding and appreciation of how to engage and motivate a dispersed, diverse workforce and volunteers.

Desirable

• Lived experience of the problems our service users face.
• An appreciation of the value of counselling when supporting someone experiencing or recovering from trauma.
• An understanding of the impact of patriarchal societies and institutional racism on women’s lives.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying, please contact Saheliya admin team for an application form using contact information below.

Admin will forward you an application form and Equal Opportunities
Monitoring form for completion and submission.

Applications to be sent to: info @ saheliya.co.uk or via post to

Saheliya, 125 McDonald Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4NW

Please note that CV’s are not accepted and a full Saheliya application is required.

Closing date for applications: Monday 1st August 2022 at 2pm

First stage interviews: W/C 8th August 2022

Second stage interviews: TBC

If you have any questions regarding this role please contact us via:

Tel: 0131 556 9302

Email: info @ saheliya.co.uk

Data protection
We will only use the personal data you provide in your application for the purpose of completing this recruitment process. All records created during the course of this process will be permanently deleted once the appointee is under contract. For more information on how we handle your data, take a look at our data protection and privacy policy.

Before we pass your application to our recruitment panel we will remove your personal data to help them avoid bias during the shortlisting process.

Appointments are subject to PVG membership applications and membership checks plus two professional references.

Follow Saheliya:

@Saheliya @ Saheliya_Scotland @Saheliya.BME.Women www.saheliya.co.uk

Company No: SC209861 Charity No: SC020069

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: £49,500.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Flexitime
• On-site parking
• Sick pay
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Application deadline: 01/08/2022
Expected start date: 29/08/2022

Tagged as: Flexible Working, Work from Home