Your New Organisation

ILF Scotland operates as a Non-Departmental Scottish Public Body (NDPB). It came into existence following the closure of the UK ILF in June 2015 and has been responsible for administering funding for Scottish and Northern Irish ILF recipients since July 1st, 2015. This funding is aimed at empowering disabled people to live independently, affording them control, choice, and preserving their dignity.

In September 2023, the Scottish Government unveiled an initial year one investment of £9 million to reopen the 2015 Fund to new recipients in Scotland. It is anticipated that this funding will increase over the next three years, with £9 million in Year 1 currently confirmed.

Northern Ireland recipients who currently receive funding from ILF Scotland will continue to do so.

The new Fund will run alongside planned growth of ILF Scotland’s Transition Fund. The Transition Fund’s aim is to assist young disabled people aged 16-25 in their transition from school or children's services to greater independence. The Transition Fund aims to encourage greater community engagement, enhance independence, and foster meaningful relationships with others. Pending funding availability, it is expected to extend its support to reach approximately 8,000 to 10,000 recipients annually.

ILF Scotland now have a number of Specialist Caseworkers roles to support the readiness for reopening the Fund.

Your New Role

You will be part of a dedicated, engaged and committed operations team.

At all times we aim to provide excellent and flexible customer service to disabled people, their families and supporters.

99% of our fund recipients say that their funding from ILF Scotland improves their quality of life.

You will administrate accurate and effective management in the allocation of awards and grants covering Scotland and Northern Ireland.

You will be educated to at least SVQ 4 (SCQF8) level, or have significant equivalent experience, preferably in social care, welfare rights and benefits in a similar role OR equivalent experience.

Experience of social care (either as lived experience or in your previous roles), welfare rights and benefits in relation to self-directed support would be beneficial but it is not essential if you are able to demonstrate strong casework experience with the ability to manage your own caseload who has an eye for detail, is highly analytical, has excellent time management skills, exceptional customer relations and able to develop and maintain strong relationships.

In return, alongside a competitive salary and a defined benefit pension scheme with a generous employer contribution and related benefits as well as various discounts and memberships, you will have the opportunity to operate in an award winning, genuinely supportive and flexible working culture, enabling you to use your professional skills and experience to deliver better services for disabled people.

ILF Scotland is a Scottish Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) constituted as a company limited by guarantee. It was created following the closure of the UK ILF in June 2015 and has been administering Scottish ILF funding for existing fund recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 1st July 2015.

ILF Scotland distributes annual funding of approximately £55 m to support individual recipients to lead independent lives. The organisation consists of a staff team of around 66, who provide award management services for approximately 8,000 current fund recipients split between the 2015 Fund and Transition Fund.

The organisation is fully funded by, and accountable to, Scottish and Northern Ireland Government Ministers via a Board of Directors. Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers in line with the Scottish Public Appointments process.

As a values based organisation, ILF Scotland takes a values led approach to all the work they do where people and relationship building are a key focus.

ILF Scotland are looking to recruit a Communications Officer to support the Communications Manager and wider team to successfully deliver their communications and engagement strategy. This role will focus on the production of public relations and marketing material for communication campaigns across a wide variety of channels. You will also support the development of corporate marketing documentation, such as the bi-annual newsletter and annual report.

You’ll have strong communication and marketing skills, with experience and knowledge of public relations and content creation. You will have some professional experience in this field which you can demonstrate within your cover letter, with a strong focus on showcasing your experience of delivering communication campaigns.

Due to the nature of ILF Scotland’s work, an understanding of public relations and marketing within the public sector would be advantageous, as would knowledge of the latest range of marketing tools and how to successfully utilise these. This role is a fantastic opportunity if you are a self-starter and a motivated individual with exceptional written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills who has demonstrable experience in the public relations and marketing world.

ILF Scotland are completely focused on ensuring their values led approach is at the core of all their work, with their recipients and stakeholders at the heart of what they do. They are offering the opportunity to join a supportive, highly flexible and agile organisation. ILF Scotland are happy to talk about and offer flexible working options for candidates as they have colleagues working remotely from the Highlands and Islands down to the Borders. This is a life friendly environment with a focus on nurturing career focused and values led individuals.

The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport is seeking to appoint a Chair to the Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF Scotland) Board.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a vibrant board as they provide strategic direction and good governance for ILF Scotland.

Key aspects of the Board Chair role are as follows:

• To provide strategic direction to ILF Scotland
• To act as an effective ambassador for ILF Scotland
• To ensure that ILF Scotland has disabled people at the heart of decision making
• To oversee and ensure the implementation of ILF Scotland policies, with responsibility for occasional decisions on individual recipient cases
• To ensure effective corporate governance, risk management and financial management of ILF Scotland
• To ensure public accountability for the funds for which ILF Scotland is responsible
• To uphold the highest ethical standards of integrity and probity and comply with the Board’s Code of Conduct: Board Code of Conduct (Revised) - February 2022 (Word) | ILF Scotland).

Remuneration

The appointment is remunerated at the rate of £225 per day (non-pensionable). All reasonable expenses, for example childcare, will be paid.

Time commitment

Up to one day per month (12 days per year). This is likely to include attendance at Board or committee meetings, reading and preparation time, and other meetings such as strategy or stakeholder discussions.

Contact

To discuss the role of the Board Chair, please contact the current Chair of the Board, Susan Douglas-Scott CBE on 07711470196 or email susandouglasscott@gmail.com

Skills/Experience Required

We value very highly the benefits of having different experience and points of view on our Boards and we are keen that people from all walks of life apply for public appointments. Scottish Ministers particularly welcome applications from people currently under-represented at Chair level for appointments, including disabled people, people from ethnic minority communities, women and people aged under 50.

The successful applicant must be able to demonstrate the following:

• A strong commitment to independent living in Scotland and the social model of disability
• Experience of collaborative and agile leadership
• Communication and influencing skills

The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport is seeking to appoint 2 board members to the Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF Scotland) Board.

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a board that seeks to improve the outcomes for disabled people across Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Board of Directors provide a critical governance function for ILF Scotland and put disabled people from all backgrounds, and their needs and experiences, at the heart of their decision making.

Key aspects of the Board member role are as follows:

• To assist the Chair in providing strategic direction to ILF Scotland
• To act as an effective champion for ILF Scotland
• To ensure that ILF Scotland has disabled people at the heart of decision making
• To oversee and ensure the implementation of ILF Scotland policies, with responsibility for occasional decisions on individual recipient cases
• To ensure effective corporate governance, risk management and financial management of ILF Scotland
• To ensure public accountability for the funds for which ILF Scotland is responsible
• To uphold the highest ethical standards of integrity and probity and comply with the Board’s Code of Conduct:Board Code of Conduct (Revised) - February 2022 (Word) | ILF Scotland).

You will be interested in these board roles if you have a commitment to the independent living movement. The Minister/Cabinet secretary is particularly interested to hear from people who have lived or recent experience of disability from a young person’s experience and have financial governance experience.

Remuneration

The appointment is remunerated at the rate of £190 per day (non-pensionable). All reasonable expenses, for example childcare, will be paid.

Time commitment

By the nature of a non-executive member role, the time commitment will vary week to week, but you must be able to make a firm commitment to spend on average up to one day per month (12 days per year). This is likely to include attendance at Board or committee meetings, reading and preparation time, and other meetings such as strategy or stakeholder discussions. There may be a need to commit further days, up to a maximum of 18 days a year but this would be discussed with the Chair.

Contact

To discuss the work of ILF Scotland, please contact the current Chair of the Board, Susan Douglas-Scott CBE on 07711470196 or susandouglasscott@gmail.com

To discuss the role of the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee please contact Alan Dickson on alan.dickson@sqa.org.uk

Skills/Experience Required

We value very highly the benefits of having different experience and points of view on our Boards and we are keen that people from all walks of life apply for public appointments. Scottish Ministers particularly welcome applications from disabled people, LGBT+ people, people from ethnic minority communities, women and people aged under 50.

Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate the following:

Priority criteria

You must be able to demonstrate evidence of one of:

• Financial governance experience
• Lived or recent experience of disability from a young person’s perspective

General Criteria

You must be able to demonstrate all of:

• A commitment to independent living in Scotland and the social model of disability
• Analysis and decision making
• Instructive and supportive challange
• Communication and influencing

About ILF Scotland

ILF Scotland is a Non-Departmental Scottish Public Body (NDPB) constituted as a company limited by guarantee. It was created following the closure of the UK ILF in June 2015 and has been administering Scottish ILF funding for existing fund recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 1st July 2015.

ILF Scotland distributes annual funding of approximately £60m to support individual recipients to lead independent lives. The organisation consists of a staff team of around 62, who provide award management services for approximately 5,000 current fund recipients split between the 2015 Fund and Transition Fund.

The organisation is fully funded by and accountable to, Scottish and Northern Ireland Government Ministers via a Board of Directors. Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers in-line with the Scottish Public Appointments process.

As a values based organisation, ILF Scotland takes a values led approach to legislative compliance where people and relationship building are a key focus.

The Opportunity

Our recipients are at the front and centre of everything we do and we are always looking to do better, recognising how we engage and enabling our recipients, their supporters and other key stakeholders to feel informed, engaged, involved and valued.

This role is key in supporting our Head of Finance and our Self Directed Support (Transition Manager) in the delivery of ILF to people across Scotland and Northern Ireland and you will work predominantly work on the end of grants process for the Transition Fund but importantly will not be limited to this area of work.

Recipients of the Transition Fund apply and receive funding from ILFS on an annual basis and must supply receipts totalling the full funding received as well as returning any funding not used or needed.

This new role is an exciting opportunity to have full autonomy to develop and implement policies and procedures to support recipients and ILFS recover unspent monies recognising the challenging circumstances our recipients are dealing with.

Who we are looking for

We are looking to recruit someone who is highly analytical and mathematical with excellent customer service, handling recipient contact with dignity and respect in a compassionate and friendly manner whilst building trust with them and their supporters. You will need to have proven ability in examining complex information and taking into account recipient circumstances to inform your guidance and recommendations to others for decision making, and with demonstrable experience of setting up and monitoring repayment plans.

If this sounds like you and you are an ambitious, creative, solutions focused and purpose led professional who lives the ILF Scotland values of Trust, Respect and Dignity, then we would love to hear from you.

Benefits we offer

In return, alongside a competitive salary of between £27,231 – £30,039 and the opportunity to operate in our award winning, flexible working culture we offer a defined benefit pension scheme with a generous employer contribution and related benefits, professional development opportunities as well as various discounts and memberships – find out more here. This role is offered on a hybrid working arrangement with an office based in Livingston.

About ILF Scotland

ILF Scotland is a Non Departmental Scottish Public Body (NDPB) constituted as a company limited by guarantee. It was created following the closure of the UK ILF in June 2015 and has been administering ILF funding for existing fund recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 1st July 2015.

ILF Scotland distributes annual funding of around £52m to support recipients to lead independent lives. The organisation has a staff team of around 68, who provide award management services for approximately 4000 current fund recipients split between the 2015 Fund and Transition Fund.

The organisation is fully funded by, and accountable to, Scottish and Northern Ireland Government Ministers via a Board of Directors. Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers in line with the Scottish Public Appointments process.

As a values based organisation, ILF Scotland takes a values led approach to all the work they do where people and relationship building are a key focus.

The Opportunity

Our recipients are at the front and centre of everything we do and we are always looking to do better. You will be joining an ambitious and results driven team who are integral to our organisation. We want to enhance our communications in innovative, exciting, engaging and importantly accessible ways and you will hit the ground running in this key role enabling our recipients, their supporters and other key stakeholders feel informed, engaged, involved and valued. By working directly with our recipients to share their stories, you will promote what we do best through the development of purposeful and meaningful marketing materials and content. You will also focus on the delivery of our communication strategies and work plans alongside our Communications Manager and be joining us as we develop and get ready to launch our new website and continue to build our social media platforms and digital presence, and you will be motivated to make a positive difference in all that we do.

Who We Are Looking For

You will be educated to at least SCQF level 10 in a relevant subject OR have significant and demonstrable alternative professional experience alongside exceptional written, verbal and interpersonal skills. You will also have the ability to manage multiple projects, develop good collaborative relations and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.

With excellent marketing and communications skills and a strong knowledge of digital communications and engagement, you will have experience of supporting the delivery of communications campaigns. You will also have the necessary skills in delivering key publications and communication products in a range of formats (print and digital) for a wide range of audiences and channels to a high standard and providing realistic and insightful advice to senior managers.

You will have the ability to use the most effective channels and technologies available to maximum advantage and will be adept in utilising diverse methods of communication, including websites and social media.

It would be advantageous, but not essential, if you have previous and relevant experience working in the Health and Social Care or Public Sector.

If this sounds like you and you are an ambitious, creative, solutions focused and purpose led professional who lives and breathes the ILF Scotland values of Trust, Respect and Dignity, then we would love to hear from you.

Benefits We Offer

In return, alongside a competitive salary of between £31,542 – £36,129 and the opportunity to operate in our award winning, flexible working culture, we offer a defined benefit pension scheme with a generous employer contribution and related benefits, professional development opportunities, as well as various discounts and memberships. This role is offered on a hybrid working arrangement with an office based in Livingston.

ILF Scotland is a multi-award winning Scottish Public Body. We provide financial awards to disabled people to help them lead independent lives.

ILF Scotland is looking to appoint new Specialist Caseworkers to join our self-directed support team.

These key opportunities will enable you to join an exciting operations team and allow you to add further strength to deliver better services for disabled people. If you are an experienced caseworker who has an eye for detail, excellent time management skills and exceptional customer relations we would be delighted to hear from you.

To enhance your work life balance ILF Scotland offers full flexibility within a genuinely supportive culture. This will enable you to play your part by using your professional skills and experience to deliver better services to disabled people.

ILF Scotland (ilf.scot) is a Non-Departmental Scottish Public Body (NDPB) constituted as a company limited by guarantee. We were created following the closure of the UK ILF in June 2015 and have been administering Scottish ILF funding for existing fund recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 1st July 2015.

ILF Scotland distributes annual funding of approximately £60m to support individual recipients to lead independent lives. Our organisation consists of a dedicated team of around 62, who provide award management services for approximately 5,000 current fund recipients split between the 2015 Fund and Transition Fund.

Our organisation is fully funded by and accountable to, Scottish and Northern Ireland Government Ministers via a Board of Directors. Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers in-line with the Scottish Public Appointments process.

As a values based organisation, ILF Scotland takes a values led approach to all the work we do where people and relationship building are a key focus.

Your New Role

ILF Scotland’s goal is to make independent living a reality for all disabled people living in Scotland and Northern Ireland. We do this through:

• The ILF Scotland 2015 fund, which provides on-going monthly awards to disabled adults, and;

• The ILF Scotland Transition Fund, which provides one-off grants to young disabled people.

At all times we aim to provide excellent and flexible customer service.

99% of our fund recipients say that their funding from ILF Scotland improves their quality of life. The role of ILF Scotland’s Specialist Caseworker is, in essence, to administrate accurate and effective management in the allocation of awards and grants covering Scotland and Northern Ireland.

To be successful

You will be educated to at least SCQF level 8 OR have similar experience and should be highly analytical with excellent time management skills as well as the ability to manage your own caseload. Experience of social care (either as lived experience or in your previous roles), welfare rights and benefits in relation to self-directed support would be beneficial but it is not essential if you are able to demonstrate strong casework experience.

What we Offer

In return, alongside a competitive salary and the opportunity to operate in our award winning, flexible working culture we offer a defined benefit pension scheme with a generous employer contribution and related benefits as well as various discounts and memberships.