Director Children and Young People's Centre for Justice

Job Description

The Children and Young Peoples Centre for Justice (CYCJ) works towards ensuring that Scotlands approach to children and young people in conflict with the law is rights-respecting; contributing to better outcomes for our children, young people and communities. We produce robust ground-breaking work by bringing together children and young peoples contributions, research evidence, practice wisdom and system know-how to operate as a leader for child and youth justice thinking in Scotland and beyond. An evaluation of CYCJ, published in 2020, highlights how our significant contribution stems from our unique role and positioning:CYCJ is a boundary-spanning intermediary organisation. Boundary spanners are capable of contributing to system change. Their work to redress the imbalances of information, to connect and share insight across groups, to coordinate people to collaborate on key issues as well as focused interventions on seemingly intractable issues can come together to create paradigm shifts in the systemOur focus for 2020-2025 is on supporting Scotland to comply with its international commitments for children and young people in conflict with the law in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), find our strategy here.We work across three workstreams: Practice and Policy Development, Research, and, Participation and Engagement.CYCJ is primarily funded by the Scottish Government and is hosted by the University of Strathclyde, in the School of Social Work and Social Policy. Our Executive Governance Group has oversight of CYCJ and our strategic direction, and consists of representatives from across policy, practice, research and lived experience.We are seeking an exceptional new Director to lead the next phase of our development which is particularly focused on improving the participation of children and young people in shaping policy and practice developments, and strengthening our academic research contribution. As a boundary spanning organisation you may be an experienced leader from practice, policy, research or participation; or have experience across these domains. We need a leader who can enthuse, motivate and inspire, who genuinely cares about children who are in conflict with the law, is strategic in their thinking, who is determined and resilient, and can work with children and young people, families, practitioners, policy makers and researchers to change things.This is a re-advertisement for this post and previous applicants need not re-apply.Please note this is a fixed term appointment until April 2024, with an extension likely dependent on funding.Application ProcedureApplicants are required to complete an application form including the name of three referees who will be contacted before interview without further permission, unless you indicate that you would prefer otherwise. Applicants should also submit a Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter detailing the knowledge, skills and experience you think make you the right candidate for the job. Applicants should also complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.Other InformationFurther information on the application process and working at Strathclyde can be found on our website ().Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Prof Jennifer Davidson, ,Claire Lightowler ) or Sandy Cameron (Chair of CYCJs Executive Governance Group, ).Equality and DiversityWe value diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.The University currently holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award, recognising our commitment to advancing gender equality in academia across all academic disciplines and professional and support functions.University ValuesThe Universitys Values capture what were all about: who we are, what we believe in and what we stand for. Our Values have been derived from how we act and how we expect to be treated as part of Strathclyde.