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AVA is looking for a strategic, values-led Chief Executive Officer to shape what Aberdeenshire’s Third Sector Interface, Magpie, and our other services must become by 2031 and beyond.

This is a role for someone who can combine community purpose with organisational reinvention: working with external partners to influence outcomes of public service reform and community wealth building; building new partnerships and income streams; using data and technology responsibly to build evidence and support practice; developing leadership capacity within AVA; and making clear choices about what AVA should build, protect, transform, or stop.

AVA engages annually with up to 1,000 voluntary, community, third sector, and social enterprise organisations who deliver services for residents of Aberdeenshire. We work closely with local public sector partners, and collaborate nationally with our TSI Scotland Network partners on a regular basis. You will spend real time becoming familiar with the communities and community-led groups and organisations that AVA exists to support, connect, and promote. The ability to travel from Sandend and St Combs in the north, to Braemer in the west, and St Cyrus in the south will be necessary as well as beyond the Aberdeenshire borders.

The successful candidate does not need to have spent their career in the third sector, but you will need to understand mission-led leadership, work confidently with a board of Directors/Trustees, and earn credibility with the staff team, our members, our current and future funders, and other partners from across varying sectors.

Experience and Qualifications

You will be a strategic leader with experience working accountably with a board, governing body or equivalent and a sound understanding of executive-governance boundaries. You will have significant senior leadership experience and be able to demonstrate evidence of setting direction and delivering organisational change. You will also have a track record of influencing across organisational boundaries, shaping service or operating-model redesign and changing how resources, decisions or delivery are organised. You will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and stake holder management skills with the ability to demonstrate evidence of influencing senior stakeholders, building coalitions and representing an organisation externally.

You will have a track record of leading teams through change, setting expectations, developing capability and handling difficult decisions. In addition you will have strong financial literacy, budgeting, forecasting, risk management and resource prioritisation.

You will have a proven ability to turn strategy into measurable outcomes and use evidence to improve decisions. You will be able to demonstrate evidence of using technology, data, and responsible AI to improve services, productivity, insight or organisational capability while managing risk and inclusion.

You will be able to demonstrate that you value Integrity, inclusion, equity, collaboration, and resilience and can demonstrate sound judgement under pressure.

You will be able to challenge inherited assumptions, build capabilities the organisation does not yet possess and make evidence-led choices to protect, transform, partner, grow or stop activity.

Whether you have experience within the third sector or not you should be able to demonstrate a credible understanding of communities, third sector/public-service relationships and rural/place-based challenges with specific knowledge of how these operate in Scotland being desirable.

A full candidate pack including application forms can be found on Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action (AVAShire) website: 

Candidates should submit the following by Friday 27th November, 2026 at midday:

• A personal CV of no more than two A4 pages.
• A supporting statement of no more than two A4 pages explaining, with evidence, how you meet the essential criteria, the AVA you believe Aberdeenshire will need by 2031, and the contribution/impact you expect to make in the first year.
• Contact details (telephone & email) for three referees, including your current or most recent employer. References will not be contacted before the preferred candidate stage without your written permission.
• A completed equality monitoring form.

Candidates will only be assessed against the criteria published in the candidate pack. Reasonable adjustments can be considered throughout the process for candidates who may need this support.