Associate Director, Scotland
Ref: REF000006
Location: Home-based, Scotland (However, travel and overnight stays within the UK will be required as part of this role)
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 35 hours per week
Salary: Circa £66,000 per annum
Finding strength through support
The Stroke Association is the UK’s leading charity providing lifelong support for all stroke survivors and their families. We provide tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year. This support includes one-to-one and group support, funding vital scientific research into stroke prevention, acute treatment, recovery and long-term care, and campaigning to secure the best care for everyone affected by stroke.
We’re here for stroke survivors and their loved ones, from the moment they enter the new and frightening post-stroke world, supporting them every step of the way as they find their strength and their way back to life.
It’s only thanks to the generosity of our supporters and donors that we can provide vital support.
Stroke Association is driven by our ambition to improve the lives of everyone affected by stroke. This means we’re determined to create an equitable and inclusive workplace that benefits from the difference, and thrives on the diversity, of our people. Guided by Our approach to solving inequity in stroke, we are prioritising listening to, and learning from, lived experience across our charity.
We are working to improve the representation of this lived experience at all levels within the Stroke Association, and we are eager to recruit applicants from a variety of communities and backgrounds. We are keen to receive applications from people affected by stroke, people of colour, members of LGBT+ communities, and disabled people because these identities and experiences are underrepresented and would add enormous value to how we work.
We are a Disability Confident employer, and we are making great progress focusing on flexible working, reasonable adjustments and access to work. Our charity has a variety of staff network groups, and we're committed to continuously improving our diversity and inclusion efforts. If you have questions, or access needs, we’re happy to discuss any support and adjustments we can make throughout the recruitment process so that you’re able to contribute your best in a way that meets your needs.
About You and The Role
We’re looking for an exceptional systems leader to drive our work across Scotland and ensure people affected by stroke have the support they need to rebuild their lives. You’ll shape and deliver our vision for Scotland, focusing on what matters most to stroke survivors and ensuring our work has real, measurable impact.
In this influential role, you’ll build strong relationships across health and social care, Scottish Parliament and Government, and the wider stroke community. You'll bring deep understanding of the Scottish context and ensure our work is grounded in the lived experience of stroke survivors and their families.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Lead the Stroke Association’s strategic direction and impact in Scotland, ensuring people affected by stroke receive high quality support.
- Build and manage relationships with key health, social care and political stakeholders, acting as a credible and respected systems leader.
- Adapt organisational priorities for Scotland and ensure effective delivery through strong planning and performance oversight.
- Lead and develop the Scotland team, addressing capacity needs and building volunteer capability to meet local priorities.
- Strengthen partnerships across the stroke community to improve access to support and tackle health inequalities.
- Lead engagement in local policy and pathway development, influencing improvements at health board level.
You will have:
- Significant senior-level experience in advocacy and influencing, including shaping policy change in values-driven, social-impact contexts within Scotland’s health and social care sector.
- Substantial experience developing and managing senior-level relationships across partner organisations, using strong negotiation skills and sound political judgement.
- Experience leading complex organisational change and transformation, ensuring people-centred and sustainable outcomes.
- Strong understanding of the Scottish health and social care landscape, including Parliament, Government, influencing systems, and awareness of UK-wide legislative procedures.
- Ability to balance local, national and UK-wide organisational priorities.
To fulfil the role, you must live in Scotland and have the right to work in the UK. This role requires travel and overnight stays across the UK. Candidates must be able to demonstrate how they can meet this requirement of the role.
Closing Date: 5 April
First Interview (online) Date: Monday 20 April or Tuesday 21 April
Second interview and Roundtable Discussion (face to face): week commencing 27 April
Please note all roles close at midnight
Please state any preferences for flexible options in your application. Applications from individuals who are seeking flexible working options, including reduced hours or job shares are welcomed.
Interested?
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.
No agencies please.
We’re looking for a Marketing Officer to join our thriving Events Marketing team. If you enjoy creating meaningful marketing campaigns, working collaboratively, and using data to make a difference, we would love to hear from you.
In this role, you’ll help plan and deliver primarily digital, multi-channel marketing campaigns that inspire people to take part in our sports, challenge, and mass participation events. Your work will play a direct part in growing our community of supporters and increasing the impact we can have for people affected by dementia.
About the team
You’ll be part of a close-knit team made up of a Senior Marketing Manager, two Event Marketing Campaign Managers, and three Marketing Officers. You’ll report to one of the Marketing Managers and work alongside colleagues across the wider Events team and Income and Engagement directorate.
Your marketing campaigns will bring new participants to our events, and you’ll also be involved in retention strategies to cross-sell our supporters into other fundraising products to build lasting relationships and help them discover other ways to get involved.
What you’ll be doing
You’ll collaborate with teams across the organisation, as well as with our media agency and external partners, to plan, brief, optimise and evaluate marketing campaigns. You’ll keep a close eye on performance and organise evaluations to make sure that we learn as much as possible from every campaign and continuously improve what we do.
You’ll take ownership of your campaign budgets, including setting and tracking spend carefully and working with colleagues to make the most of every pound we spend. You’ll share updates on performance and flag any opportunities or challenges early, helping the team stay on track and maximising the return on investment wherever possible.
Creativity is a big part of the role too. You’ll write engaging marketing copy, research ideas for campaign creative, and work with designers to bring those ideas to life. After each campaign, you’ll pull together insights and recommendations to help shape future activity.
About you
- You have experience delivering multi-channel marketing campaigns, ideally with a digital focus
- You are confident managing budgets and tracking performance
- You are organised and able to manage your time across different projects
- You enjoy working with others and building positive relationships
- You like testing new ideas and learning from results
- You care about making a difference and feel motivated by our cause
Interviews for this position are scheduled to take place on the 20th & 21st April via MS Teams
Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.
We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society.
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.
Our hiring process
During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply. Please also contact Alzheimer's Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.
To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.
We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.
We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a Criminal Record Check at the relevant level. You can read more information via our Website.
Giving back to you
Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society.
You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it's like to be an employee at the Society.