Social researcher and advisor jobs in Edinburgh
The time commitment will be approximately 20 panel sessions per year, with a payment rate of £500 per panel, plus reasonable expenses incurred. Attendance at 2 training sessions per year is required and travel expenses will be covered. Panel sessions are held online.
PACT is one of the UK’s leading independent adoption charities, placing children with secure and loving families and supporting them with specialist therapeutic support.
Our external Adoption Panel Members play a vital role at PACT by carefully considering applications from those wishing to become adoptive parents. We are currently seeking an independent Adoption Panel Chair, to lead our online panel in making fair, informed recommendation outcomes to a high quality standard.
You will bring an understanding of the adoption process, gained from professional or personal experience, and will be competently skilled in chairing complex meetings. You’ll be capable of facilitating active participation and ensure the panel operates within a clear regulatory and policy framework.
With an awareness of the richness of different kinds of families and their potential for meeting children/s needs, we would love to hear from you if you can bring different experiences, knowledge and perspectives to our panel member group.
We are actively working to ensure that equality and inclusion is embedded in everything that we do. It is central to our work with vulnerable children and families, and championed by our community. However, we know there is more we can do. We want to do all we can for our service users, and we want everyone at PACT to feel a sense of belonging. To support this aim, we are working proactively to develop a panel member group that it is representative of our diverse service users (both current and prospective), volunteer community and our wider eco-system. We also know the value of having panel members who champion inclusive values and bring a wide variety of perspectives to our organisation. We welcome people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and experience to apply for this role.
If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role, please visit our website to find contact details for our Panel Advisor.
If you believe you can contribute to the skills and diversity of our panel as Independent Adoption Panel Chair, then visit our website to apply today to join a dedicated team who are part of something truly meaningful. We look forward to hearing from you!
Early applications are encouraged as we may review and appoint on an earlier basis if a successful candidate is secured.
Closing date for applications: 9am, Fri 30 January 2026
Interviews will be held on: Wednesday 18 February 2026
Other roles you may have experience of could include: Independent Adoption Panel, Adoption Panel Member, Adoption Panel Representative, Adoption Panel Chair, Adoption Panel Vice Chair, etc.
Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at PACT. We have robust measures and best practices in place to safeguard and protect the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we take pride in maintaining outstanding safeguarding standards.
Anyone joining our team is subject to PACT’s safer recruitment pre-appointment enquiries, including a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS). The role description provides information on what our safer recruitment enquiries include and the level of DBS required to work in the role.
All opportunities with PACT are based in the UK.
Registered Charity
an adoption charity and family support provider helping hundreds of families every year through outstanding adoption and adoption support services
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
5Rights is seeking to recruit an outstanding professional Senior Public Relations Adviser to support our world-leading NGO at a time of exceptional visibility and opportunity to scale our impact. This is a remote role and can be based either in the UK or Belgium.
About 5Rights
5Rights Foundation exists to ensure a digital world that will serve children and young people today and for future generations. We are a small team of senior professionals and experts delivering change in how the digital world works. We have shifted the narrative and the agenda through provocative comms campaigns (e.g. Twisted Toys), pioneering research (e.g. Pathways) and award-winning tools (e.g. Child Online Safety Toolkit). We continue to drive real-life change thanks to an outstanding track-record of delivering legislation (e.g. Californian Age Appropriate Design Code), policy and regulatory frameworks (e.g. UNCRC General comment No.25), and industry standards (e.g. IEEE 2089).
Role Purpose
The Senior Public Relations Advisor leads 5Rights' external public relations and media strategy, positioning 5Rights as a global authority on children’s rights in the digital environment. The role shapes the public narrative around our mission, ensuring 5Rights’ work achieves maximum visibility, credibility and impact with policymakers, the media, industry and the public.
This is a senior, strategic role requiring exceptional judgement, political awareness and strong relationships across media and stakeholder landscapes.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and deliver a comprehensive public relations strategy aligned with 5Rights’ mission and policy objectives.
- Position 5Rights as a leading voice on children’s rights in the digital environment in UK, EU and international media.
- Anticipate emerging issues and shape proactive public relations strategies around key policy moments, research releases and advocacy campaigns.
- Protect and enhance the organisation’s reputation, including crisis communications and risk management.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with senior journalists, editors and broadcasters across national and international media.
- Secure high-profile coverage in print, broadcast and digital media.
- Act as principal media advisor to the Executive Director and senior leadership team.
- Support and coach senior spokespeople and youth representatives for media engagements.
- Lead public relation planning for major campaigns, policy launches and advocacy initiatives.
- Advise on strategic partnerships and external engagement from a public relations perspective.
- Represent 5Rights at events, conferences and high-level meetings as required.
- Contribute to strengthening 5Rights’ overall public relations impact by bringing senior PR expertise, networks, and strategic media insight to the team.
Person specification
This is a highly challenging and rewarding position for a professional with the following attributes:
Essential skills and attributes:
- Extensive senior-level experience in public relations, communications, journalism or public affairs, ideally within policy, advocacy, human rights, technology, or social impact sectors.
- Proven track record of shaping national and international media coverage and securing high-profile placements across print, broadcast and digital platforms.
- Demonstrated experience leading public relations and media strategy, including reputation management, at organisational or campaign level.
- Experience advising senior leaders and acting as a trusted public relation expert in high-stakes and politically sensitive environments.
- Exceptional writing and editorial skills, with the ability to translate complex policy, technical and research content into compelling public narratives.
- Deep understanding of media landscapes, political processes and public policy dynamics, particularly in the UK, the EU and internationally.
- Experience of crisis communications and issue management.
- Outstanding judgement and political awareness.
- Strong strategic thinking combined with hands-on delivery.
- Highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to influence and build relationships at senior level.
- Confident, authoritative and credible spokesperson when required.
- Excellent project management and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple high-profile priorities simultaneously.
- Ability to work under pressure and respond rapidly to fast-moving external developments.
- Strong collaboration skills and ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
- High standards of professionalism, discretion and integrity.
- Deep commitment to the mission and values of 5Rights Foundation.
- Resilient, adaptable and solutions-focused.
- Proactive, self-motivated and comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy.
Desirable skills and attributes:
- Experience working on children’s rights, digital rights, technology policy or online safety.
- Experience of international advocacy and global communications.
Practical details
- Location: Remote position in either the UK or Brussels. Some international travel required.
- Salary: €80,000 / £70,000 per annum including all benefits.The final offer will depend on skills and experience.
- One-year contract, renewable dependent on impact.
- Working hours: Full time (38h week), with occasional accommodation necessary for work across time-zones.
- Statutory pension contribution.
- 25 days annual leave per annum.
- Work equipment including a laptop will be provided.
- Starting data: ASAP, depending on notice period.
- Reporting line: Leadership team
5Rights values diversity and we strongly encourage people from under-represented groups to apply for this role. We aim for our recruitment to be inclusive and equitable, and we strive to constantly learn and improve in this regard.
How to apply
Please send your CV and a brief cover letter by 31st January 2026 via our website.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
We are looking for an exceptional, value-driven candidate who can hit the ground running as our Legal Education Officer, working closely with the Director and the rest of our small and dynamic Right to Remain team.
The person must be someone who understands the Right to Remain ethos and is prepared to bring their whole self to our organisation. Needless to say, the role requires an impeccable grasp of the asylum and immigration system and its operation on the ground, including how it impacts our community of people seeking asylum, refugees, migrants, their families, friends and allies. It requires an ability to help and guide our community to navigate the complex and hostile asylum and immigration system.
You will be working closely with the Director and the rest of our small and dynamic Right to Remain staff team: another Legal Education Officer based in Leeds (generally) covering the North, the Organiser based in Manchester leading our mighty These Walls Must Fall, and the Engagement Officer based in London. In particular, the post holder will be closely coordinating their work with another Legal Education Officer in Leeds. The post holder is also expected to be already embedded in the local and regional asylum and migration field, familiar with its dynamics and able to tap into their existing relationships and connections with local groups and actors.
We are proud of Right to Remain’s unique and bold approach that really believes in collective power. We are focused on building knowledge, radical solidarity and the power of our community. We show up authentically at work and for our community, always giving our 100%. We are determined and calm amidst the crisis and chaos of the world. We know that now is not a ‘business as usual’ time, and we need to meet the moment as the anchor organisation for the migration justice movement. That comes with a lot of responsibility but we also carry it with lightness. We want our new team members to be similarly passionate, ambitious and compassionate.
With the rest of the team, you will be responsible for maintaining, developing, and increasing usage of our highly popular and accessible resources about the asylum and immigration system, most notably the Right to Remain Toolkit. You will deliver interactive workshops on the legal system for people navigating that system as well as professionals and volunteers. You will engage with our network of community groups to ensure that we are apprised of developments on the ground and we are communicating important changes to these support groups. You will also work with the Director and other colleagues to develop and deliver specific public legal education projects, when necessary. You must have outstanding communication skills and the ability to engage with a wide range of audiences, in a manner that reflects Right to Remain’s mission and values.
Registered Charity
6 - 10
Right to Remain is a national migration justice organisation, creating a world where everyone can exercise their right to remain where they need to be
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.