Policy Officer - Citizens Advice Scotland

Scotland’s Citizens Advice Network empowers people in every corner of Scotland through our local bureaux and national services by providing free, confidential, impartial and independent advice. We use people’s real-life experiences to influence policy and drive positive change. We are on the side of people in Scotland who need help, and we change lives for the better.

The Citizens Advice network is made up of 59 local CABs, each its own independent charity, the Extra Help Unit, a group of specialist case workers dealing with energy advice, and Citizens Advice Scotland as the membership body itself. We provide advice across over 200 locations and deliver 12 national advice projects for UK and Scottish Government including the Money Talks advice service and the Help to Claim Universal Support advice service.  

Last year the network helped nearly 180,000 people and unlocked £147million for people through things like social security payments and employment entitlements. Our online advice received over 5.4 million page views and our awareness raising campaigns reached millions of people.

Policy at CAS

The Impact team has access to the incredible wealth of data generated by CABx as well as social policy feedback. This enables us to develop policy that is evidence based and grounded in the experiences of CAB clients. We use this, along with our knowledge of national policy, to engage with policy makers across Parliament, Government and stakeholder organisations to influence change. We do this to inform and empower individuals and communities and to change policy, law and practice.

Our goals are:

-       To improve standards of living

-       To increase equality

-       Empower individuals to help themselves

-       To build a better future.

Our impact teams are Financial Health, Stronger Communities and Social Justice. This role sits within Social Justice which is responsible for policy on social security, housing, fuel poverty and employment and there are many opportunities to work collaboratively across the different areas.

In this role you will take the lead on project work on medical assessments for disability benefits in both Scotland and the UK. Your focus will be ensuringwe develop a robust evidence base that reflects clients’ and advisers’ experiences and using this to advocate for change at a national level. In addition to this you will maintain oversight on UK and Scottish Social Security to feed into the wider work of the team and to help identify policy priorities. 

You will use your policy skills to influence at a national level and will represent the views of CAS on relevant Government groups as well as influencing decision makers pro-actively. Working alongside the other members of the team you will develop excellent relationships with the CAB network, engaging them in your work and utilising their experiences to better inform policy.

This is a great opportunity to play a critical role in helping to make society fairer, and in supporting our network of Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland. 

*Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis the majority of CAS staff have been working from home, but we have now started a transition back to the office and expect all staff to be attending the office in some capacity from the end of June 2022.  CAS have introduced a blended working policy to allow our employees to balance their time attending the office with time working from home, and the number of days you will be expected to attend the office each week can be discussed as part of the recruitment process. Candidates should be prepared to attend the office on their first day for an induction, and to attend the office thereafter as required.

For more information, please refer to the Job Pack which can be downloaded on our vacancies page.

Employee benefits

Citizens Advice Scotland offers excellent terms and conditions, including a total of 40 days leave (including public holidays) and a pension scheme with an 8% employer contribution. We have a flexitime scheme which enables our employees to work flexibly in line with organisational requirements, and as an inclusive employer we are happy to consider other flexible working arrangements where appropriate. For more details of some of the other benefits on offer to our employees, please see the section on employee benefits in the Job Pack.

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