Director of Tribunal Delivery

SALARY: £81,363 to £89,360

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent

POSITION TYPE: Full time

WORKING PATTERN: 35.00 hours per week

MAIN LOCATION: Hybrid - expectation to attend Thistle House Office two days per week

This is a unique opportunity to lead Children’s Hearings Scotland tribunal delivery, enabling CHS tribunal Panel Members to make decisions that support 10,000 infants, children and young people across Scotland every year. Ensuring that the young person is at the heart of every decision taken – because every decision, no matter how big or small, has an impact.

You will help deliver excellence within Children’s Hearings Scotland and to effect real change across the largest Tribunal in Scotland.

You will lead and inspire multi-disciplinary teams, enabling them to provide high quality, effective and continually improving support to our tribunal Panel Members and Panel Practice Advisers to realise our aim to be a “forward looking and evolving Children’s Hearings System, working as a community to ensure infants, children and young people are cared for, protected and their views are heard, respected and valued”.

Impact - CHS is undergoing an exciting period of reform designed to make a step change in improving the outcomes for infants, children and young people who need us most. You will play a pivotal leadership role, working internally across CHS volunteer and staff teams and with national external partners to lead and influence implementation of legislative and non-legislative reforms, supporting our mission to uphold and protect children’s rights and deliver the promise by 2030.

If you are an inspiring leader, passionate about children’s rights and making a real impact, this role offers the platform to do just that.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the National Convener/CEO you will contribute to a respected, sustainable and outcomes-focused Children’s Hearings System.

As a member of the Children’s Hearings Scotland Senior Leadership Team, you will contribute to the effective strategic and operational leadership of Children’s Hearings as we enter an exciting period of reform.

You will provide strategic and accountable leadership, management and support to our nine regional Tribunal Delivery teams across Scotland and our central Resource Allocation Team, ensuring high quality, effective and continually improving support and wellbeing to our tribunal community to enable the effective delivery of the National Conveners statutory duties around the provision of Children’s Hearings across Scotland.

You will have a critical role in ensuring that relationships with key stakeholders at a national level are developed and maintained and that excellent relationships are established that enable successful delivery of CHS’ commitments to meeting the promise by 2030. This will specifically include key stakeholders in the Scottish Government, local authorities and the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration (SCRA) and require close collaboration with the CHS Chief Executive.

About You

You will be courageous and ambitious, a strategic and visionary thinker who is able to bring people together across the organisation. Above all you will be inspired by the work of CHS in improving the outcomes for infants, children and young people.

You will be able to lead from the front. You will be able to build collaborative relationships quickly; and you will be relentless in your pursuit of making a difference as part of the Senior Leadership Team. You will be a role model to the organisation, demonstrating through actions, decisions and behaviours the values of CHS. Critical to this will be listening to and valuing the voice of children and young people, and the expertise of our volunteers.

You are outcome focussed, with a proven track record of leading high performing teams and consistent high-quality delivery across multiple regions or teams. You have proven experience of leading change in complex stakeholder contexts; with the ability to communicate, engage and motivate diverse teams including volunteers.

You are an excellent communicator, building links and networks with internal and external stakeholders, effectively initiating dialogue across and between organisations recognising that we have a shared responsibility to provide the best experience for infants, children and young people, our volunteers and colleagues and wider stakeholders.

Life at CHS

At Children’s Hearings Scotland, our highly trained Panel Members make decisions for Scotland’s unique Children’s Hearings System that upholds and promotes the rights of infants, children and young people. Our 2,500 volunteer Panel Members take part in children’s hearings in their local areas, making decisions with and for infants, children and young people. Our organisation also supports a network of Area Support Teams throughout Scotland who support Panel Members in their local communities.

As an organisation that works within the Children’s Hearings System, we are passionate about making a positive contribution to improving outcomes for Scotland’s infants, children and young people.

You can read more about our core values on our website as well as view an introductory video to our organisation. We also offer a generous benefits package from hybrid working to flexi hours and a fantastic pension scheme – check out our full benefits summary.

Diversity and Inclusion

CHS is an equal opportunities employer. We encourage diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We actively encourage applicants from all protected characteristics and are committed to providing any reasonable adjustments required during the application and assessment process, and upon joining us.

How do I apply?

For more details, please visit the application pack which includes a full job description and a person specification.

Access the application form today. Please note that CVs are not accepted.

While you may choose to use tools such as Artificial Intelligence to assist with your application, it’s essential that all content reflects your own experiences and is factually accurate. Any material that misrepresents your background - whether copied from others or generated by AI - may lead to your application being withdrawn. Internal candidates could also face disciplinary procedures if such misrepresentation is identified.

For an informal and confidential discussion on the role or about any adjustments you might need, please email jobs@CHS.gov.scot.

Closing Date: Wednesday 22 April at 11.59pm.

After the closing date, this role profile won’t be available on our website, so please save a copy when you apply. 

It is anticipated that interviews will be held on Tuesday 5 May and Thursday 7 May 2026.