We’re looking for an Architecture and Design specialist to join our Board!

A Place in Childhood (APiC) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) on a mission to promote and conceive Inclusive Child-Friendly Environments through practice-based Research, Advocacy and Action.

Our team represents the cutting-edge of theory, research and participatory practice, and Underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), we place children at the heart of everything we do.

APiC was constituted in August 2018, and since then has embarked on four innovative and exciting projects, which we predict to have significant positive impact on the children and young people of the UK.

What we’re looking for

As our charity grows, we increasingly need support from someone with a background and experience in architectural design and practice or allied discipline, who can help articulate the design ideas for child-friendly environments and support their realisation in live projects. This will enable a wider range of service that we can offer, and a greater collective understanding of how to achieve a more child-friendly public realm in Scotland and beyond. Your expertise could also support better design of our resources and materials, ensuring we can articulate our mission as effectively as possible.

Sharing our aims at improving the implementation of children’s rights and better design and planning of our built environment is essential. The applicant would benefit from experience in the design of child-centred environments but need not have subject-specific experience. The applicant would further benefit from experiences in delivering design outputs from conception of design ideas to preparation of construction documents and supervision of the construction. Sound knowledge and skills in generation of 3D visualisations of design ideas is essential in order to best communicate our work. The applicant would further benefit from the knowledge and understanding of participatory design processes.

Experience of design within an interdisciplinary context and with partners in multiple sectors is desirable. The applicant will be part of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in design and planning, education, public health and environmental psychology, and would be expected to be coproducing design outputs in consultation and with support from other Trustees and the Executive committee. At this stage we only expect to design and deliver small scale interventions.

This is a time of fast growth for the charity, and we see wide and varied opportunities for expanding our trading and service offer for which our new board trustee would play a vital role.

Our expectations of you

Members of the Board of Trustees take ultimate responsibility for the work that the organisation does, and the way in which it spends money, to achieve its aims. This includes ensuring the charity meets regulations set out by the Office of the Scottish Charity Commission (OSCR). It is a big responsibility, focussing on the strategic direction of the organisation, agreeing plans and budgets, and holding the Co-executive directors to account for the delivery of the plans.

Board meetings take place online every 5-6 weeks on Saturdays. Please note that any candidate should be willing to travel to Edinburgh for meetings post Covid-19 crisis. In addition to attending meetings, Board members currently contribute an average of 1 hour per week towards developing the charity’s sustainability.

Click here to see the descriptor for this role and more information about what we would expect from you.

How do I apply?

To apply for this role, please send an up to date CV and a short motivation statement outlining your suitability for the role by Friday 16th October at 5pm. Please click the button below to apply, or alternatively email info@aplaceinchildhood.org.

If you have any questions about the role you can also contact us at the above email address, or reach out to us on our Twitter.