Area Partnership Manager (Scotland)

Area Partnership Manager (Scotland) 

Purpose

As a core member of our Scotland Hub team, you'll be the on-the-ground catalyst for empowering and developing debt centres and coaching services (Job Club, Life Skills and Money Coaching) within an appropriate area of Scotland. You'll serve as the primary contact between churches and our Scotland Hub, providing vital support and driving excellence in services.

Your key focus will be to inspire, equip, and encourage local CAP workers and church leaders, enabling them to effectively address financial vulnerability and crisis within their communities. You'll build and nurture strong relationships with church leaders, debt coaches and group coaches, ensuring high-quality service delivery and impactful outcomes. You will build and develop strong local networks connecting centres and services together in specific Scotland-wide settings.

Passion

Area Partnership Managers will be passionate about developing our relationship with churches and local CAP workers to offer life transforming CAP services to local communities across the UK, whilst giving clients the opportunity to hear and respond to the love of Jesus.

Person

Area Partnership Managers (Scotland) report to the Scotland National Leader. This role sits within the Service Delivery directorate.

This role doesn’t have any CAP staff reporting directly to it. However, this role is responsible for engaging local CAP workers and church leaders in churches, using influence and persuasion rather than position power. 

This role specifically focuses on supporting CAP services in Scotland, the exact mix being determined by the make-up of the team. It is expected that the Area Partnership Manager is a hybrid role based out of our Scottish office in Blantyre. This role involves a significant amount of travel to visit partner churches, centres and services across Scotland. In addition there will be termly visits to CAP’s Bradford hub.

Role - Key Accountabilities

Church Relationship

• To build and foster an active and collaborative relationship with church leaders ensuring CAP services are delivered in a way that serves the church’s mission
• To speak on behalf of churches into CAP service leaders (e.g. consolidating feedback on service quality/ changes)
• To raise performance/ behaviour issues with the church leader when necessary and agree improvement plans

Centre Effectiveness - Debt Centres

• To inspire, encourage, motivate and challenge Centre Managers and Debt Coaches to deliver their service with excellence.
• To be the main source of expertise for Centre Managers with regards to all issues of running a CAP Debt centre. They are the first port of call for church partners.
• To undertake regular reviews, audits and establish Service Development Plans with each Debt Centre Manager and Church Leader to ensure each service serves its clients well and is achieving the mission goals of the church(es).
• To monitor debt centre performance and work with the Debt Centre Manager to create improvement plans.
• In conjunction with church partners manage service closures.
• To negotiate changes to centre and service payment contributions.

Centre Effectiveness - Coaching Services

• To connect and build strong local networks in order that Coaching Services are well connected into the CAP family.
• To take a flexible and appropriate approach to visiting, supporting and advising Coaching Service Managers to help them see their services thrive.

Scotland-wide

• To gather and share best practice across the network.
• To participate in recruiting local Debt Centre workers.
• To host, create content and organise Area “Revive” days, Area clusters & hubs  for local CAP workers. 

Local CAP Worker Training

• To deliver and support online & in person training of local CAP workers and follow this up with focused support to achieve operational competence and confidence. In particular, this will require significant support in the first year of a new Debt Centres to ensure it is set up well and sustainable. 
• To support Debt Centre Coaches and Managers through their Core Competency Framework sign off procedure, including taking coaches through run-throughs
• To work collaboratively with the Scotland National Leader to design and deliver excellent equipping and inspiring events for the local CAP workers. 

External Representation

• To represent CAP in their area, as required. (e.g. speaking at church events in the area to inspire other local churches to consider partnering with CAP, speaking to referral agencies, diocese, local media etc)
• Represent CAP on local external bodies (e.g. a city wide multi-agency body addressing poverty)

CAP Processes and Teams

• To drive a culture of unity and problem solving between local and centrally based teams.
• To participate in CAP improvement projects as necessary.
• Drive engagement with impact reporting within services to aid charity income generation efforts within the Mission and Movement directorate.
• Support national CAP fundraising, PR, External Affairs and Money Coaching events held in the Area.

Service Expansion

• To provide local insight to the Partnership Development Team and support as necessary (for the purpose of opening new services).
• To identify opportunities for additional services within the Area Partnership Manager’s network of partner churches. (The level and depth of involvement will vary, but can be all the way to gaining verbal agreement, before handing over to a Partnership Development Manager).

Measurable Outputs:

The Area Partnership Manager is responsible for supporting the local church in getting the best out of CAP’s services and providing input to CAP’s constant desire to improve its service to the church. 

• Debt Centres have an active, relevant Service Development Plan(SDP) including a plan for Mission, Evangelism & Discipleship in partnership with their church.
• Face to Face reviews/connection with and ongoing relationship meetings with church.
• 100% of church data checked and updated in a timely manner.
• Involved in the selection process for Debt Centres
• Delivery of frontline training
• Church contributions managed in line with Debt centre changes.
• Responsible for FCA sign off process for all debt staff within the target timeframe.
• Target attendance at area, regional and national conferences & meetings achieved
• Encourage and influence churches to record the impacts of CAP services

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working on your own initiative and being able to manage your own time and priorities effectively.
• Experience in training and developing people
• Experience of leading and managing a team of staff or volunteers (getting the best out of people who don’t report to you/ aren’t paid by your organisation and may not be paid at all)
• Experience of leading teams to meet key objectives or targets
• Experience of handling conflict
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and able to build strong and collaborative relationships with churches.

Desirable

• Experience of running one or more of CAP’s services in a local church context.
• Experience of delivering and arranging training sessions
• Public speaking experience
• Experience of leading and managing remote teams.

Skills / Abilities

• Ability to challenge and coach poor performance
• A confident communicator who promotes CAP’s culture and values at all times
• A proven leader who can inspire, influence and deliver results
• Emotionally and spiritually mature
• Ability to develop strengths and skills in others to maximise performance
• Excellent organisational skills
• Adaptable to the changing nature of the organisation
• Flexible
• Ability to prioritise time, tasks and attention effectively (these roles are part time, interacting with people in multiple locations who are also part time)
• Ability to understand/sympathise with a variety of Christian denominations and streams within Scotland and the UK
• Ability to work collaboratively within the Scotland Hub Team
• Personable and friendly with good people skills

Culture:

• Clearly live out and embrace the cultural values of CAP.
• Clearly demonstrate a heart and passion for the charity.
• Sincere acceptance, understanding and practice of the Christian ethos and purpose of the Charity.

Other Responsibilities Include:

• Being willing to pray with staff and be fully engaged with our Christ centred culture.
• To encourage friends, family and other contacts to support the charity through the Life Changer program, and other fundraising initiatives.
• Attendance at annual CAP staff conferences .
• Complete all compulsory CAP training within given timescales.

Christian Commitment

The Area Partnership Manager must be able to give both verbal assent to and practical demonstration of Christians Against Poverty’s Statement of Faith and Core Values

Must be able to actively participate in prayer and worship, whether individual, small group or corporately, as an expression of own personal faith and in line with CAP’s Statement of Faith.

All adults working in, or on behalf of the CAP have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults. This includes:

a responsibility to ensure a safe environment in which CAP Services can be delivered.

Identify children and adults where there may be safeguarding concerns and to follow the CAP Safeguarding Policy in addressing any concerns appropriately.

Date: September 2025