Suicide Prevention Officer

Creating Hope Together Creating Hope Together is Scotland's suicide prevention strategy and action plan (2022–2032), published by the Scottish Government and COSLA. Its vision is to reduce the number of suicide deaths in Scotland while tackling the inequalities that contribute to suicide, so that any child, young person or adult who has thoughts of taking their own life, or who is affected by suicide, gets the help they need and feels a sense of hope. All of the work is delivered in line with the strategy's guiding principles: putting inequalities and diversity first; co-developing our work with people with lived and living experience; embedding Time, Space, Compassion; keeping the voices of children and young people central; connecting people across sectors to learn together; reducing the stigma of suicide; and ensuring our work is evidence-informed. The role This is a new role, hosted by Change Mental Health on behalf of Suicide Prevention Scotland, created to support delivery of Outcome 3 of Creating Hope Together: that everyone affected by suicide is able to access high quality, compassionate, appropriate and timely support. The postholder will work alongside colleagues in the delivery collective - primarily the Time Space Compassion (TSC) Lead and the Children and Young People (CYP) Lead - to support delivery of a range of actions across the Delivery Plan. In practice this means helping partners in community, primary care, unscheduled care and mental health settings to put person-centred, compassionate approaches into everyday practice; growing the reach of Time, Space, Compassion across Scotland; and strengthening support for children and young people at higher risk of suicide. The role focuses on enabling practical change in real-world settings through strong partnerships, effective communication, and the thoughtful use of learning and evidence to support continuous improvement. It sits within a small, collaborative team and works across a wide network of national and local partners, including NHS Boards, local authorities, third sector organisations, the Lived and Living Experience Panel (LLEP) and the Youth Advisory Group (YAG). Key Responsibilities Support delivery of implementation and improvement resources in practice - Support partners to work at a national and local level to embed person‑centred, compassionate approaches to supporting people affected by suicidal thoughts and behaviours. - Work with partners and draw on the latest evidence, best practice and a range of experts, to identify and respond to barriers and enablers to implementation - This includes supporting the adaptation and implementation of national improvement and implementation resources, with a particular focus on: o The roll out of the Enabling Conversations Toolkit for children and young people, in the CYP sector o The Time Space Compassion approach, including work to support the implementation of personalised risk management approaches in community and clinical settings. Build and maintain stakeholder relationships - Develop and maintain relationships with strategic, community and lived experience partners at both national and local level, holding a portfolio of implementation partnerships. - Represent the work of Suicide Prevention Scotland in multi-agency partnerships and networks, building trust, setting realistic expectations and delivering reliably. - Work in close partnership with colleagues across the delivery collective to ensure a coherent, joined-up approach across Outcome 3 and the wider delivery plan. Lead communications and knowledge sharing - Develop and deliver engaging, accessible communications that promote learning and support the spread of our resources and projects. - Use digital channels and networks to share insight and good practice. - Create content that is trauma-informed, inclusive and practice-focused. Support evaluation and continuous improvement - Work with local and national partners to develop and implement proportionate evaluation activity that identifies impact, learning and opportunities for improvement. - Synthesise and share learning to inform the future development of our resources, including producing clear, accessible written summaries. Project coordination and management - Support national and local partners to plan, coordinate and administer implementation activity, maintaining project plans, milestones and risk registers. - Monitor progress against delivery plan milestones and prepare updates and reports for governance groups. - Support budget tracking and ensure value for money. General Duties: - Act in accordance with Data Protection legislation. Ensure all records, personal, staff and client data are managed in line with Data Management and Information Governance policies. - Comply with legal and regulatory requirements such as provisions set out in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. - As with all employees, workers and volunteers; to encourage people to join Change Mental