Project Manager - Transforming access to Education

Project Manager – Transforming access to Higher Education for single parents in Scotland

Last updated: 12/02/2026

Post: Project Manager – Transforming access to Higher Education for single parents in Scotland

Hours: 28 hours per week

Salary: OPFS Grade Point - SP25 to 27 (£31,060 to £34,521 28 hours pro rata)

Location: Glasgow (hybrid), with travel across Scotland (pilots & partners). You may also be asked to travel, with notice, to other OPFS offices and events external to office base.

Reports to: Head of Policy, Strategy and Communications with dotted line to Head of Service – Support for Families

Closing date: 8th March 2026 m.

The postholder will be expected to operate in line with our values which are:
Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion.

One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) is the national charity for single parent families and this programme is about changing what is possible. All roles at OPFS contribute to our mission of working with and for single parent families, providing support that enables them to achieve their potential and help create lasting solutions to the poverty and barriers facing many single parents and their children.

Over three years (April 2026 - 30 June 2029), OPFS will lead a long‑term, systems change initiative to transform how single parents access, experience and succeed in Higher Education in Scotland. Researching this issue with The Robertson Trust evidences structural barriers rooted in poverty, childcare gaps and inflexible institutional systems.

This initiative will drive change through policy advocacy; coalition‑building and participatory redesign of Higher Education pathways, ensuring they reflect the realities of single parents' lives. By tackling entrenched inequalities, the project seeks to open new opportunities for single parents, enabling them to move beyond immediate survival, aspire to new futures and fulfil their goals through meaningful access to education.

Equal opportunities and family friendly employment

OPFS aims to be an equal opportunity and family friendly employer. OPFS has Investors In People Gold status.

OPFS is seeking an experienced Project Manager to lead the day‑to‑day delivery of this innovative programme. You will serve as the single point of contact for institutional partners and funders.

• Use project management methodologies, lead the co‑ordination of this project to ensure delivery of agreed outcomes and achievement of financial targets. This will include governance, budget management, reporting to funders and internally and risk management.
• Manage relationships with key stakeholders both internal and external, including Scottish colleges and universities.
• Work with higher educational teams to establish a co‑ordinated and collaborative communications and outreach process to reach target groups and communicate with prospective and current student parents.
• Create a system to monitor engagement to ensure all can participate fairly and without stigma.

• Develop and deliver pilots with clear monitoring against expected outcomes.
• Convert learning from pilots into policy/process updates, produce scalable toolkits and practice briefs.
• Work with Single Parent Participation Officer to lead a lived experience Expert Panel and Single Parent Higher Education Action Group.
• Co‑develop partnership data sets enabling opt‑in identification of single parent students, mapping routes into Higher Education and the supports engaged.
• Using project learning and identified solutions, schedule and deliver OPFS training for staff to ensure learning is embedded in everyday practice.
• Co‑ordinate evaluation, including external evaluation of project outcomes, against clear project success criteria set up as part of the project governance.
• Work with Policy and Influencing Lead to produce learning briefs, case studies that can be disseminated to Higher Education Institutions and policymakers.

• Support the work of OPFS and improve the lives of single parent families.
• Align with OPFS values of Justice, Equity, Trust, Compassion, and…