This is a rare and exciting opportunity to join our sector-leading UK Voice and Influence Team, and work very closely with our brilliant, as well as our Children's Services across the UK.
Please note: this role carries a genuine occupational requirement that the postholder is from Black or Minoritised Ethnic (or ‘BAME', ‘Global Majority' or ‘African, Asian, Caribbean or Mixed heritage') community. We will confirm this prior to finalising our shortlist for interview.
The context:
Listening and responding to the voices and experiences of young people across the UK is a foundation of our three-year strategy – and in particular the voices of Black or Minoritised Ethnic young people, who are often less-heard.
Our vision is to build and support an engaged, diverse network (B-Amplified) of young people (aged 11-25) from across the UK who represent a broad range of identities and lived experiences, and who can speak out and work alongside Barnardo's in pursuit of our core purpose: Changing Childhoods, Changing Lives.
To help us do this, we are strengthening our B-Amplified Network and introducing new opportunities for young people to engage in our work, including through our new Lived Experience Ambassadors offer and an annual Youth Summit.
The challenge this role will help us address:
Black or Minoritised Ethnic children and young people are less visible and represented across Barnardo's work – in our Children's Services, and in our UK voice and influence work. This role will help us:
1. Address ongoing feedback about the need for greater representation of Black or Minoritised Ethnic young people within B-Amplified, while also strengthening engagement from children's services to support pathways for a longer-term, stronger charity-wide approach to inclusive engagement.
2. Identify and understand barriers within children's services that prevent meaningful engagement with Black or Minoritised Ethnic young people. This will help inform V&I, SEEN, and the wider organisation's approach to anti-racist practice, and excellent and inclusive voice and influence work.
Specifically, this role will:
3. Lead on the recruitment, coordination and support of young people signed up as B-Amplified Network members – the role will be the dedicated member of staff to onboard, sustain engagement, and successfully support young people to transition and exit to other opportunities.
4. Support the SEEN Ambassadors, and coordinate their engagement in the wider B-Amplified Network offer – bringing them more coherently into the wider voice and influence programme of work, and ensure there is a consistent approach to monitoring, evaluation, recording and reporting for this group of young people.
In year 1 of this role, we expect the focus to be on the anti-racism strand to excellent and inclusive services and, by extension, the increased engagement of Black or Minoritised Ethnic children and young people – locally, in services, and nationally, in national opportunities. As part of its ‘business as usual', this role will:
5. Provide ‘hands-on' sessional and pastoral support for young people participating in the B-Amplified Network and those who are SEEN Ambassadors.
6. Coordinate and support a programme of personal and skills development sessions for young people participating in the B-Amplified Network and those who are SEEN Ambassadors – such as training, webinars and similar – to ‘get them ready' to have a voice and influence in decision-making.
7. Forge improved links between the B-Amplified Network and SEEN Ambassadors, to ensure clarity of role/s, engagement and our ‘menu' of opportunities.
For this role, we're looking for someone who brings: [shortlisting criteria]
8. At least five years' experience in a role working directly with children and/or young people in a health, social care, education or youth work setting.
9. Experience of designing, delivering and evaluating strategic voice and influence activities with young people – including through remote or virtual working.
10. Knowledge and understanding of the practical application of anti-racist principles, practice and ways of working.
11. Experience of working across complex structures, hierarchies and partnerships, with experience of working with a range of stakeholders at different levels and reporting through matrix arrangements.
12. Ability to plan, deliver and evaluate projects, collaboratively and effectively.
13. Excellent collaboration, networking and partnership-working skills.
Specific circumstances of this role:
The right candidate will:
14. Be from a Black or Minoritised Ethnic (or ‘BAME', ‘Global Majority' or ‘African, Asian, Caribbean or Mixed heritage') community - this is a genuine occupational requirement.
15. Live close to a national rail station and/or airport – as regular travel across the UK will be required, including overnight visits (1-2 times per month).
16. Be able to work flexibly to accommodate direct work with young people outside of 'normal' hour (i.e. evenings and weekends).
Important to note:
We recognise the inherent power dynamics at play, and that the occupational requirement does not imply that the responsibility to ‘solve' the issue of diversity rests solely with a minoritised individual (or team). Instead, this role forms part of a wider, intentional commitment across the organisation to embed anti-racist and inclusive practice at every level and is why we have proposed a matrix management approach - to ensure the role is not siloed, but meaningfully supported and connected across teams.
A key focus will be to understand and address the structural and cultural barriers that children's services and internal teams may face when engaging with Black or Minoritised Ethnic young people.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.
17. Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
18. Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
19. The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
20. A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
21. Service related sick pay from day 1
22. Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
23. Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
24. Cycle2work scheme
25. Interest free season ticket loans
26. Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
27. 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
28. Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
29. Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
30. Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer
*T&C's