The Role

Do you want to play an integral role in our outstanding participation service for care experienced young people in Wandsworth?

Are you passionate about Youth Voice and helping to shape and develop services for care experienced young people?

Would you like to improve the outcomes for care experienced young people so they can build bright and stable futures for themselves and others?

If yes, then we have the perfect role for you!

We are recruiting a full time Participation Officer to work in the Participation Team (CLICK) for care experienced young people in Wandsworth.

About the team

The Participation Team (CLICK) for care experienced children and young people are looking to recruit a dynamic and enthusiastic Participation Officer to join the team. The Participation Team’s goal is to ensure care experienced children and young adults have a voice and are actively involved and valued in service delivery and developments and decisions affecting their lives.

About the role

As the Participation Officer, you will lead on facilitating participation projects and activities, (specifically for those aged 16-25), including the development of our care leavers forum (Click Plus) and co-facilitate our children in care council (Click). You will also lead on delivering the ‘Life Skills’ programme to care experienced young people.

The successful candidate will be highly motivated to improving the outcomes for young people and will have experience of developing and maintaining positive relationships with young people, specifically those dealing with challenging and difficult behaviours.

About you

As a person your excellent interpersonal skills will allow you to develop trusting relationships both within and outside of the team, whilst working to a high professional standard. You’ll be a great team player who is able to form part of a strong determined team as well as work effectively independently, using one’s own initiative when necessary. You will use creative ways to engage care experienced young people and be innovative in striving to create new opportunities.

The successful candidate will be highly motivated to improve outcomes for young people and use creative ways to engage care experienced young people and be innovative in striving to create new participation opportunities.

You will have excellent communication skills – both written and spoken – and will be able to engage socially excluded young people and advocate on their behalf.

Click Plus said they would like the following in their Participation Officer…

‘We want someone who is determined to make a difference. Someone who cares, has energy and is kind- hearted. We want someone reliable, hard- working, down to earth and humble. Someone who is trust- worthy, transparent and straight forward who will not treat the job like a 9-5 and can be available. We also want someone who is good with social media. Most importantly, we want someone that can be in it for the long haul.’

Contact details

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Mei Lai Lu by email MeiLai.Lu@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk 

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Close date: 11:59pm on Sunday 17th July 2022
• Shortlisting date: week commencing 18th July 2022
• Interview date: week commencing 25th July 2022

Useful Information: The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible. Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

At Wandsworth, we particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams, including people with disabilities. We understand the value of what a diverse workforce brings to our local authority and therefore, strongly encouraging candidates from these backgrounds to apply to this position.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

How to apply

To be considered for interview your application must highlight your knowledge, skills and experience listed in the Job Profile located at the bottom of the advert.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils