Head of Children's Voice & Equalities

What will you be doing?

In this role, you will lead Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Children and Young People’s Engagement and Equalities Strategies, ensuring that children’s voices are embedded in all areas of our work. You will advocate for children in care, support diverse cultural needs, and develop innovative engagement solutions that promote inclusion and address inequalities.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead the development and implementation of strategies for engaging children and young people, promoting anti-racist and culturally competent practices.
• Establish effective participation groups and provide strategic guidance on incorporating children’s voices across Northamptonshire Children’s Trust.
• Train and support Northamptonshire Children’s Trust colleagues to improve engagement, addressing equity and diversity challenges.
• Foster partnerships with external organisations to deliver cohesive engagement strategies.
• Ensure that children from vulnerable and marginalised groups are fully included in engagement activities.

About you

You will be a confident facilitator, have a keen interest in social justice, practice education and anti-oppressive practice.

• A degree or equivalent in a relevant field (Youth Work, Social Work, Sociology, etc.).
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire and develop others.
• Proven experience working with vulnerable children and young people, as well as delivering equalities-focused strategies.
• Expert knowledge of anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practices, especially in children’s services.
• The post is subject to an Enhanced DBS clearance

Join us and be part of a team committed to meaningful change, championing children’s voices, and promoting equality across our services. Apply today to help shape the future of children and young people, we actively encourage applications from individuals from a global majority background.

When applying please ensure your supporting statement covers how you fulfil the essential criteria set out in the person specification as this will be used for shortlisting. You will need to provide a full employment history including any gaps since leaving full time education

Our benefits

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme

About us

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was established in November 2020 to deliver Children’s Services to the newly established North and West Northants County Councils. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils; this provides the organisation with unique opportunities to explore new ways of working and to be more agile and adaptable in its approach to service delivery. We are developing a culture that allows the very highest quality of professional practice to flourish and evolve, delivering at the cutting edge of new innovation.