Administration and data worker jobs in Manchester

About the role

Join a charity that’s passionate about safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. If you want your work to have a real-world impact, this is the role for you.

What You’ll Do:

You’ll be part of our Disclosures & Training team, working collaboratively to provide administrative and customer service support. Please note we are looking for someone with experience of processing large volumes of DBS checks.

 This is a front-line role where you’ll:

• Deliver excellent customer service, offering advice and guidance to callers and managing enquiries via phone, email and post.
• Process disclosure applications accurately, ensuring legal compliance and liasing with the Disclosure and Barring Service or AccessNI.
• Maintain and update customer and membership records using Microsoft Dynamics, resolving queries and discrepancies as needed.
• Support team operations through triage participation, reporting, training, and adherence to GDPR, organisational policies, and health & safety standards.

This role offers a valuable opportunity to apply specialist knowledge alongside practical problem-solving - supporting efficient, compliant, and high-quality disclosure services across thirtyone:eight.

Why You’ll Love Working Here:

• Purpose-driven work: Everything you do helps protect children and vulnerable adults.
• Flexible working options: Balance your life and work with hybrid arrangements.
• Professional growth: Opportunities to learn, innovate, and lead.
• Supportive culture: Join a friendly, collaborative team that values your ideas.

If you enjoy delivering excellent customer service, handling detailed processes, and contributing to work that makes a meaningful difference, we’d love to hear from you.

Main Responsibilities

• Provide advice and guidance to members phoning the Disclosure Service and to give a consistently high level of customer service. 

• Maintain computer records relating to the provision of thirtyone:eight membership and disclosure service

• Participate in an effective and appropriate triage system operated for callers to the training team.

• Processing disclosure application forms ensuring that they meet legal requirements.

Specific Responsibilities

• Deal with incoming post, emails and telephone enquiries relating to the operation of the Disclosure Service.  

• Carefully check information received to ensure completeness, following up any enquiries necessary by post, telephone or e-mail.      

• Check and countersign online disclosure application forms and then forward the application to the Disclosure and Barring Service or AccessNI for processing.  

• Enter details of disclosure applications and members of thirtyone:eight on the database (Microsoft Dynamics). 

• Follow up all queries, discrepancies and other issues as appropriate with client churches/organisations and the Disclosure and Barring Service.  

• Participate in internal and external meetings and training events as required – mostly online but occasionally in-person.  

• Prepare reports and data information as requested.  

• At all times work within the policies and Code of Practice laid down by the Disclosure and Barring Service, thirtyone:eight and UK Data Protection Legislation and GDPR.

• Under the Health & Safety at Work Act and associated guidance, take adequate care for the health and safety of oneself and other persons who may be affected by an individual’s acts or omissions.

• Undertake any other reasonable duty or task in accordance with the objectives of the post.  

Person Specification

A) Essential Personal Characteristics and Qualities:

• Humility - Having a modest view of your own importance.
• Integrity - The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
• Openness - Acceptance of, or receptiveness to change or new ideas. 
• Collaborative - Involving two or more parties working together. 
• Solution-focused - Concentration in problem solving or dealing with a difficult situation.
• Learning - Knowledge acquired through study, experience, or being taught.
• Creative - Having good imagination, thinking differently, or having original ideas.
• Fair - Treating people equally without favouritism or discrimination. 
• Committed - Dedicated to a certain course, cause or policy.
• Passionate - Having or showing strong feelings or beliefs. 

B) Essential Experience:

• Experience of processing large volumes of DBS checks.

• A detailed understanding of the legal eligibility for Enhanced DBS checks within a faith setting.

• Broad-based experience of working in an office environment.  

• Experience of dealing with clients/customers over the telephone. 

• Good computer skills (MS Office applications as a minimum).

C) Essential Abilities, Knowledge & Motivation:

These are the skills we regard as essential for the role:

• Significant working knowledge of DBS Eligibility

• Excellent telephone manner

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to be self-motivated and to work with the minimum of supervision

• Ability to identify with and accept the aims of thirtyone:eight as a Christian social work organisation

• Calm, non-judgemental attitude with sensitivity and tact to enable an appropriate initial response to people in need ringing thirtyone:eight

• Meticulous as to detail

• Ability to work to deadlines

• Flexibility and a good team worker

• Ability to deal confidentially with matters of a private and sensitive nature

D) Desirable Skills and Knowledge:

• Experience of working on a database 

• Good typing skills 

• An understanding of the Disclosure and Barring Service 

• An awareness of Christian organisations and church structures

• Experience of using Microsoft Teams

We are looking for a Weekenders Journey Guide to support prospective Weekend Foster Carers from their first conversations with Now Foster through to the next stages of the recruitment and assessment journey.

This is a highly relational, candidate-facing role. You will be one of the main people helping applicants understand what Weekenders is, explore whether it is right for them, stay motivated through the process, and feel supported to take the next step.

Introductory conversations (our ‘intro chats’) will be a core part of the role. You will speak with people who are curious about fostering, but who may also feel unsure, nervous or are still working out whether they can foster. Your role will be to bring warmth, clarity and momentum: helping people feel welcomed, informed and confident, while also making sure the right people progress at the right pace.

You will use Now Foster’s digital platform (a bespoke CRM system) to manage the candidate journey, track progress, record key information and help the team understand where applicants are getting stuck or moving forward. You will play an important role in making sure we are attracting the right leads, supporting them well, and learning how to improve the journey as we grow.

This role would particularly suit someone with experience of fostering or working in fostering. It could also suit someone from a related background who is deeply motivated by innovation in this area and excited by what fostering could look like if it were designed around children, carers and relationships.

You do not need to be a qualified social worker, but you do need to be emotionally mature, reflective, organised and comfortable working closely with a social work-led team. You will need to understand safeguarding, and be confident holding thoughtful conversations with prospective carers.

What You’ll Be Doing

Supporting candidates through the journey

• Acting as a consistent, warm and encouraging point of contact for prospective Weekend Foster Carers.

• Carrying out intro chats with people who have expressed interest in the Weekenders programme.

• Helping candidates understand the Weekenders programme, what the role involves, and what the journey looks like.

• Supporting candidates to reflect on whether Weekenders is right for them.

• Keeping candidates engaged, informed and motivated as they move through the process.

• Helping people overcome practical barriers where appropriate, while being honest and clear about expectations.

• Making sure candidate communication feels relational, timely and values-led.

Helping the right people progress

• Helping identify candidates who are ready to move forward, as well as those who may need more time, more information or a different route.

• Support candidates to progress, pause or close, as advised by our fostering service colleagues.

• Using strengths-based and motivational approaches to help candidates reflect on their motivations, support networks and capacity.

• Working closely with social work colleagues to escalate questions, concerns or safeguarding issues appropriately.

• Supporting candidates to prepare for training, home visits and assessment stages.

• Helping ensure the process is clear, efficient and supportive.

Supporting groups, events and community activity

• Supporting information events, training sessions and candidate-facing events.

• Co-delivering sessions with social workers and other colleagues.

• Helping create a welcoming community for people exploring Weekenders.

• Supporting socials and community-building activity for applicants and approved Weekend Foster Carers.

• Helping candidates connect with the mission and feel part of something meaningful.

Administration, data and follow-up

• Keeping candidate records, notes and next steps up to date on Now Foster’s digital platform.

• Using Google Workspace, Trello and other tools to access key documents and manage your workload. 

• Making sure no candidate falls through the cracks.

• Supporting data capture so the team can understand what is working and where candidates are getting stuck.

• Helping improve templates, messages, prompts and workflows for the candidate journey.

• Supporting home visit admin and logistics where needed.

Contributing to innovation and learning

• Gathering feedback from candidates to help improve the journey and bringing this insight from candidate conversations into team discussions.

• Helping the team understand what motivates people to become Weekend Foster Carers, what worries them, and what helps them move forward.

• Supporting testing and iteration of new candidate journey approaches.

• Helping us build a process that is warm, efficient, inclusive and effective.

• Contributing to a new model of fostering that is relational, ambitious and designed around children and young people.

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You Are

• Warm and relational – able to build trust quickly and make people feel welcome.

• Emotionally mature – able to have thoughtful conversations about motivation, care, family life and uncertainty.

• A strong communicator – clear, encouraging and confident across phone, video calls, emails and written updates.

• Motivational and strengths-based – skilled at helping people see their potential while also being honest about what fostering involves.

• Organised and proactive – able to manage a busy candidate journey, track next steps and keep people moving.

• Tech-savvy – comfortable using digital platforms, Google Workspace and Trello.

• Confident in your judgement – able to decide when someone should progress, pause or close, while knowing when to seek advice.

• Safeguarding-aware – able to recognise when something needs to be escalated and comfortable working within clear safeguarding processes.

• Reflective and curious – interested in learning what works and improving the candidate journey over time.

• Comfortable with ambiguity – happy working in a small, growing charity where things are evolving.

• Committed to better outcomes for children and young people – motivated by Now Foster’s mission and the potential of Weekenders.

Experience We’re Looking For

Fostering experience would be highly beneficial. For example, this could include experience as a foster carer, working in fostering, supporting foster carers, working with fostering services, or working in a closely related part of children’s social care.

We are also interested in people with experience in:

• Volunteer management

• Children’s social care or youth work

• Community work

• Social prescribing

• Mentoring or coaching

• Recruitment, onboarding or candidate support

• Relationship-based support roles

Most importantly, we are looking for someone who understands the importance of relationships, can guide people through a meaningful decision-making process, and is excited by the possibility of building a different kind of fostering journey.

Bonus Points For

• Lived experience of the care system or fostering.

• Experience working directly with prospective or approved foster carers.

• Experience using motivational interviewing, coaching or strengths-based approaches.

• Experience supporting people through an application, recruitment, assessment or onboarding journey.

• Experience delivering or supporting information sessions, preparation groups, training or community events.

• Experience working remotely or in a flexible, fast-moving team.

An interest in innovation, service design or changing how fostering works.
 

About Us

Now Foster is a team of innovative social workers, designers, and entrepreneurs on a mission to change fostering in the UK.

We bring together social work, service design, public sector transformation and lived experience to create better outcomes for children and young people. Our overarching vision is to transform the fostering system by bringing many more wonderful people into it as foster carers, so that children and young people have the relationships, stability and support they need to thrive.

You will be joining a small, ambitious and passionate team, alongside our trustees, freelancers and advisors, all of whom play an active part in shaping our work. We partner with local authorities and not-for-profits who share our values and are ready to embrace change. As a registered charity, everything we do is driven by purpose, not profit.

About Weekenders

Weekenders is Now Foster’s flagship programme. It pairs children and young people in foster care with inspiring adults who can offer guidance, stability and encouragement on a regular basis. It is about showing up, making a difference, and being that person a young person can count on.

The programme is growing quickly. We are scaling Weekenders across London and beyond, testing new ways to support applicants, local authorities and independent social workers, and building the operational foundations needed for long-term growth.

A core part of this growth is making sure that people who are interested in becoming Weekend Foster Carers receive the right balance of warmth, encouragement, information and challenge as they move through the journey. That is where the Journey Guide comes in.

Working Pattern and Location

This role is offered at 4 to 5 days per week, with a salary of £34,000 pro rata.

The role can be based anywhere in England, with occasional travel to our Weekender delivery areas. Our Weekenders team is currently based across London and Manchester, and our wider organisational team is based in Oxford. Most work will be home-based, but there will be some in-person meetings, events, training sessions or bi-monthly co-working days.

The role will involve some work outside standard office hours. This is likely to include:

• Around one weekend day per month, which you would take back as time off during the previous or following week.

• Some evening work, for example around one information event per month.

• Some evening intro chats with prospective foster carers, where this helps people engage with the process.

We work flexibly and will support the successful candidate to manage their time in a sustainable way.

Safeguarding

Now Foster is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

This role will involve contact with prospective carers, rather than direct work with children and young people. However, you will need to understand safeguarding, work within Now Foster’s safeguarding processes, and escalate any concerns appropriately.

This role will require an enhanced DBS check.

What’s In It For You

Joining Now Foster means being part of something different. We are small, ambitious and innovative, and you will play a key role in helping Weekenders grow.

You will be close to the people exploring whether they could become Weekend Foster Carers, and your work will directly shape whether they feel supported, confident and ready to take the next step.

You will join a supportive, collaborative and values-led team. We work hard, care deeply about what we do, and are building something bold and lasting: a new way of fostering that blends social work, design, technology and relational practice.

We will provide the tools and technology you need, cover agreed travel and expenses, and support you to work flexibly within the rhythm of the programme.

How to Apply

Please send us your CV and a short cover letter explaining:

1. Why you are interested in Now Foster and the Weekenders programme.

2. The experience you would bring in supporting, guiding or motivating people.

3. Any experience you have of fostering, working in fostering, children’s social care, community work, volunteer management or similar.

4. What excites you about innovation in fostering and what fostering could look like.

5. Your availability, including whether you are looking for 4 or 5 days per week and when you could start.

You must have the right to work in the UK.

We recognise that some candidates may use generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to support the preparation of their application. While this is acceptable, applications must remain an authentic reflection of your own experiences and motivations. We ask candidates to let us know if and how they used AI as part of the recruitment process.

Our Commitment to Equality

Now Foster is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, identities and experiences.

Recruitment and selection decisions are made on the basis of fair, objective and transparent criteria. We will also make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process to ensure accessibility for all candidates.

Please Note: We are hoping to appoint as soon as possible and will close recruitment once we find the right person so candidates are advised to submit an application as soon as they are able.

We are looking for an experienced and highly organised grant manager with exceptional communication and relationship building skills, to manage all aspects of grants from The Christie Charity to the NHS Trust.

The role will take responsibility for collating project information and supporting internal teams to communicate and demonstrate project impact and ensure accountability to our external partners and audiences.

This is an exciting time to join The Christie charity as we embark on a period of transformational growth with the launch of key capital appeals enabling us to see a real step change in our income. We are looking for dynamic individuals to join our successful fundraising team at this exciting time.

We are looking for an organised and proactive individual to identify new prospects (trusts, foundations, corporates and major donors) to support to the philanthropy team in their fundraising efforts.

The role will help develop and expand our prospect pipeline by identifying new opportunities and supporting the philanthropy fundraising team.

This is an exciting time to join The Christie charity as we embark on a period of transformational growth with the launch of key capital appeals enabling us to see a real step change in our income. We are looking for dynamic individuals to join our successful fundraising team at this exciting time