Children and young people advisor jobs in Nottingham
Purpose of the role:
Back Up courses are a vital part of what we do and have been transforming lives for almost 30 years. You will play a critical role in making this fantastic service work as well as supporting the wider team.
You will be the main support and liaison for participants, buddies and care team volunteers, ensuring that everyone feels supported and knows what to expect. You will ensure courses run smoothly and effectively through an effective, efficient administration service.
Key stakeholders:
People with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their families; professionals and organisations working with people affected by SCI; Back Up staff
How to apply:
• A CV (including two referees, one of whom should be your present or most recent employer. We will contact them after interview.)
• A (maximum) two side A4 supporting statement, saying why you want the job and explaining how you meet the criteria in the job description. This statement is crucial; CVs alone will not be accepted.
• A completed equal opportunity form. This form will be kept separate from your application and not viewed by the recruiting manager. It is used to help us assess the diversity of our applicants to ensure our processes are fair to all. It is optional to fill in, but it will help us improve and maintain high standards.
Registered Charity
At Back Up, our vision is a world where everyone affected by spinal cord injury can reach their full potential.
Thank you!
This role will lead and deliver two projects, the Net Zero Carbon (NZC) Young Adult Voices Project, and the General Synod Young Voices project, across which it will engage with a wide variety of young people.
The Net Zero Carbon Young Adult Voices project recognises that action to tackle climate change, as part of the wider environmental crisis, is important for young people, and responds to the fact that the NZC programme is not currently strategically engaging with these groups.
This project will involve:
- gathering the voices of young adults (18-30) to enable them to influence the direction of the programme and the Church's wider Environment Programme, ensuring their voice is heard at all levels of the Programme, and informs decision-making.
- communicating what the NZC programme is doing, to raise awareness amongst young people of the CofE's commitment to being a NZC church with these audiences, and to enable pathways for them to become involved in decarbonisation and other environmental projects at the local level.
- work with diocesan colleagues to enable the voices of young people to exercise leadership influence on NZC at a Diocesan level, as appropriate.
Important to the success of this role will be engaging with departments and stakeholders across the Church of England, to ensure this work sits within the broader context of the priority to be a church which is younger and more diverse.
As this is a new project and a new role, the postholder will help to shape the role. The initial focus will be to develop a NZC Young Adult Voices Strategy and Plan for sign-off by the NZC Programme Board, and then to work through delivery of this. This will need to consider the theology, mission and action that will engage and connect with young people - particularly exploring how we root this work in the spirituality and theology that is relevant for a younger audience.
The General Synod Young Voices project follows two motions passed at General Synod (in July 2024 and February 2025) committing General Synod to listening and responding to the voices of children, young people and young adults in every subsequent session. This project involves gathering the voices through schools, churches and Dioceses and enabling children and young people to speak and present each session at General Synod. In addition, it involves working with a group of young adults drawn from every diocese to run a programme of faith and leadership development that enables them to speak into General Synod at a national level, and exercise leadership influence at a Diocesan level as appropriate.
This is a fixed-term role until December 2028, with potential to extend, dependent on 29-31 Triennium Funding.
Responsibilities
Leading the General Synod Young Voices project
Developing robust processes and strategies for gathering the voices of children, young people and young adults
Overseeing the engagement of children, young people and young adults at forthcoming General Synod sessions, supporting them to contribute regularly and effectively in a range of agenda items
Raising up the voice of Children and Young People from all under-represented groups, making a significant contribution to the Church of England's vision to become more diverse.
Working with the Head of Younger Leaders, Executive Director of Education and the General Synod Business Committee to ensure that engagement is well planned and implemented
Create mechanisms for young adults from across every Diocese, to contribute to and experience General Synod
Equipping, supporting and enabling co-opted young adult members of General Synod
Edit video and audio content for effective dissemination through wider networks
Leading the NZC Young Adult Voices Project
Develop and deliver NZC Young Adult Voices Strategy and Plan which includes:
Developing robust processes and strategies for gathering the voices of young adults and making sure they are heard internally within the Church and also in the public square.
Overseeing the engagement of young adults with NZC Programme board meetings, supporting them to contribute regularly and effectively in a range of agenda items.
Raising up the voice of young adults from all under-represented groups making a significant contribution to the Church of England's vision to become more diverse.
Create mechanisms to report back the work of the NZC programme to young adults, including developing an effective communications and engagement approach which responds to their needs, with the NZC Comms Lead.
Equipping, supporting and enabling young adults to engage with, develop, or lead environmental action in their churches and diocese
Work with the NZC Programme Director, NZC Programme Manager and the National Environmental Policy Officer to progress this project, and more broadly with the NZC Programme Workstream leads across the NCIs
Support the NZC Programme Team in its communications and reporting work to General Synod and other key bodies from time to time (e.g. Archbishops' Council, Church Commissioners Board of Trustees)
Working effectively with environment programme networks in dioceses
Work with the NZC Comms Lead to effectively disseminate case studies, resources and tools through wider networks and social media
Both:
- Modelling and implementing the highest standards of safeguarding in every aspect of the work, working with other safeguarding leads with NSE, National Safeguarding Team and external stakeholders' safeguarding provision
- Encouraging leaders in dioceses to adopt similar strategies for prioritising the voices of Children and Young People, through liaison with children and youth advisors and DBE teams
- Working effectively across teams within the NCIs
- Collaboration with the Growing Faith Voice Specialist
About You
Essential
Knowledge/Experience
- Successful leadership experience within either church or school settings
- Experience of using effective strategies to enable the voice of children, young people and young adults to be heard
- Experience of enabling the agency and the voice of children and young people
- Experience of enabling children, young people and young adults to effect institutional change
- Experience in establishing good relationships with a wide range of stakeholders
- Experience in developing a strategic approach to engaging and working with young people
- Good understanding of the current church landscape
- Good understanding of environmental issues, and the climate and nature crises, ideally within a Christian context
- Personally committed to and passionate about changing the culture of the Church of England
Skills & Abilities:
- Understand the safeguarding requirements around listening and responding to Children and Young People
- Understand the importance of data protection
- Passionate about the potential for children, young people and young adults to shape the direction of the Church
- Ability to engage and communicate well with a wide range of stakeholders, including writing and presentations online and in person
- Ability to evaluate, analyse and reflect on a range of data sources
- Firm commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
- Great team player
- Self-starter, able to use own initiative and be proactive
- Able to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities and complex deadlines
- Engaging presentation and facilitation skills with large and small groups, both virtually and face-to-face
- Innovative, creative and responsive to feedback
- Competent in Microsoft Office packages, video and audio editing software (e.g. Clipchamp and Audacity etc.) and Zoom
Desirable
Knowledge/Experience:
- Experience managing regional/national level projects with significant numbers of stakeholders
- High competence in public speaking to larger audiences
Registered Charity
101 - 500
The Church of England’s vocation is and always has been to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ afresh in each generation to the people of England.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Do you want to join an organisation committed to addressing low literacy and numeracy levels amongst people in the criminal justice system?
We’ve made substantial progress in recent years, with improvements and expansions to our delivery model and significant growth in our staff team. In Spring 2026, we will launch our refreshed organisational strategy, which will shape our work over the next three years and beyond. To support this growth, we are recruiting for a full time Director of People to help provide strategic people leadership to our growing team of staff and volunteers.
In this pivotal leadership role, you will shape and deliver our People and Culture strategy, ensuring an inclusive, values‑driven and high‑performing environment for our people. You will lead organisation‑wide strategic workforce planning, oversee the full employee lifecycle, and champion initiatives that strengthen engagement, wellbeing and belonging. As a core member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will advise on all workforce matters, drive leadership development, and support our managers to build capability and confidence. You will ensure our HR, volunteering and people operations run smoothly and efficiently, modernising processes and maintaining compliance with employment law, safeguarding requirements and best practice. You will also provide strategic oversight of EDIB work, reward and recognition frameworks, and organisational risk, while leading a dedicated team covering HR, learning and development, and volunteering.
The role requires excellent communication and organisational skills, strong knowledge of employment law, the ability to coach and influence senior leaders, and the capacity to work autonomously while managing multiple priorities effectively. You must be IT literate, with a good working knowledge of the commonly used Microsoft business tools, and be able to work independently. The role calls for a hands-on, collaborative, people‑centred leader with strong emotional intelligence, an inclusive and values‑driven mindset, and the ability to think strategically while remaining performance‑focused and learner‑centred.
We want to hear from applicants who are as committed to the cause as we are.
This is a home-based role but may require occasional travel around the UK including overnight stays. This role is 5 days per week (35 hours) with working days/hours to be mutually agreed in line with business needs.
Employee benefits include a company contribution to pension scheme of up to 5%, 30 days holiday plus bank holidays, life insurance, paid volunteering days, discounts via Reward Gateway and an Employee Assistance Programme. The biggest benefit though is our culture – our people really want to work for the organisation.
We welcome job applications from people with lived experience of the criminal justice system and do not routinely ask for details of any criminal convictions.
Interviews, which will be held online, will take place on 31st March and 1st April 2026
All applications must include a covering letter of no more than 2 pages which outlines your suitability for the role and how you meet the person specification.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Camwch i mewn i daith drawsnewidiol gyda Cyfleodd Dysgu mewn addysg
Step into a transformative journey with Working Options. We're on a mission to empower young people aged 11-19 across the UK, and you can help make a real difference. As our Project Coordinator, based in Wales, you'll play a crucial role in connecting volunteers with schools and fostering impactful relationships, all while working within a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment.
We believe in inclusivity, trying new things, setting high expectations, and creating real opportunities for young people. With the support of our experienced team and dedicated trustees, you'll have the chance to shape young people's career ambitions.
If you're self-motivated and eager to contribute to a great mission, this is your chance to join a team that's helping young people to transform their career and life chances.
Don't just take our word for it, here's what one of our young people had to say:
"My personal experience has been exceptional. There is a collaborative atmosphere, and it is truly empowering to be part of a charity that values student input and involves us in decisions that directly affect our lives." – Working Options Alumnae.
Find out more about the role and hear from our Chief Executive about our charity's ambitions in our Applicant Information Pack.
Person specification
WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO:
- Has a passion for our cause.
- Is fully committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion.
- Is self-motivated.
- Has excellent attention to detail.
- Can juggle multiple priorities, sticking to deadlines and flagging when priorities need reviewing.
- Has a flair for developing great relationships, particularly with schools and colleges.
- Is proactive and tenacious, able to seek out new opportunities and remain resilient.
- Is creative and likes coming up with new ideas.
- Is ambitious for themselves and for the charity.
- Has high computer literacy.
DESIRABLE:
- Experience within educational settings or working with young people in Wales.
- The ability to communicate in the medium of Welsh.
We carry out social media checks on shortlisted candidates as part of our recruitment process, using only publicly available information and in line with our data protection responsibilities.
While we don’t specify this in our person specification, we are particularly interested to hear from applicants who have experienced some of the challenges that young people across Wales face today.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.