Children service manager jobs in Belfast

Programme Lead - Maternity Cover (London and South East)

Salary: £34,237-£36,853 depending on experience, skills and qualifications* (see below for more details on remuneration)

Contract: Temporary position linked to maternity leave cover

About Voice 21 

Voice 21 is the national oracy education charity. We exist to empower every child to use their voice for success in school and life. Our work transforms learning and life chances through talk by increasing access to a high-quality oracy education for those that need it most. Follow the links to find out more about why oracy is so vital and the impact Voice 21 has. 

Your purpose

To lead professional development and school improvement programmes facilitating the Voice 21 approach in our Voice 21 Oracy Schools by delivering our high impact learning experiences and materials for teachers and school leaders. To be part of the team, designing and reviewing programme content.

Your opportunity 

Tackle a vital challenge, with great people. Voice 21 exists to transform children' s learning and life chances through talk and we are currently working with 1100 schools.  To reach this goal we recruit great people and give them real responsibility, training and support. 

Output focused culture, with flexible working opportunities. We have an agile and flexible approach – our team can work when and wherever works best to deliver the requirements of their role. For staff working at home, we support them to create a workspace and provide technology that enables them to work effectively. 

Real development opportunities. We believe in supporting people to develop the skills they need to be excellent – whether this means funding external training, finding a mentor to support them or giving them the time to learn from others in the organisations through our regular CPD sessions. We also offer paid study leave for team members taking part in formal studies outside of work. 

Great benefits. 36 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays and Christmas closure period). Holiday entitlement increases linked to length of service, 5% employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket, cycle and technology loans, employee assistance scheme. 

Remuneration. Our pay is a band and spine point approach where there is up to 7 years progression available (depending on starting point) 

Your responsibilities

Quality programme delivery

• Lead high quality professional development and school improvement programmes in our Pathway programmes and Open Learning for groups of teachers. These may be delivered in person, online or in school. 

• Deliver transformative consultancy support, working with teachers and school leaders to design and implement bespoke improvement plans for their oracy provision, including through in school and online consultancy support, and one-to-one advice.

• Build credibility and purposeful relationships with programme participants, both at programme days and touchpoints, and on an on-going basis to drive impact in our schools.

• Be responsible for participant learning and experience on your programmes, upholding high standards for all elements such as preparation, adapting to participant needs, content and rigour, on-going interactions and support, and participant feedback.

Learning content & programme development

• Proactively share insights and learning from the programmes you deliver, proposing and shaping solutions to enable Voice 21 to continually improve its programme offer.

• Apply and share expertise through varied outputs such as teaching materials, online learning content, resources, written or video outputs. Proactively identify and respond to opportunities or gaps and fulfil briefs or commissions. 

• Contribute to the continual improvement of Voice 21’s programmes, through development and review cycles, based on first-hand learning from our schools, content expertise, programme insights and external research and evidence. 

Team and organisational contribution

• Act as an ambassador for Voice 21’s national oracy expertise, communicating the value and impact of our approach at conferences, events and through publications.

• Embody and communicate oracy teaching and learning expertise within the organisation, acting as a resource for the wider team and making contributions to organisational priorities, projects, campaigns and events, outputs and publications etc. 

• Continually and proactively develop your own and others’ expertise in Voice 21’s approach to a high quality oracy education, and use this to leverage impact for our schools through tangible learning outputs.

• Identify and carry out other tasks commensurate to the level and spirit of the role as required.

Your experience

• You are an excellent teacher (primary or secondary)

• You are passionate about teaching and learning, and the role of talk in learning. You have used talk to support learning in your classroom.

• You have experience leading whole-school change and inspiring teachers to embrace new approaches and ideas.

• You have a knowledge of a range of speaking and listening techniques and contexts for oracy, these could include: debate, dialogic teaching, storytelling, public speaking or communication and language development. 

• You are a strong communicator both when working in a small team and when facilitating learning for large groups of adults. 

• You are flexible, can think on your feet and can bring your own experiences to the work we do.

• You are highly-organised, look for solutions and can prioritise and manage a varied workload. 

• You are enthusiastic, willing to learn and feel you would be energised by our mission. If you do not fully meet all the above criteria, but are happy to work towards developing into the role, we would be happy to consider your application.

• You are willing to travel nationally on a frequent basis (3 days a week) during term time; this will include regular overnight stays. 

Further details 

Start date: September 1st 2026 

Terms: Temporary, linked to maternity cover and subject to successful probation review.

Contract: This is a full time post

Location: Home-based with frequent national travel, including overnight stays, to work with schools and attend meetings. Applicants must hold a valid UK driving licence and have access to a car they can use for work. 

Application details 

To apply: 

Please submit your most recent CV and a document answering the questions below:

• Tell us why you want to work at Voice 21. What is it about us and our mission that excites you? (Max. 400 words)

• Making direct reference to the job description, please tell us the three main reasons why you would make an excellent Programme Lead (Max. 400 words).

• Tell us about something you have achieved recently that you are proud of? (Max 200 words)

Please do not apply for this position if you are not based in this area of the UK

Closing date: Wednesday 22nd April

Interview date: Provisional dates for initial phone interviews week commencing Tuesday 5 May, with second round interviews on Zoom week commencing 11th May.

Questions: If you have any questions before applying for the role, please contact Catherine Pass

Valuing every voice

Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Voice 21.