Counsellor jobs in south staffordshire, staffordshire
The Charity and The Vision.
Scotty’s Little Soldiers is a UK-based charity dedicated to supporting military children and young people (0 to 25 years) who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the British Armed Forces. Founded in 2010 by Nikki Scott following the death of her husband, Corporal Lee Scott, the charity offers a unique blend of emotional, practical, and educational support to over 700 young people, and we have big ambitions to support over 1,000 children annually by 2030.
We are proud of our vibrant, non-traditional culture, which puts the needs of bereaved children and young people at the heart of everything we do. We embrace innovative approaches, are committed to creating smiles and believe in the power of community, resilience, and connection.
Scotty’s is seeking an experienced bereavement counsellor to join our small but effective team. The role involves supporting children and young people affected by bereavement, which may include death in service, illness, or suicide.
We want every bereaved military child and young person to have:
- Access to the very best emotional health and wellbeing support.
- Outstanding development opportunities.
- The chance to smile again.
We call these our Promises. Our promises align with our three programmes: SMILES, STRIDES and SUPPORT.
· The SMILES Programme provides children with the chance to smile again
· The STRIDES Programme provides children with outstanding development opportunities
· The SUPPORT Programme provides the very best emotional health and wellbeing support to children who are struggling to cope following a bereavement.
Our Bereavement Counsellor will be a valuable member of the SUPPORT Programme, delivering online 1:1 and group support to those who need it most. But all three programmes work closely together (we call this the Families team).
Role Mission:
The Scotty’s Bereavement Counsellor will work with our families who are struggling with their grief to help them understand their feelings, develop coping skills and build their new life.
This role will be accountable for:
Providing emotional support, counselling and therapeutic interventions to individuals and families coping with grief and loss. The role involves working compassionately and ethically with families affected by bereavement, helping them process their emotions and find ways to adjust to life after a loss.
The Bereavement Counsellor will work collaboratively with the SUPPORT team and the wider Families team to ensure that all work undertaken by Scotty’s is delivered in a supportive and sensitive manner and that Scotty families receive exemplary care.
What are the 3-month goals for this role:
· Within three months the Counsellor will have developed their knowledge of the range of services that Scotty’s offers to our families so that they can advise and support families in their case load.
· Will have begun to learn and understand the Scotty Values and the Scotty Way (we do things a little differently and our culture is very important to us and our families!).
· Would have begun supporting the families assigned to their caseload by the Head of SUPPORT. This will predominantly if not entirely be online 1:1 delivery.
· Will have completed all necessary safeguarding training and be part of the Scotty’s Safeguarding team.
· Begun attending peer supervision sessions with the SUPPORT team.
What are the 6-month goals for this role:
· Will have established a caseload as assigned by the Head of SUPPORT which is likely to include 1:1 online sessions, and may also include online group sessions, drop ins or workshops.
· Will have begun to support the wider Families team by attending Scotty events. At Scotty events, a SUPPORT team member often attends to provide support to any families in distress (this may require occasional weekend or evening work).
· Will be working cohesively with the Families team and the wider Scotty team to share your knowledge and skills. Scotty’s values a culture of learning and strives to ensure team members can learn from one another’s expertise.
· Will be contributing to peer supervision sessions to ensure all SUPPORT team members are able to give the best support to families.
· Regularly meeting with your selected external supervisor.
What are the 9-month goals for this role:
· Will be supporting a caseload as assigned by the Head of SUPPORT, with emerging impact data showing the success of your support. Scotty’s uses the Child Bereavement Service Questionnaire (CBSQ) developed by the CBN to monitor the impact of 1:1 support and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for pre-bereavement support.
· Will be a valuable member of the SUPPORT programme, Families and wider Scotty team. Providing first rate bereavement counselling and support directly to families but also indirectly helping families by working collaboratively with other team members.
What are the key responsibilities of this role:
· Managing a caseload and delivering one to one counselling sessions as assigned by the Head of SUPPORT. This will predominantly be online delivery using Teams video calling but also other formats as needed by families.
· Facilitate group therapy or support groups when appropriate.
· Conduct initial assessment to determine clients’ needs and suitability for counselling.
· Maintaining accurate and confidential case notes in a timely fashion using our Salesforce based system in accordance with data protection and organisational policies.
· Adhering to all safeguarding requirements and operating as part of the Scotty Safeguarding team to maintain the highest standards across the charity.
· Supporting the development of resources and materials as needed.
· Working collaboratively within the SUPPORT team, including peer supervision.
· Working collaboratively and effectively within the Families team to ensure that families are directed to the appropriate services in a timely fashion. This could include directing families you are working with towards our educational grants, our respite breaks, our events, our school support or our advocacy.
· Liaise with healthcare and mental health professionals such as GPs, CAMHS and social workers or other professionals where appropriate to ensure holistic care and management of risk.
· Attending at least six (mandatory) face to face team days, normally located in the East of England.
· Participate in regular clinical supervision and continuing professional development.
Skillset and Experiences Required:
Essential
· Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). We may consider applications from practitioners with HCPC or NCS membership too.
· Level 4 Counselling / Psychotherapy Diploma or above.
· Significant experience (post qualification) providing bereavement counselling, to children or young people (0-25yrs).
· Experience and training with NICE-approved talking therapies.
· Demonstrated knowledge of issues surrounding bereavement.
· Ability to manage caseload effectively.
· Willingness to work flexible hours to accommodate children’s needs (this may include evening work to avoid school hours at times).
· Excellent computer literacy.
· Ability to develop good therapeutic relationships with families.
· Ability to engage with peer supervision and Scotty’s funded external supervision effectively.
· Ability to engage with a culture of continuous learning and support the learning of others.
· Ability to work flexibly as part of a team and independently to meet the needs of the service.
· Commitment to professional standards and ethical practice.
Desirable
· Accredited member of BACP.
· Knowledge or experience of or with the military community.
· Experience of online counselling.
· Experience (post qualification) providing pre-bereavement counselling or support.
· Experience of supporting those bereaved by suicide.
· Knowledge of or experience using assessment tools such as SDQs or CBSQs.
· Knowledge of statutory mental health provision and systems including CAMHS and EHCPs.
· Experience of providing counselling or support to young people with SEND or additional needs.
· Ability to drive with access to own transport is an advantage as some team meetings can take place away from public transport routes.
· Experience working within a hospice, NHS or charitable setting.
Additional Information
- The role may require evening or weekend work
- Enhanced DBS check required
- Travel will be required to events and team training days
The Scotty’s Way
At Scotty’s, our personal performance is only 50% of what success looks like. Our culture is equally important. When you join our team, you sign up to The Scotty’s Way, rooted in our four core values:
1. Families Come First
2. Everyone a Supporter, Every Supporter a VIP
3. Love What You Do
4. Remember, Every Day
Our values are further supported by our four non-negotiable behaviours of Show Respect, Speak Up, Embrace Change and Actively Collaborate. We are looking for an individual who embodies these values and behaviours.
Thank you for your interest in joining our team, we are an equal opportunities employer, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees are treated with respect and given equal opportunities for employment and advancement.
We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.
We encourage all qualified individuals to apply for employment within our charity, and we are dedicated to providing a fair and inclusive recruitment process for all candidates.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Unifrog’s mission
We’re on a mission to level the playing field when it comes to young people finding and applying for their next step after school. We're achieving this by bringing all the available information into one single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices, and submit the strongest applications. We also empower teachers and counselors to manage the progression process effectively.
Our outlook is global - we work with schools and universities all over the world, from the US to New Zealand, and from Italy to Hong Kong. We want to make it so that young people can compare every opportunity taught in English, wherever it is in the world, and have all the support they need to make successful applications.
We have a clear social purpose, and we’re hugely ambitious. We already work with over half of UK secondary schools, and over a thousand international schools. We are growing rapidly in terms of the number of our customers, in terms of how much they use our platform, and in terms of the breadth of products we offer (check out this video to hear more about the Unifrog platform).
Our next exciting step is to start working with primary schools, helping them to deliver careers and the PSHE curriculum across all year groups in primary school. Together, we’ll work to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and inspire children - especially those who may feel certain pathways are out of reach - when it comes to what their future might hold.
Our team is at the heart of our business and is integral to our success. We work hard to foster a culture of openness, happiness and innovation, and we commit to helping every individual learn and grow so that they can reach their full potential. We want to hire talented people, whatever their background. If you are excited by our mission and are ready to work hard, please don’t hesitate to apply. We look forward to hearing from you!
We believe in the power of diversity. If you are from an ethnic minority background, we would like to strongly encourage you to apply. In advance of applying, if you have any questions about working at Unifrog, please contact Mhairi (details on our website).
What you’ll do
As one of our first Primary Schools Partnership Managers, you’ll play a key role growing our newest partner base and supporting primary school partners to make the most of the Unifrog platform and resources. Excellent customer service is at the heart of what we do, and you’ll make sure that all interactions with Unifrog are positive and successful.
Your key responsibilities:
Sell Unifrog subscriptions to primary schools
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Design and deliver impactful prospecting campaigns and marketing collateral aimed at engaging potential new partners, tracking campaign performance and continually improving your approach to secure demonstrations and drive partnership growth.
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Meet with potential partners on video calls (and sometimes in-person). Understand their priorities, demonstrate the Unifrog platform and resources, and secure their subscription.
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Identify and attend conferences and events to promote Unifrog to primary school audiences, while networking and cultivating relationships for future partnership opportunities.
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Develop a sound awareness of Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) and the PSHE Association Framework within the UK. You’ll need this to confidently navigate conversations with relevant contacts at primary schools.
Support primary school partners to make the most of Unifrog
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Set up new partner schools for success. Help them to embed Unifrog across their staff, student and parent community. You’ll deliver an initial staff training session then provide ad-hoc support.
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Proactively work to foster a sense of community amongst our primary school partners and think of ways to promote the sharing and embedding of Unifrog best practice across between partners.
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Achieve sky-high resubscription rates by securing partner renewals when their subscriptions come to an end.
What we’re looking for
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Resilient, and motivated to exceed targets: Our sales and resubscription targets are achievable but ambitious. You’ll need to be determined to meet and exceed them.
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Sales experience: You’ll be responsible for meeting sales targets so sales experience is desirable but not essential.
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Strong communication skills: You’ll be in frequent communication with lots of different people, both within Unifrog and externally – this will be in person, written, over the phone and via video call. You’ll need to be an outstanding communicator.
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Strategic and innovative: You’ll be strategic in your approach to driving growth within the newest team at Unifrog, and be innovative and creative in your solutions to any barriers along the way.
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Personable, with a track record of excellent relationship management: At Unifrog we’re known for our excellent customer service. You’ll need to provide fantastic support for your partner schools.
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Sector insight: You will be working with schools that have different contexts and priorities; you’ll need to be quick to understand how we can support them.
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Attention to detail: It’s important you have the skills and discipline to carefully check your communications to schools, your prospects and contacts in your network.
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Proactive attitude and willingness to get stuck in: You need to be excited about going beyond the core responsibilities detailed above to improve what we do and make it a success.
You will be one of the first members of our newest team at Unifrog, with the opportunity to be at the forefront of building an exciting and impactful offering for primary schools across the UK. If this excites you and you’re an energetic person who is willing to learn, we’d love to hear from you.
Working together
You’ll work alongside one other Primary Schools Partnership Manager and be line managed by our Partnerships Director (UK schools and Employers). You will also have daily contact with the wider Unifrog team, including our Marketing, Content and Finance teams.
Key benefits
Head to our jobs page for a full list of the excellent benefits we offer our team.
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Join one of ‘the best organisations to escape to’ and help transform careers and destinations in schools.
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Become part of a committed, dynamic, and growing company. We want to build our team for the long term: if you do well, we will do our best to make sure you want to stay at the company for a long time.
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Professional development is important at Unifrog. You will define your own 6-month objectives and will be supported by your line manager and the rest of the team to achieve them. You will have an annual training allowance to spend on what you need to grow and progress.
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Influence the company’s direction: we love to promote great ideas, wherever they come from.
Key details
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£37,485 per annum (Grade B), plus:
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Unlimited commission, OTE of £50,000.
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Bonuses linked to strong performance against KPIs.
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Full-time
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28 days paid holiday per year (plus bank holidays).
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Working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 4:30pm on Friday – some days you may need to start earlier but you can finish earlier as a result.
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All travel expenses covered and car allowance paid.
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Full UK driving licence is essential.
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The role is remote (or hybrid for candidates in London or Edinburgh).
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Start date: as soon as possible (but no later than August 2025).
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We can only consider candidates who have the right to work in the UK.
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To discuss reasonable adjustments or any details about the role before applying, please contact Mhairi (details on our website).
Application process
Deadline: 10:00am (BST) Monday 19th May 2025.
Stage 1: Application form (~1 hour) ✍️
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Visit our website to upload your CV and complete the questions and tasks below. Please note that we do not review CVs at this stage of the application process so please be as specific as possible about your experience.
i. With reference to examples of your recent experience, what would make you an excellent candidate for this role? (250 words)
ii. A school we are hoping to partner with have concerns about the budget available for Unifrog. What would be your approach to securing a partnership with them for this academic year? (250 words)
iii. Tell us about a time when you had to manage conflicting priorities whilst meeting targets. What was your approach? (250 words)
Stage 2: Phone task (15 minutes) ��
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A short role play task over the phone. We will schedule these tasks throughout the application window so we encourage you to apply early.
Stage 3: Video call interview (45 minutes hour) ��
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Short pre-prepared presentation (15 mins)
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Standard Q&A from a panel of three, including questions about your experiences and how these relate to the role, and scenario questions based on common situations you might face (plus time for your questions) (30 mins).
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Video call interviews will be held w/c 26th May 2025.
Your answers are an opportunity to let us know more about your motivations and experience. While we understand that candidates might want to use AI to improve parts of their application, we strongly encourage you to write your answers independently.
Please note, we compare all answers to an AI generated answer. Where we suspect AI has been used to write the majority of the answer, this will be taken into consideration when scoring
Inclusion and diversity at Unifrog
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Within the company we try to foster a culture of innovation, and a happy working environment, both because this is the right thing to do, and because we think this results in the most effective team. To this end we believe in open communication, celebrating successes, supporting each other, not being afraid to be wrong or to fail, and promoting good ideas wherever they come from.
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As a platform that supports teachers and students from a huge variety of backgrounds it’s important that our team and leadership reflects this diversity. This is something we are actively working towards and prioritising. We want to embed diversity, equity and inclusion across everything we do, continually evaluating policies and practices to make sure they are inclusive and equitable.
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To make sure everyone’s voice is heard and people have the opportunities to learn to be better allies in the workplace, we encourage the team to share what they’re celebrating, facilitate training and group discussions, and seek regular feedback about what more the company could do to help people feel included.
- To ensure that our recruitment process is consistent and fair, we anonymise your application and therefore do not see your name, personal, educational or professional background. We also randomise the order of responses so that it’s less likely that a candidate is advantaged or disadvantaged by where their answers appear compared to other candidates.
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.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Caseworker (Thames Valley)
Hours: Full time – 36.25 hours per week worked over five days, between the hours of 8am–6pm
Contract length: 12 months fixed term contract with the possibility of extension depending on funding
Salary: £26,000
Location: To cover the Thames Valley area – candidates must live in the Thames Valley.
Working pattern: Remote work with frequent travel required. You will be expected to deliver a face-to-face service to clients in their own home or safe meeting place within the Thames Valley area.
Deadline for applications: 23rd May 2025 (we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications)
Interviews to be conducted: Early June
Start date in role: Late June / early July
Rare opportunity: Help those affected by road crashes and create lasting change with Brake, the renowned road safety charity.
Who we are: Brake has been supporting victims of road carnage since 1995, and we're on a mission to prevent future collisions. Every 20 minutes, someone is killed or seriously injured on our roads, impacting lives profoundly.
Join our team: We're expanding our National Road Victim Service and need a dedicated caseworker to join our dynamic, compassionate team. Your role will involve delivering world-class support services to those at their most vulnerable.
Not your average job: This isn't a 9 to 5. You could play a significant part in rolling out trauma-informed support services nationwide. Make a real difference in the lives of those affected by road crashes.
What we offer:
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A generous 35 days of annual leave (including bank holidays and 3-day shutdown period between Christmas and New Year, pro-rata for part-time working patterns)
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Birthday day off
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Enhanced sick pay and compassionate leave
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Death in service benefit
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Pension
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Employee Assistance Programme
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Flexible working
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A rewarding role with purpose
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Be part of a skilled, friendly team with an engaged Board of Trustees
Who you are: We need passionate, self-starters with a background in providing high-quality emotional support and advocacy. Your experience in roles within the police, criminal justice, counselling, caseworker or health and social care sectors could make you an ideal candidate.
Specifically seeking candidates with:
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frontline support service experience
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a full, clean UK driving licence, access to your own transport and are willing to use it for work purposes (we reimburse travelling expenses)
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Candidates must be resident in the Thames Valley area
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experience supporting people who have suffered sudden bereavement or working with those with heightened vulnerabilities.
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research and advocacy skills – you will reach out to other organisations to support your cases where required
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competent IT skills for remote work
Join our mission: Your greatest reward will be knowing you've made a positive difference in someone's recovery from psychological trauma.
About us: Brake is passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that values diversity. We welcome your application whatever your background or situation. We particularly welcome applications from those who are part of the global majority, the LGBTQIA+ community or disabled. We are proud to be a disability confident employer. We don’t want you to ‘fit’ our culture, we want you to enrich it. So, if you have a passion for making a difference and share in our vision for a world where no one is killed on our roads, we would love to hear from you.
Apply now: If you're up for a new challenge and have the skills, apply now.
Not for traffic offenders: Due to the nature of our work we can't accept applications from traffic offenders. Candidates will be asked to disclose whether they have any unspent points on their licence at interview.
A DBS check is required due to the sensitive nature of our service.
Join us today and be part of the solution!
If you would like to submit your cover letter in a format other than written, we'd love to see your short videos telling us why you think you're the ideal candidate for our charity.
Registered Charity
51 - 100
We work to stop road deaths and injuries, support people affected by road crashes and campaign for safe and healthy mobility for all.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Unifrog’s mission
We’re on a mission to level the playing field when it comes to young people finding and applying for their next step after school. We're achieving this by bringing all the available information into one single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices, and submit the strongest applications. We also empower teachers and counsellors to manage the progression process effectively.
Our outlook is global - we work with schools and universities all over the world, from the US to New Zealand, and from Italy to Hong Kong. We want to make it so that young people can compare every opportunity taught in English, wherever it is in the world, and have all the support they need to make successful applications.
We have a clear social purpose, and we’re hugely ambitious. We already work with over half of UK secondary schools, and hundreds of international schools. We are growing rapidly in terms of the number of our customers, in terms of how much they use our platform, and in terms of the breadth of products we offer.
Our team is at the heart of our business and is integral to our success. We work hard to foster a culture of openness, happiness and innovation, and we commit to helping every individual learn and grow so that they can reach their full potential. We want to hire talented people, whatever their background. If you are excited by our mission and are ready to work hard, please don’t hesitate to apply. We look forward to hearing from you!
We believe in the power of diversity. If you are from an ethnic minority background, we would like to strongly encourage you to apply. In advance of applying, if you have any questions about working at Unifrog, please contact Mhairi (details on our website).
The role and your key responsibilities
As an Account Manager, your role is to make sure that all partners in your area make the most out of the Unifrog platform. You’ll build and maintain excellent working relationships with your partner schools and colleges, and provide expert guidance on how to embed the platform across all year groups.
You will cover your own area of the country with occasional travel to your partner schools and colleges (on average 1-2 days per week).
Your key responsibilities will include:
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Work with schools and colleges to provide resources and strategies which maximise staff and student engagement with Unifrog, identifying and promoting best practice across partner schools.
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Deliver targeted training sessions to staff within our partner schools and colleges via workshops and presentations, delivered remotely or in person.
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Work with your partner Area Manager to improve Unifrog engagement and achieve a sky high resubscription rate.
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Monitor and analyse usage across partner schools and colleges; identifying partners that need additional support to use the platform effectively.
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Listen to teachers and students about how we can improve our customer service and the Unifrog platform.
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Attend conferences and run CPD events on behalf of Unifrog.
What we’re looking for
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Strong communication skills – written, over the phone and on video calls.
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Track record of excellent relationship management.
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Extremely well organised.
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Keen attention to detail.
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Active listening and objection handling skills.
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A background and interest in education would be an advantage.
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Proactive attitude and willingness to get stuck in.
You will be joining a team of highly motivated people who are passionate about our mission of helping students to find the best next step for them after school. If this excites you and you’re an energetic person who is willing to learn, then we’d love to hear from you.
Working together
You’ll work closely alongside an Area Manager in your region, and with our Partner Success team to provide the best service to your schools and colleges. You will be part of a fantastic team of Account Managers, and line-managed by a Senior Account Manager.
Benefits
Head to our jobs page for a full list of the excellent benefits we offer our team.
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Join one of ‘the best organisations to escape to’ and help transform careers and destinations in schools. We’re also a certified Great Place to Work.
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Become part of a committed, dynamic and growing team. We want to build the team at Unifrog for the long term – if you do well, we will do our best to make you want to stay at the company for a long time.
-
Professional development is important at Unifrog. You will define your own 6-month objectives and will be supported by your line manager and the rest of the team to achieve them. You will have an annual training allowance to spend on what you need to grow and progress.
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Influence the company’s direction: we love to promote great ideas, wherever they come from.
Key details
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£37,306 per annum pro rata (Grade B), plus commission, car allowance, and a share in a company-wide performance bonus.
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OTE £43,000 (pro rata).
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Maternity Cover - fixed term up to 12 months.
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28 days paid holiday per year (plus bank holidays) (pro rata).
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Working hours are 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Thursday, and 9:00am to 4:30pm on Friday.
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Full UK driving licence and access to a car is essential.
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All travel expenses covered.
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Candidate must be based in Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire.
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Home based with some travel to schools and colleges in the East Midlands.
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Start date: w/c 18th August 2025.
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To discuss any details about the role before applying, please contact Mhairi (details on our website).
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We can only consider candidates who have the right to work in the UK.
Application process
Deadline: 10:00AM (BST) Friday 16th May 2025.
Stage 1: Application form (~1 hour) ✍️
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Visit our website to upload your CV and complete the questions and tasks below. Please note that we do not review CVs at this stage of the application process so please be as specific as possible about your experience.
i. With reference to examples of your recent experience, what would make you an excellent candidate for this role? (250 words)
ii. Tell us about a time when you have had to build a relationship with someone when it was particularly challenging. What was your approach? (250 words)
iii. You notice that one of your partner schools is not engaging with Unifrog across the whole school. How would you approach the situation to maximise staff and student engagement with the platform and resources? (250 words)
Stage 2: Phone task (15 minutes)
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A short role play task over the phone. We will schedule these tasks throughout the application window.
Stage 3: Video call interview (1 hour)
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Short demonstration of a Unifrog tool (resources will be provided) (20 mins)
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Standard Q&A from a panel of three, including questions about your experiences and how these relate to the role, and scenario questions based on common situations you might face (plus time for your questions) (40 mins).
-
Video call interviews will be held on w/c 26th May 2025.
Your answers are an opportunity to let us know more about your motivations and experience. While we understand that candidates might want to use AI to improve parts of their application, we strongly encourage you to write your answers independently.
Please note, we compare all answers to an AI generated answer. Where we suspect AI has been used to write the majority of the answer, this will be taken into consideration when scoring.
Inclusion and diversity at Unifrog
-
Within the company we try to foster a culture of innovation, and a happy working environment, both because this is the right thing to do, and because we think this results in the most effective team. To this end we believe in open communication, celebrating successes, supporting each other, not being afraid to be wrong or to fail, and promoting good ideas wherever they come from.
-
As a platform that supports teachers and students from a huge variety of backgrounds it’s important that our team and leadership reflects this diversity. This is something we are actively working towards and prioritising. We want to embed diversity, equity and inclusion across everything we do, continually evaluating policies and practices to make sure they are inclusive and equitable.
-
To make sure everyone’s voice is heard and people have the opportunities to learn to be better allies in the workplace, we encourage the team to share what they’re celebrating, facilitate training and group discussions, and seek regular feedback about what more the company could do to help people feel included.
-
To ensure that our recruitment process is consistent and fair, we anonymise your application and therefore do not see your name, personal, educational or professional background. We also randomise the order of responses so that it’s less likely that a candidate is advantaged or disadvantaged by where their answers appear compared to other candidates.
Thank you!
Acorns Children’s Hospice provides specialist care and support for babies, children, and young people who are life-limited or life-threatened. When time is short, every moment is precious. Acorns helps children and families fill the time they have together with love, fun, and laughter to create lasting memories.
Palliative care for children aged 0-18 is delivered at Acorns’ hospices in Birmingham, Worcester, and Walsall, as well as in family homes or elsewhere in the community. Their holistic, tailored approach meets each child’s clinical, emotional, cultural, religious, and spiritual needs. Supporting over 750 children and nearly 1,000 families annually, Acorns is a vital lifeline for families across the West Midlands and Gloucestershire during unimaginably difficult times.
This is a brilliant opportunity to take on a high-performing team at a time when Acorns is really moving forward. Supported by strong internal resources, the Head of Public Fundraising will drive growth across Individual Giving, Legacy, In-Memoriam, Digital and Prize-led Giving in the context of a highly collaborative, whole-organisation approach to fundraising.
The immediate focus will be on making the most of existing programmes, strengthening audience insight, and getting the team ready to play a major part in the organisation-wide appeal launching in 2025.
Growing Individual Giving income from £1.6 million to £2 million over the next two years will be a central priority, alongside expanding digital and prize-led fundraising and sharpening supporter journeys across the board.
As Head of Public Fundraising, you will:
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Develop and implement a data-driven strategy for all areas of public fundraising to meet growth targets.
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Lead the Individual Giving portfolio, ensuring growth across direct mail, face-to-face acquisition, mid-value development, and telemarketing.
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Oversee the successful delivery of cash appeals, ensuring they meet both income and ROI targets.
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Drive the expansion of digital fundraising and prize-led giving, including managing the growing digital fundraising portfolio and prize-led initiatives.
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Work closely with cross-functional teams, including Marketing & Communications, to ensure campaigns are well integrated and aligned with the overall fundraising strategy.
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Manage and develop a high-performing team, providing leadership, coaching, and clear performance metrics.
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Collaborate with senior leadership and internal stakeholders to drive the strategic direction of public fundraising.
About you
The role needs someone who’s as comfortable setting long-term plans as they are getting hands-on when needed, whether that’s developing appeals, working with agencies or supporting new product ideas. Collaboration across fundraising, care and supporter engagement teams will be essential to making this happen and building an even stronger supporter-first culture at Acorns.
If you’re a senior Individual Giving expert who’s ambitious for supporters and income, this is a chance to take ownership of a strong portfolio, drive innovation, and make a real impact on Acorns’ future.
You will have:
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Extensive experience in Individual Giving (substantial direct marketing experience is essential)
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A history of successfully leading fundraising teams and delivering significant income growth.
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Strong strategic vision, with the ability to adapt and innovate based on data insights and audience understanding.
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Experience in working collaboratively across teams to achieve shared objectives.
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Excellent communication and networking skills, with the ability to build strong relationships internally and externally.
Hybrid working
This is a mostly home-based role, with c.2 days per week in the (Birmingham) office. If you require flexibility around this, please don't hesitate to apply - we can discuss options during the briefing call.
Employee benefits
Benefits include:
- 31 days annual leave including bank holidays, rising to 35 days after 3 years’ service
- 7.5% employer pension contribution
- Life assurance scheme (2 x annual salary)
- Retail discounts (including the Blue Light card)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounted gym membership
- Access to expert financial health and wellbeing support
Acorns Children’s Hospice is working in partnership with Laura Macnamara at QuarterFive Fundraising Recruitment to appoint to this role.
Initial assessments will be made based on CVs, so please ensure yours clearly demonstrates how your experience aligns with the person specification outlined above. A cover note is optional at this stage, but Laura would welcome any additional context—particularly around key fundraising achievements not fully captured in your CV.
A detailed brief will be shared with suitable candidates. Full support will also be provided throughout the application process, including guidance on writing your cover letter for formal application.
