The overall purpose of the role is to lead and coordinate meaningful participation and engagement opportunities for children, young people and adults to shape services, influence decision-making and ensure the voices of lived experience are central to organisational development. The postholder will support in designing, delivering and evaluating initiatives that build trust, inclusion and empowerment.
Main Responsibilities
- To co-ordinate and provide safe spaces for children, young people and adults to participate in user- led activities and projects.
- To be a key link between children, young people and adults within our participation service and staff, making sure their voices and experiences are heard.
- To recruit and engage children, young people, and adults, to enable them to feel comfortable to join our Participation service.
- To support the Head of Voice, Participation & Engagement to develop opportunities for children, young people, and adults to be actively involved throughout the organisation.
- Lead and facilitate small scale participation projects.
- To maintain records of all interactions with stakeholders, using Salesforce.
- To be able to work flexibly, including regular evening and occasional weekend work in response to participants availability.
- Support the Head of Voice, Participation & Engagement in planning and facilitating forums.
- Work with people with lived experience of bereavement to create meaningful content and service recommendations.
- Work across the organisation sharing, promoting and training in best practice in participation.
- To assist in planning, organising and delivering participation events (virtually and in-person).
- Ensure that a range of voices are heard, with particular focus on EDI.
- Ensure the safety and wellbeing of members of the participation service through adherence to the organisation’s safeguarding policy and practice.
- Maintain accurate records throughout all services, complying with the organisation’s recording and reporting requirements.
Communication and Relationships
- Develop and maintain trusted relationships with children, young people, families, adults, and stakeholders to create safe and inclusive spaces for participation.
- Facilitate group and one-to-one engagement sessions using creative and accessible methods to ensure diverse voices are heard and valued.
- Collaborate with internal teams, including service delivery, communication, marketing and fundraising to embed participation principles across all areas of work.
- Represent the organsiation externally at meetings, events and networks, sharing insight from lived experience to inform sector-wide learning.
- Translate feedback and participation outputs into clear reports, presentations or creative formats that inform decision-making.
- Demonstrate empathy, confidentiality and active listening when engaging with individuals or groups who may have experience loss and trauma.
- Establish excellent internal working relationships with peers and colleagues.
- Model the values and culture of the organisation in interactions and relationships at work.
- Adapt communication style and approach to suit the needs, preferences, and emotional states of children, young people and adults, including those with neurodiverse profiles or communication difficulties.
- Provide clear, compassionate explanations of support options, safeguarding procedures, and next steps to children, young people, adults and families.
- Maintain professional boundaries while fostering a safe and supportive environment for children, young people and adults.
- Respond to challenging or emotionally charged situations with sensitivity, professionalism, and a focus on empathy and support.
- Ensure accurate and timely documentation of communications and decisions in line with organisational policies and data protection regulations.
Knowledge, training and experience
- Proven experience in youth participation, community engagement, co-production, or related areas, ideally within charity, education or health and social care sector.
- Understanding of participation frameworks, rights-based approached and trauma-informed practice.
- Demonstrate a good understanding of grief, loss, trauma, child development, and the psychological and social impact of bereavement on children, young people, families and adults.
- Experience in facilitating groups, workshops, and creative engagement activities both in-person and online.
- Ability to translate engagement insight into practical feedback and recommendations
- Adhere to legislation and statutory guidance related to Safeguarding Children and Young People, Safeguarding Adults, and the Mental Capacity Act.
- Participate actively in clinical supervision and reflective practice to ensure safe, ethical, and effective service delivery.
- Contribute to the development and sharing of knowledge within the team by supporting training, mentoring, and peer learning opportunities.
Analytical and judgment skills
- Ability to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback and identify key themes, trends, and areas for improvement.
- Exercise sound judgement in managing sensitive information, ethical boundaries and participant confidentiality.
- Assess engagement risks and implement appropriate boundaries and referrals in line with safeguarding policies.
- Critically evaluate participation initiatives and contribute to evidence-based practice through reflection, evaluation tools and reporting.
- Balance organisation priorities with participant needs, ensuring representation remains authentic rather than tokenistic.
- Ensure accurate, timely, and meaningful data recording and reporting to inform practice, service evaluation, and organisational performance monitoring.
Planning and organisational skills
- Plan, coordinate and deliver participation activities, forums and events with clear objectives, timelines and outcomes.
- Support the development of annual participation calendars or frameworks as needed.
- Manage competing priorities across multiple projects, ensuring timely communication with internal teams and external partners.
- Maintain accurate records, consent forms and participation data using appropriate digital systems.
- Support logistical arrangements including venue booking, accessibility adjustments, transport and safeguarding measures.
- Contribute to strategic planning by identifying emerging themes, opportunities for partnerships and areas for innovation.
- Provide cover and support for participation and engagement team members during periods of absence or high demand.
- Demonstrate self-awareness and reflective capacity, using supervision and peer support to sustain personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness.
- Contribute to the development of efficient, evidence-based practices by supporting team planning, service evaluation, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Person Specification
Essential
- Minimum 3 years’ experience of working with children and young people or adults in health, social care, youth, community or education setting
- Experience of advocating for the interests of children, young people or vulnerable adults or individuals from ethnically diverse communities
- Strong written and oral communication skills, with experience of tailoring these to a wide range of audience
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage sensitively with children, families, and professionals while maintaining professional boundaries at all times
- Experience of facilitating participation groups both in person and online
- Knowledge of different facilitation approaches and methods
- Demonstratable experience of safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and an ability to practice in a way that promotes this
- Experience of building trusting relationships with children, young people, and adults creating safe space
- Passion for the power of Voice and Lived Experience
- Understanding of the challenges that participation work can present, and experience of how to overcome this
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team and with external organisations
- Emotional maturity, stability and resilience with a strong commitment to self-care and the ability to seek support and guidance when difficulties arise in the course of work
- Strong IT skills, including confidence in using multiple IT systems
Desirable
- Experience of working in bereavement sector
Benefits
- 25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays (pro rata if applicable) with increase for long service.
- TOIL for our hours work.
- Contributory pension scheme.
- Company sick pay.
- Employee Assistance Programme.
- Life assurance.
- Training loans.
- Enhanced family friendly policies.
Recruitment Timetable
Application deadline: 16th June 2026 at midnight
Winston’s Wish reserves the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications for the role before the closing date.
Please refer to our recruitment pack for further details on the interview process.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Lloyds Bank Foundation
Strategic Lead for Systems Change
Starting Salary: £59,098 (if London-based); £55,587 (if not London-based)
Contract: Full-time, 2-year Fixed-Term Contract (we are open to conversations about flexibility - so please ask)
Location: Remote role - can be based anywhere in England or Wales with an expectation of regular travel across England and Wales including overnight trips to London
About Lloyds Bank Foundation
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales is an independent charitable foundation, backed by Lloyds Banking Group and the people within it. We want everyone to be in a good place - personally, in a home that’s a good place to live, and in a community that’s a good place to belong.
We play our role by connecting and catalysing community-led change, providing the money, time, tools and connections that build organisations’ capacity and capability, to make people’s lives better and their communities stronger.
We back people and communities across England and Wales, to make that happen, because when you back brilliant people, brilliant things happen. Our communities are full of ambitious, energetic and determined people stepping up to make their neighbours’ lives better and their communities grow stronger. Day in, day out.
About the Role
This is a key role strengthening the Foundation’s ability to work confidently within complex local systems and to support systems change across England and Wales. You will play a central role in shaping and developing our systems change approach, ensuring it is practical, consistent and embedded across our work in places.
You will work closely with regional teams and partners to support effective collaboration within local systems, ensuring our work is well-informed by context and lived experience. A key part of the role is enabling others - building confidence, capability and practical understanding of systems change across the organisation.
This is not a delivery-heavy role. Instead, you will focus on enabling, coaching and strengthening practice so that colleagues and partners are better equipped to work within complexity and drive meaningful change.
About You
We are looking for someone with strong, practical experience of working within systems change, place-based work or complex multi-stakeholder environments. You will bring confidence in working across boundaries and supporting others to navigate complexity.
You will be skilled in coaching, facilitation and capability building, with the ability to translate systems thinking into practical approaches others can use. Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to work credibly with a wide range of stakeholders will be essential.
A commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging is essential.
How to Apply
Please click ‘Apply’ to be redirected to our website, where you can download the Candidate Information Pack and find details of how to apply.
For an informal conversation about the role and application process, please contact our recruitment partner, Atkinson HR via the information available in the Candidate pack.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We hold Disability Confident Employer status (Level 2) and are working towards full status by 2027. If you are a disabled applicant and your CV and application answers clearly demonstrate that you meet the essential criteria, we will invite you to interview.
We are committed to building a diverse team that reflects the communities we work with. We actively welcome applications from people under-represented in the charity sector, including Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities, disabled people, and those with lived experience of the issues our funded charities address.
Key Dates
Closing Date: Midday, Monday 8th June 2026
Optional Q&A Session: Wednesday 6th May 2026 at 09:00-10:00
First Interview: Wednesday 17th June 2026
Second Interview: Friday 26th June 2026
We support small, local and specialist charities across England and Wales.


