Head of casework jobs in Bristol
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The Charity and Our Vision.
For over 15 years, Scotty's Little Soldiers has been supporting children and young people who have been bereaved of a parent who served in the British Armed Forces. We are about to embark on an exciting journey which will see the charity evolve to support anyone affected by a military-connected bereavement and ultimately empower a community of more than 25,000 bereaved individuals and their families by 2035.
Founded in 2010 by Nikki Scott following the death of her husband, Corporal Lee Scott, the charity currently offers a unique blend of emotional, practical, and educational support to over 750 young people.
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.
Role Mission.
To be an integral part of the delivery of Scotty’s new navigating entitlements casework (START) Programme, a single point of contact service designed to support anyone affected by military-connected bereavement.
This is a hands-on, and vital role within a brand new team. You’ll be the first step in ensuring that everyone in the bereaved military community receives compassionate, personalised, and well-coordinated support.
The key responsibilities of this role are:
Service Design & Delivery
Working closely with the Head of START, contribute to the planning and rollout of the START Programme
In many cases be the first port of call for Scotty’s families, and be a welcoming and inclusive contact for all those families
Implement the new service model, workflows, triage process and beneficiary journey
Ensure the service you deliver is trauma-informed, inclusive, and responsive to beneficiary feedback
Manage your own caseload with support from Head of START programme
Team Leadership & Development
Once your experience has grown, provide peer support to any further caseworkers joining the team in 2027 and beyond (depending on demand)
Ensure an ongoing focus on your own learning and development, always creating space for reflective practice
Ensure that you live the culture that reflects The Scotty’s Way and encourages your own personal growth
Be an active part of the wider Families team contributing to Daily Huddles and team plans and objectives
Collaboration & Partnership
Build and maintain, alongside the Head of START strong referral pathways with external organisations (military & non-military charities, NHS, social care)
Build your expertise on navigating entitlements for the bereaved community to ensure that Scotty’s families receive the best possible support.
Work collaboratively with other Programme teams to ensure consistency, shared learning & efficient internal referrals
Monitoring & Evaluation
Ensure that you are reporting consistently on beneficiary engagement, support outcomes, and follow-up actions
Work with your direct support to use evidence and insights gathered to adapt and improve the service over time
Ensure CRM records are complete, accurate, so they can be used to inform delivery decisions
Contribution to Charity-Wide Goals
Feed into cross-functional projects including Outreach, Fundraising, and Strategy
Act as a representative of Scotty’s at sector events or external meetings where appropriate
Support content development by sharing anonymised stories, insights, and themes
The 30-day goals for this role are:
Built a deep understanding of Scotty’s mission, our audience, the services we provide, and strategic direction.
Worked closely with the Head of START and other programme Heads to understand the history of Scotty’s helping families navigate entitlements, including reviewing current and recent cases.
Become familiar with the key stakeholders, partners and organisations (including statutory, charitable and others) for casework in the START Programme.
The 60-day goals for this role are:
Built confidence and knowledge around the START programme aims and objectives, and the needs of Scotty families.
Supported the Head of START to implement the new casework programme and beneficiary journeys.
Built understanding of the processes that are in place to monitor the outcomes and impact of the new START Programme.
Contributed to the design of a light CRM for initial use in START casework.
Supported the development of and started to build understanding of the necessary processes and procedures for casework including safeguarding, triage, wait time limits etc.
Started the training plan for new START caseworkers.
The 90-day goals for this role are:
Supported the launch of the new START Programme alongside Scotty’s team members.
Welcomed the first families to Casework following the processes and framework that the Head of START has implemented.
Worked with the Head of START to set a clear plan for the remainder of 2026 and beyond for the START programme, establishing it as a quality Scotty’s service for families.
Starting to provide outcomes and data that enable the programme’s outcomes to be evidenced.
About You:
Must-Have
Experience in service delivery, casework, and personalised support services
Ability to work independently and manage a busy, varied caseload
A compassionate and person-centred approach to casework
Excellent organisational and communication skills
A clear understanding of safeguarding vulnerable adults
Nice-to-Have
Familiarity with military family life or bereavement support
Background in information, advice and guidance within the charity or statutory sector
An understanding of the importance of service co-design with users or lived experience groups
Additional Information
The role will require some 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:
Families Come First
Everyone a Supporter, Every Supporter a VIP
Love What You Do
Remember, Every Day
Our values are further supported by our four non-negotiable behaviours of Show Respect, Speak Up, Take Ownership and Actively Collaborate. We are looking for an individual who embodies these values and behaviours.
Closing date: 15th May 2026. Due to resource and time constraints, we are unfortunately unable to provide feedback for every application received and will only contact candidates shortlisted for an interview.
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 based on 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 provide a fair and inclusive recruitment process for all candidates.
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.
About Kinship
We are Kinship. The leading kinship care charity in England and Wales. We’re here for kinship carers – friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to.
Together, let’s commit to change for kinship families.
About the role
The Senior Advice Worker – SEND will be the specialist and subject expert in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and kinship care. You’ll provide 1:1 advice directly to kinship carers on all issues that impact on their caring role.
You will often be supporting kinship carers in high crisis. It will be part of your job to calm a situation quickly and support people to communicate what they need so you can provide personalised in-depth advice.
You’ll provide advice by phone, video calls and email, but you’ll also need to be able to respond to text, WhatsApp and online chat and other channels as we develop the service.
You’ll specialise in providing advice and information to enable kinship carers to support children with SEND needs, including speech, language and communication difficulties, social, emotional and mental health challenges, specific learning difficulties, and autism.
This will include advice and casework to support kinship carers to navigate the education system, understand Education, Health and Care Plan processes and access support from schools, children’s services and CAMHS.
As subject expert, you’ll provide expert input to the development of written information and resources and the development and delivery of specialist training for kinship carers.
Key responsibilities include:
- Respond to enquiries through a range of incoming channels. This includes taking calls on our advice line, as well as responding to enquiries submitted through our website, via internal referral or other channels.
- Provide high quality advice and information to kinship carers on their rights, entitlements and responsibilities in relation to welfare benefits, local authority allowances, support from children’s services, relevant legal orders, sources of educational, parenting and legal support and other issues that may be required.
- Assess vulnerability and risk to prioritise and respond to kinship carers’ issues in a timely manner.
- Research individual cases and identify possible courses of action.
- Address all safeguarding concerns in line with policy.
- Facilitate access to our advice service for people with diverse needs, e.g. by using appropriate translation services or assistive technology.
- Adapt communication style to respond appropriately to differing needs.
- Provide advice in a format that is manageable and understandable for the individual kinship carer.
- Apply agreed Kinship models of practice as appropriate, e.g. taking a trauma-informed approach.
- Provide specialist advice and casework on SEND-related issues. This may involve:
- providing additional advice or support to enable a client to take action
- undertaking follow-up action on behalf of the client to move the case on, e.g. negotiating with third parties
- taking on complex casework to pursue significant outcomes for the client or strategic impact for all kinship carers
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Proactively update colleagues across Kinship on relevant updates in the SEND landscape, providing guidance to teams.
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Work closely with training colleagues to develop, create and occasionally lead training sessions to support kinship carers to navigate the SEND system.
Essential requirements include:
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Minimum of 2 years’ recent experience of delivering in-depth advice work on complex social welfare legal issues (e.g. benefits, housing, education or social care) to members of the public.
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Experience of giving both telephone and written advice.
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Either significant knowledge of and expertise in the SEND system and SEND-related issues, with the ability to develop expertise in kinship care advice; or, Significant knowledge of and expertise in kinship care advice, with substantial knowledge of SEND-related advice issues and the ability to become an expert in SEND advice for kinship carers.
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A demonstrable knowledge of relevant sources of advice and information.
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Knowledge and evidence of good understanding of safeguarding issues and good practice.
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Proven understanding of the importance of confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach.
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Experience and confidence in development of resources
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Experience of effective management and supervision of staff, projects and/or services.
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Experience using Case Management Systems and/or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms.
What we offer you:
- Flexible working - we understand how important it is to balance family and work life.
- 30 days annual leave, plus bank holidays (1 April to 31 March) pro rata (3 to be taken at Christmas shutdown)
- Employee Assistance Programme (24/7 confidential advice line and counselling)
- Charity Worker Discounts.
Key dates:
- Application deadline: Monday 20 April 2026, 12pm
- First interview: w/c 4 May 2026 (online)
- Second interview: w/c 11 May 2026 (if required)
How to apply:
Please apply for the role of Senior Advice Worker - SEND by sending a CV and answering the questions below. The deadline is 12pm on Monday 20 April 2026. Any applications arriving after the closing date will not be considered for shortlisting unless there are exceptional reasons. Please ensure you have read the application timelines.
Please provide a cover letter answering the following 4 questions (up to 250 words per answer):
- Give an overview of how your experience, qualifications and training equip you for the role of Senior Advice Worker - SEND.
- Explain why you want to work for Kinship.
- What are the key skills and personal attributes that you would bring to the role?
- What do you see as the most significant advice issues confronting kinship families navigating the SEND system?
Kinship is committed to championing equality, diversity and inclusion. We believe our work is greatly enhanced by the varied backgrounds, experiences and views represented within our teams. We aim to create inclusive teams, celebrate differences and encourage everyone to join us and be their true self at work. We therefore encourage applications from anyone who fits our values, whatever their religion or belief, sex, gender identity, race, age, sexuality or disability and are actively seeking candidates that can bring real innovation and commitment to us.
Some tips for your application:
• Make sure you’ve read the job description and the essential requirements – make sure your application reflects those points in the requirements very clearly.
• Tell us why you want to work for Kinship. We’re interested in working with people who share our values. You can read about our values in the job pack.
• Keep your response clear – use bullets points and short paragraphs if that helps. It will help the recruitment team to focus on your knowledge, skills and experience.
• Don’t go over 2 pages on your covering letter and ensure you answer all the questions
• Please do not use AI tools like ChatGPT to produce your answers. We use software to check, and your application will be rejected if you do.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
We support kinship carers in their homes and communities, giving advice and helping them work through problems to find the best way forward.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.