Childhood jobs

Are you an exceptional Head of Youth looking for a senior leadership role in a ground-breaking charity? Come lead our work with, by and for young people aged 11–25 at the Winch.

You will oversee the design and delivery of effective and innovative programmes, secure funding to advance young peoples opportunties and build strong partnerships that support our strategic goals. As part of the senior management team, you will play a key role in driving our mission to create communities where all children and young people can thrive. You will model our core values of Joy, Care and Courage.

We have recently secured funding from Propel for the Inspiring Inclusion initiative—a seven-year, multi-agency partnership focused on transforming the school system for Black and racially minoritised students at risk of exclusion, particularly those affected by adverse childhood experiences. As Head of Youth, you will act as programme lead and external ambassador for the partnership.

Head of Safeguarding 

Circa £55,000 pa 

Location: UK – flexible 

Flexible working arrangements considered 

WE STAND FOR CHILDREN, THEIR CHILDHOODS AND THEIR FUTURES - WILL YOU? 

Around the world hundreds of thousands of children struggle to survive on the streets. In many countries, they have become an accepted issue in society, deprived of access to the most basic services and they experience extreme harm before and during their time on the streets. Wherever they may be in the world, they face violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. 

With projects currently in the UK, India and Tanzania we work to ensure every child can thrive away from a life on the streets.

Safeguarding is pivotal to all that we do.We are proud of our safeguarding culture and the highest standards of practice that we have developed across the Railway Children Group.We are looking for a leader who is as passionate about the safety and well-being of children as we are to help us to sustain, but also to grow and develop our safeguarding culture and practice to even higher standards.

The role 
In this role you will provide strategic leadership and governance of a transparent safeguarding culture across all the Railway Children Group’s operations and support services. Overseeing all areas of safeguarding across our work, you will support colleagues to fully embed effective and robust safeguarding practice and compliance into our work.

About you 
With your extensive experience of leading on and working with safeguarding and child protection systems and a proven track-record of implementing safeguarding strategy, policy and practice you will recognise that your values-led management style will lead to the embedding of a safeguarding culture across all our work. 

For further information about this post and working for Railway Children, including how to apply, please visit our website.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates with a diverse range of backgrounds and lived experience. 

Railway Children is committed to safeguarding anyone who comes into contact with us and implements a range of policies to ensure only those suitable to work with vulnerable groups are employed. 

Closing date: 27 April 2026. 

First interviews will take place on Thursday 7th May 2026, with second interviews scheduled for Thursday 14th May 2026. 

As Policy & Participation Lead, you’ll be at the heart of Inspiring Inclusion, a seven-year multi-agency programme funded by Propel, which is tackling the disproportionate school exclusion of Black and racially minoritised young people with adverse childhood experiences. Your mission is to make sure young people aren’t just consulted or 'given a voice', but are driving the change.

Yor day job is to design, lead and facilitate the systems, structures, culture and activities that power youth leadership and make change happen. You will be an organiser, working to catalyse and sustain youth engagement across a network of partners, ensuring young people’s experiences impact where it matters most. You will be committed to building something meaningful, rather than signalling through social media moments. You will co-design and co-deliver high-quality, in-person and community based youth services, activities and opportunities that reflect young people’s realities. You will want to make a difference, and will develop powerful, authentic materials—stories, insights and policy ideas—that drive change locally in Camden and beyond

You will bring experience of working with young people using a wide-range of strengths-based, participatory approaches grounded in justice, equity and inclusion. You will be excited by the opportunity to design and create a citizens assembly for young people to create a manifesto for change in schools. You know how to create spaces where young people facing challenges can grow, be affirmed and thrive. You’re confident navigating complex systems and partnerships, and will be a persuasive communicator across a range of media, and skilled at platforming young people to influence. Finally, you will be a team player, because it will take all of us to build the worlds young people deserve.

Prospectus is pleased to be partnering with our client, the UK’s first childhood bereavement charity, providing specialist bereavement support services to bereaved children and young people since 1992. They are currently looking to recruit 2 Bereavement Support Managers to oversee the delivery of their On Demand Bereavement Support Service.

As Bereavement Support Manager, you will oversee the effective and efficient running of the charity’s On Demand Bereavement Support Service which includes Helpline, Live Chat and ASK email. You will be responsible for managing and coordinating a small team of staff and volunteers (all working on a remote basis) and will ensure the service is adequately staffed to provide on demand support services when required. In addition to line managing the On Demand Bereavement Specialists, the post holder will also work as part of the delivery rota in order to support the team directly, provide real-time guidance, and cover frontline services gaps. This blended role combines hands-on leadership, active service participation, and quality assurance, promoting excellent clinical standards, safeguarding practice, and a culture of learning and care.

To be considered for this role, you will have extensive experience of working with children, young people, and families in either a bereavement or similar field at managerial level, and will have a significant awareness and knowledge of the emotional and psychological impact of bereavement and loss. You will have a Level 5 Foundation Degree, HND or Diploma of Higher Education as well as a current registration with a professional body (i.e. HCPC, BACP, UKCP, ACP). Overall, you will be a collaborative, compassionate manager, passionate about delivering high quality support services to vulnerable people.

To apply for this exciting opportunity, please initially apply with your CV (supporting statements are not required at this stage).

The organisation are passionate about being an inclusive and supportive employer to staff from all backgrounds and circumstances, and welcome applications from individuals who bring fresh perspectives and experiences with them. They particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background, who are under-represented at the organisation.

Please note this is a full-time role, working 35 hours per week (mix of early/late shift pattern to cover operation hours of 8am and 8pm).

As a specialist Recruitment Practice, we are committed to building inclusive and diverse organisations, and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We invest in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you in your application

Overview

Change Grow Live are a charity dedicated to the belief that we can make a difference to our Service Users lives, offering support and respect in a safe environment, treating each person as an individual and working with them to find the right treatment and care options.

Our core values are ‘Be open, be compassionate and be bold’ and our team members apply these daily to achieve our mission of helping people change the direction of their lives, grow as individuals, and live life to its full potential. 

An exciting opportunity has arisen within our Buckinghamshire Service for you to join a dynamic team committed to supporting children and young people who have been affected by someone else’s drug and/or alcohol use. The role of a Children and Family Worker will support children and young people under the age of 18 on a one-to-one basis in a confidential space. The role will deliver a wide range of interventions/ education though activities, such as games, arts and crafts and emotional wellbeing resources. The role will utilise a young person-centred approach, empowering them to explore situations which they feel they have little control over to support them to lead a safe, happy, and healthy life.

The role will work in partnership and liaise with other young people services throughout Buckinghamshire, to provide holistic support to young people accessing the service. We need to record information about what we do, so enjoying a bit of admin work and attention to detail is important, but most of the time you’ll be enjoying working with young people from all backgrounds, making a difference to their lives. You will be required to work flexibly across operational sites as required so must hold a full UK driving license and have access to a car. Don’t worry, there is a wide array of training and development opportunities to help support you in your work.

Where: This role will be based across Buckinghamshire County

When: We're looking for the right person to join our team ASAP on a permanent contract

Hours: 37.5 per week

Full-time hours at Change Grow Live are 37.5 hours per week. For part-time roles, the salary and payments will be pro rata based on contracted hours.

Responsibilities

About the role: 

• To holistically support CYP affected by parental substance misuse, using a range of interventions including group work, 1:1 work, whole family interventions, safety planning and safeguarding working closely and proactively with the family unit to support positive and sustainable outcomes.
• Identify families in conjunction with other agencies, who will benefit from a Think Family / Whole family approach, negotiating participation and engagement with the programme of care.
• Identifying and responding effectively to potential safeguarding issues. 
• Reducing drug and alcohol related harm to young people and the wider community. 
• Working with young people to support positive, holistic outcomes in relation to their health and wellbeing, enabling them to lead safe, healthy, and purposeful lives: reducing risk and increasing resilience 
• Working flexibly across sites where required

About you: 

• Experience of working with young people and knowledge of the issues they face 
• Knowledge of safeguarding concerns in relation to children and young people and the Fraser Competence framework 
• Have an excellent understanding of drug and alcohol issues and experience of working within a related field 
• Knowledge of working with evidence-based practice around young people’s substance misuse treatment services and methods, including relevant best practice guidance 
• An accomplished communicator, both verbal and written with a high degree of personal IT competency 
• Be able to accurately update and maintain records and to work to deadlines for the submission of information, e.g., reports 
• Have excellent team working and interpersonal skills, maintaining a highly cooperative approach to supporting colleagues in delivering service objectives 

What we will give to you: 

• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays. Additionally, you'll receive one extra day of annual leave for each year of service during your first five years, therefore you will enjoy 30 days of leave after five years with us.

• Paid ‘Wellness’ hour each week along with a ‘Wellness’ hub and Employee Assist Programme 

• Contributory pension scheme 
• A great selection of benefits incl. discounts for shopping, cinema, holidays, etc. 
• A friendly and supportive team 
• Training, career development & progression opportunities 
• Refer a friend scheme.

Please ensure that when completing your application form and supporting statement, you reflect on the details outlined in the job description. This will help us understand how your skills and experiences align with the requirements of the role. 

Please note: This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK at the time of application. For applicants with time-limited visas, unfortunately, we are unable to support new visa applications or extensions.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 23 to 28 (£27,861.26 - £32,002.35)

ILW / OLW /Fringe

N/A - Outside London Weighting Area

Interview Date

8/5/2026

Closing Date

30/4/2026

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level.