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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!
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
Funded by the Department for Education, the National Peer Support Service for England is a game-changing service that creates a sustainable and life-changing legacy. It builds on Kinship’s 10 years of experience in developing peer support groups and over two years of delivering a national service that has set up 145 new groups.
This role is community-based and focuses on engaging kinship carers, bringing them together to form peer support groups, and supporting them to achieve independence at which point they will receive ongoing support from our national Hub.
You will do this by working with local authorities, schools, other charities and community groups. Arranging information events such as coffee mornings to engage kinship carers. You’ll create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community for kinship carers, building belonging, resilience, and empowerment.
About you
We are seeking a dynamic person located in or close to Greater Manchester, and willing to travel into priority areas across the North West of England who possesses the drive, passion, and skills to:
- Establish new peer support groups across a diverse range of communities
- Supervise a small team of Peer Support Development Officers
- Demonstrate the energy and enthusiasm required to inspire yourself and your team to achieve key targets and objectives
- Work collaboratively within the Peer Support and Community Team, as well as throughout the broader organisation, to ensure the delivery of safe and effective support services for the kinship community
- Support the sustainability of existing Peer Support Groups, taking the lead from the Hub (our network support Team)
- Keep precise records to create reports, extract learning, and share key insights throughout Kinship, enabling the organisation to enhance our services and products continuously
In the role of Senior Peer Support Development Officer, you will be instrumental in ensuring the delivery of a high-quality, consistent, and sustainable peer support service that has a significant impact on the lives of kinship carers.
You should have experience in developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with various community-based stakeholders such as local authorities, health services, schools, charities, and kinship carers. You will need to understand the key success factors involved in establishing and developing new in-person groups in areas of high need, as well as how to support existing groups in their journey toward sustainability.
An essential requirement of the role is to be a driver with access to a vehicle for work purposes.
Essential requirements include:
- Experience of team leadership or line management and supervision of a small team and managing performance to deliver targets effectively.
- Proven experience in reaching and establishing strong relationships with hidden or underserved communities in person.
- Experience developing peer support communities.
- Proven experience of recruiting, managing, training and supporting volunteers in community settings with an emphasis on understanding and working with vulnerable volunteers.
- Proven experience of ensuring outcomes and impacts of services is evidenced through high-quality data collection.
- Evidence of delivering training/support to volunteers,
- Strong facilitation skills and essential experience of peer support or user led groups with charity beneficiaries.
- Understanding of safeguarding particularly around vulnerable families.
What we’ll offer you
Kinship offers 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time) as well as a generous pension scheme. We have an excellent wellbeing offer including the Employee Assistance Programme and clinical supervision. We will invest in your professional development with training and career development opportunities.
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.
This is a fantastic time to join a supportive and well-established team within an organisation with rapid growth ambitions. This role will be what you make it and we’re looking for someone to seize this opportunity!
How to apply
Please apply via Charity Job with your CV and a cover letter of no more than 2 pages for the attention of Deborah Fox. Please include your notice period and earliest availability to start in your cover letter.
- Application deadline: 11.59pm, Thursday 26 June 2025
- First interview: We will hold ongoing online first-round interviews as we receive applications. Final interviews will be held face-to-face in Manchester on Thursday 3 July 2025
Kinship reserves the right to close applications early on receipt of sufficient applications. Apply early!
• Really 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 above.
• Keep your response clear – use bullet points and short paragraphs if that helps. It will help the recruitment team to really focus on your answer.
• Don’t go over 2 pages on your cover letter.
• Please do not use AI tools like ChatGPT to produce your cover letter. 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.
Thank 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!
Qualifications/ skills: CIPD qualified or equivalent professional HR qualification (Level 5 or above)
Time: Minimum 12 up to 16 hours per week. Can be worked flexibly but there are some essential meetings on a Monday.
Where: Remote - UK based. Two team days per year in London / South East or online.
Salary: £35,000-£38,000 full-time equivalent, depending on experience. This salary is in line with our organisational pay structure.
Deadline to apply: 11th July 2025
Estimated start date: September 2025
Role overview
This HR Lead role will support a unique, employee-owned, self-managed organisation. You'll play a key part in ensuring the smooth running of HR practices, advising on employee relations, and contributing to a positive, self-directed work environment.
As a self-managed organisation HR is distributed between a number of different roles. You will be working alongside our Organisational Development Lead, Training & Development Lead, Compliance Lead, HR Support, Onboarding/Offboarding Lead, Team Companion and the leadership team.
As this is a new developing role, the responsibilities listed in the Job Description are areas where Chiltern has identified HR expertise is needed at this current point in time. This gives the role holder the opportunity to further develop and shape this area of our business.
Key duties include advising on employee relations, supporting self-managed teams, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement and employee ownership, and you'll also work closely with individuals to ensure HR policies are adhered to, individuals feel empowered and engaged and that the organisation's culture aligns with its values in the delivery of HR practices.
Accountabilities
Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
1. HR Strategy & Organisational Development
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Collaborate with the leadership team to drive the organisation’s People Management Strategy
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Devise and deliver HR projects to improve business efficiency and effectiveness
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Lead succession planning initiatives across the organisation
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Horizon scan for emerging HR practices and employment law developments
2. HR Policy, Compliance & Risk Management
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Develop and maintain HR policies, procedures, and the Employee Handbook to ensure legal compliance
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Ensure compliance with UK employment law across all HR functions
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Lead on:
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Third Party Risk Policy
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Equality Impact Assessment Policy
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Stakeholder Engagement Policy (ensuring service user perspectives are integrated)
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Monitor adherence to internal policies, including whistleblowing, grievances, and dignity at work
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Audit EDI data bi-annually and create strategies to promote diversity and inclusion
3. Employee Relations & Case Management
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Providing advice and leading on the process for :
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Grievances
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Disciplinaries
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Bullying, harassment, and capability issues
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Redeployment and redundancy
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Lead meetings prior to disciplinary sanctions in collaboration with our HR administrator
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Mediate disputes and facilitate conflict resolution within the context of HR discussions
4. Compensation and Benefits
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Developing and maintaining salary structures
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Conducting salary benchmarking and market analysis
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Overseeing annual salary reviews
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Ensuring compliance with pay equity laws
5. Recruitment, Onboarding & Talent Management
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Oversee advertising and attraction strategies
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Support onboarding processes to aid efficiency
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Review terms and conditions, contracts, and engage with external advisors as needed
6. Attendance & Performance Management
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Manage absence cases including statutory and contractual entitlements
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Support the leadership team with performance and attendance-related challenges
7. Systems & Process Improvement
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Maintain and enhance HR systems, ensuring lean processes and the integration of e-systems
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Regularly review and improve the Staff Portal alongside our Training & Development Lead
8. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
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Stay updated on EDI legislation and best practice
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Support the organisation in being legally compliant, culturally relevant, and innovative in its EDI approach
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Lead data audits and present an equal opportunities review every two years
9. Professional Development & Networking
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Engage with local HR support networks, including CIPD and ACAS
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Maintain continuous professional development (CPD)
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Be an active member of Social Enterprise UK HSC HR group and attend relevant meetings
Person specification
We are looking for an efficient, well-organised, friendly person to join the team with the following qualities:
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CIPD qualified or equivalent professional HR qualification (Level 5 or above)
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Experience in a generalist HR role, including employee relations, policy development, and HR project delivery.
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Experience working on or leading Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.
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Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across all levels
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Confident facilitator and leader of sensitive meetings and discussions, with a culture of care
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As this is a hands on role, a high level of organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously is needed
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Commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and supportive work environment
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Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability, with the ability to adjust to changing priorities and respond effectively to new or unforeseen challenges.
Job benefits
A key benefit in working for Chiltern is being a part of a forward thinking employee owned team, where our culture celebrates and values the voice of each individual.
Staff members benefit from a flexible working environment, creating a personal schedule based around the requirements of the role.
Ultimately, at the heart of what we do is our value of ‘care’, which is felt strongly across the team.
Additional benefits include:
- Flexible working
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32 Days (FTE) per annum annual leave allowance (including bank holidays)
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High street discount shopping portal
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EAP package - access to confidential support and wellbeing services
About Chiltern Music Therapy
Chiltern is an award-winning social enterprise that provides music therapy, community music services and training to over 1700 people of all ages and many different needs across England each year. Formed in 2011 from a desire to change how music therapy was offered in the UK, we hold accessibility and financial inclusivity at our heart, working across health, education, social care and community settings.
Proud to be a self-managed and employee-owned organisation, we strive to create a world where music therapy is the transformative thread in the lives of the children and adults we support. At Chiltern we recognise the different strengths within our team. We provide an environment where people can take charge of the work they do and make informed decisions using professional judgement and life experience, alongside peer support. We’re welcoming, inclusive, and have worked hard to create a positive environment that we are proud of. You can find out more about us on our website.
How to apply
To apply, please apply with your CV and a one-page covering letter which should include your reasons for wanting to join Chiltern Music Therapy and suitability for the role.
We welcome enquiries and applications from people of all identities and backgrounds and value diversity in our workforce.
We encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible as we may close applications early depending on application numbers.
For more information about Chiltern Music Therapy please visit our website.
