Parent carer peer support worker jobs

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

This is an exciting and pivotal leadership role at the heart of Kinship’s digital transformation. You’ll lead a talented and ambitious team to deliver innovative digital products, accessible content, and outstanding user experiences that support kinship carers and strengthen our organisational impact.

Kinship is growing rapidly. We are expanding our reach and digital capabilities, and our digital platforms are central to this change. In 2024, we launched a new website that brings together all our content and services under one roof, and introduced a new Kinship Compass postcode search feature. This is a national tool that helps kinship carers find and navigate local and national support, like their kinship local offer, local peer support groups and training. 

Alongside this, we have been developing a new AI-powered tool to help kinship carers get the information they need quickly and accurately, 24/7. This role will lead the evolution of these digital products, ensuring they are safe, ethical, data-driven and continuously improved to meet the needs of kinship carers.

You’ll play a key role in the Department for Education funded national Training and Support Service, helping kinship carers easily access and book high-quality training. You’ll also oversee the content design in collaboration with internal and external subject experts and kinship carers themselves.

This is a role for a digital leader who is both strategic and hands-on. You should be able to balance innovation with delivery, and big-picture thinking with strong governance. You’ll champion inclusive, accessible and co-produced design, helping Kinship use digital to deliver more impact, insight and empowerment for kinship families.

Key responsibilities include:

• Provide digital leadership across the organisation, increasing capability, confidence and collaboration. 

• Continue to develop and deliver Kinship’s digital strategy and product roadmap, covering the website, Kinship Compass, Kinship Minds, AI tool and other digital tools (excluding marketing and social media). 

• Ensure our content design approach is consistently applied — using evidence, data and co-production to create content that is: 

  • informed by user need 

  • written in plain English and inclusive language 

  • trauma-informed and strengths-based 

  • tested, iterated and continuously improved 

• Collaborate across teams to ensure digital products support fundraising, campaigning, research and service delivery where appropriate. 

• Build relationships with sector peers, tech partners and funders to share best practice and explore innovation. 

• Embed co-production with kinship carers in all digital design and development, including Kinship Minds content and UX design. 

• Ensure induction, documentation and systems support efficient and sustainable working. 

Essential knowledge, abilities, skills and experience includes:

• Significant senior digital leadership experience covering strategy, delivery, KPIs, budgeting and reporting. 
• Successful track record leading mid–large scale website and digital development projects. 
• Credible technical expertise for a senior role, including SEO, analytics and optimisation. 
• Excellent project management experience and commitment to taking accountability for tools like Asana and Notion. 
• Positive, solutions-focused mindset with a commitment to innovation and improvement. 
• Substantial experience leading dispersed teams, including wellbeing, performance and professional development 
• Experience designing and delivering digital services for families in crisis or underserved communities. 
• A real commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion within your role. 

What we’ll offer you 

Kinship offers 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time). 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. 

How to apply

Respond on CharityJobs to these 5 questions:

1. Digital leadership and strategy: Describe a time when you developed and implemented a digital strategy that transformed user experience or service delivery. 

2. Product development and continuous improvement: Tell us about a digital product or platform you’ve led from concept to launch. 

3. Inclusive and co-produced design: How have you embedded inclusion, accessibility, and co-production into digital design or content development? 

4. Leading teams through growth and change: Describe how you’ve built and led a high-performing digital team through a period of change or rapid growth. 

5. Using data and insight to drive improvement: Give an example of how you’ve used digital analytics, SEO, or user data to inform decision-making and improve a service or platform. 

Kinship reserves the right to close a recruitment campaign earlier than the advertised where we have received sufficient applications so please apply early! 

Please use examples to demonstrate your experience. 

Youth Project Worker

Transform the lives of  young people with learning disabilities and autism who are avoiding school . Use creativity, advocacy and relationship-building to help them articulate their needs, re-enter education and rebuild social connections.

You'll work with 35 young people with learning disabilities and autism in Coventry each year , helping them to:

• Articulate their needs and wishes through creative one-to-one advocacy and support
• Re-enter education in a way that works for them as complex individuals
• Re-build social skills and connections to protect their wellbeing and enrich their lives

These young people may be learning-disabled or autistic, in special or mainstream education, or not in education, employment or training (NEET). They include school avoiders, those on reduced timetables, and young people with unmet mental health needs. Without support, their outcomes are often bleak - but you can change that.

What You'll Do

You'll meet young people where they feel most comfortable - at times that suit them, using WhatsApp, Zoom, or face-to-face. Together, you'll:

• Create multimedia person-centred 'back to learning and community' plans using video, voice recording, photographs, artwork or graphics
• Build their confidence through weekly one-to-one sessions, with gradual group engagement on their terms
• Advocate for their views and support them to develop self-advocacy skills
• Connect them with meaningful opportunities across the city
• Work collaboratively with parents, schools, and other professionals
• Complete risk assessments, travel plans and project monitoring

A fun and creative touch is essential - you'll co-design all activities with young people, focusing on what matters to them.

About You

We're looking for someone who:

• Has experience in youth work, particularly one-to-one or small group personal and social development
• Has worked with teenagers experiencing mental health difficulties, special educational needs and disabilities
• Is creative and confident with multiple media platforms and social media
• Can help young people think broadly and creatively about their choices
• Works collaboratively with families, colleagues, and external professionals
• Has a deep listening ability - picking up on young people's signals, cues and feelings
• Is nurturing, non-judgmental and sees past first impressions
• Has tenacity and resilience with the ability to walk in young people's shoes
• Believes disabled young people should lead fulfilling lives as equal citizens

You'll need to be brilliant with young people, adaptable, and bring a flair for doing things differently. You'll have responsibility and autonomy, with the support of a strong team behind you.

Desirable: Qualifications in youth work, psychology or child and youth care; knowledge of person-centred and trauma-informed approaches.

About Grapevine

Grapevine is an award-winning charity bringing people who are marginalised into the centre of their communities. We're nationally acclaimed for our person-centred, strengths-based approach built on 30 years of curiosity and innovation.

Why work for us?

• Flexible working arrangements
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• 8% non-contributory pension (we pay the full amount!)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Supportive culture focused on uncovering your potential
• Real impact - your work directly changes lives
• Continuous learning through reflective practice and peer learning
• Freedom with support - shape your projects but never feel alone

We're committed to diversity and inclusion, welcoming people from all backgrounds. We actively work to create a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued and able to be themselves.

The Impact

Since 2021, Next Steps has been achieving outstanding outcomes:

• 74% of young people felt more confident about school and the future
• 100% were able to do things that matter to them in a way they like
• 62% showed improved scores across every baseline area
• 34% increased school attendance within 4 months

Now it's your turn to be part of this success story.

Do you want to make a real difference in children and young people's lives? If so, then we would like you to join our dedicated team of social workers and help empower children to thrive. We believe in quality over quantity, ensuring manageable caseloads so you can truly focus on the people you support. Regular supervision, peer support, and emotional wellbeing resources are all part of how we care for our team. We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our small friendly team, who are well linked in with the wider Barnardo's organisation across the UK.

Fostering Service, covering Wales. We offer flexible working options, and a strong support network, and ongoing professional development to ensure you feel valued and supported in your career. 

The suitably applicant will be enthusiastic, creative and passionate about supporting children and young people who are cared for by their foster families. You will be able to work therapeutically with people who have experienced trauma and loss in their lives. You will work in a way that acknowledges and validates their experiences and work with hope that their future may be different. You will also have opportunities to design and deliver training to a team of committed foster parents and peers. You will have strong assessment skills in order to complete Form F's and annual reviews.

Ready to take the next step in your social work career? If the answer yes, then we very much look forward to you joining the team.

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification and Job Description. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

High Trees Community Development Trust is seeking an experienced and passionate Head of Children, Young People & Families (CYPF) to join our senior management team and lead one of our core service areas.

This is an exciting opportunity to oversee a wide-ranging CYPF service that directly supports over 400 children and young people each year, and many more through partnerships. You will lead the newly redeveloped Tulse Hill Adventure Playground, ensuring it thrives as a hub for children, young people and families, alongside a portfolio of impactful programmes including school-based mentoring, young leaders’ programmes, family stay-and-play, and peer-led social action.

Supported by our Adventure Playground Manager and a team of youth and play workers, this is an incredibly exciting time for the service – the newly built structures, alongside a small animal area and a growing area, are ready to build an ambitious service around that meets the needs and interests of local children and families.

High Trees is also the lead partner in Building Young Brixton (BYB) – a consortium of 10 youth organisations working with 2,000 young people across Lambeth – which you will coordinate, alongside contributing to the Lambeth Peer Action Collective.

Our Head of CYPF plays a key leadership role that combines strategic oversight with hands-on involvement. You will bring significant experience in youth or community work, with the skills to manage multifaceted services, lead teams, and build strong partnerships with local organisations, schools and statutory bodies. By working closely with our team and partners, you will help ensure that children and young people in Lambeth have the opportunities and support they need to thrive.

Our incredible interim Head of Service will be happy to arrange an informal chat with interested candidates to discuss the day to day responsibilities of the role.

About High Trees

Based in Tulse Hill, High Trees has been rooted in the local community for over 27 years. We delivery community action, employment, education, youth services and community research, working in partnership with local people and local organisations, to build stronger communities and create meaningful change. We are recognised for our collaborative, long-term approach and our ability to adapt and respond to the issues that matter most to local people.

About the role

As Head of Children, Young People and Families, you will:

• Lead and inspire our Children, Young People and Families team to deliver high-impact, community-led work.
• Oversee a portfolio of projects and contracts, ensuring they are delivered to time, budget, and quality.
• Build and strengthen partnerships across the sector to support children, young people and families in Lambeth.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead for CYPF services and partnerships.
• Contribute as a member of High Trees’ senior management team, helping shape organisational strategy and drive our ambitions across all service areas.

About you

We are looking for someone who brings:

• Significant experience in working with Children, Young People and Families.
• A proven track record of leading teams and managing complex projects.
• Excellent communication and partnership-building skills across diverse stakeholders.
• A strategic but practical approach with the ability to balance day-to-day delivery with long-term vision.
• A passion for place-based working, collaboration, and advocating for the needs of children and young people.

Why join us?

This is a rare opportunity to take a senior leadership role in a values-led organisation at a time of growth and ambition. You will play a pivotal role in shaping CYPF services and ensuring that children and young people in Lambeth have the opportunities and support they need to thrive.