Practitioner jobs in Coventry, west midlands
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Are you an experienced practitioner with a passion for empowering young people and making a difference?
At NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service), we are dedicated to making a lasting impact on the lives of children, young people, and adults at risk. We believe no child or young person should ever be alone or voiceless in the care system, in family court, or when decisions are being made about their future.
We are seeking an experienced and compassionate Senior Practitioner to join Project Unity England, working 28 hours per week. This is an exciting opportunity to deliver intensive, trauma-informed support to care-experienced young mothers who are pregnant or have recently given birth, helping families stay together and supporting young mothers to build positive futures.
About Project Unity England
Project Unity England is an innovative national initiative focused on improving outcomes for care-experienced young mothers and their children through collaborative, multi-agency working. The project aims to keep families together, strengthen service delivery, promote innovation and ensure that local needs are addressed effectively across England.
At the heart of Project Unity is a collaborative approach that brings together local authorities, health partners and community organisations to provide coordinated, community-focused support. By working closely with partner agencies, Project Unity helps ensure young mothers receive the right support at the right time, enabling them to make informed decisions and achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves and their children.
About the role
As a Senior Practitioner, you will manage a complex caseload, providing independent, rights-based advocacy and one-to-one support to care-experienced young mothers. Working autonomously while supported by the Project Coordinator, you will empower young mothers to understand their rights, navigate statutory processes and make informed decisions that help keep families safely together.
You will build trust, complete assessments, develop support plans and advocate on their behalf within multi-agency settings. You will work alongside social workers, midwives, health visitors and other professionals to ensure each young mother's voice is heard and represented.
Alongside direct casework, you will contribute to peer support groups, workshops and community-based activities that reduce isolation, build confidence and strengthen parenting skills. You will also play an important role in safeguarding, quality assurance and service development by maintaining high-quality records, producing case studies and identifying opportunities to improve local services.
This is a rewarding opportunity to make a tangible difference to the lives of care-experienced young mothers while working within an innovative, rights-based national programme.
About you
We are looking for someone who is passionate about supporting vulnerable young people and families. You will be confident working independently while building strong partnerships with professionals across health, social care and the voluntary sector.
You will have experience supporting families or parents with complex social care involvement and a sound understanding of safeguarding, risk assessment and relevant legislation. You will be an effective advocate with excellent communication skills, able to build trusting relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
You will be organised, resilient and confident managing a demanding caseload, with strong analytical skills and the ability to make sound professional judgements in complex situations.
Above all, you will demonstrate NYAS's values of Collaboration, Accountability, Respect and Empowerment, sharing our commitment to ensuring children, young people and adults at risk have their voices heard.
How to Apply
Please apply via the the NYAS website. In your application, evidence using specific examples how your skills and experience meet the criteria in the person specification within the attached job description, including:
- Experience with vulnerable young people or families in a social care, advocacy or support setting
- Knowledge of legislation and policy relating to advocacy, safeguarding and children’s social care
- Excellent communication, organisational and report-writing skills, with sound professional judgement
Employee Benefits
We offer the following employee benefits:
- 26 days, increasing to 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time)
- Occupational sick pay (subject to completion of qualifying period)
- Enhanced pay for family friendly leave
- Free parking at some of our offices
- Employee assistance programme
- Group stakeholder pension scheme
- Access to BHSF health cash plan
- Cycle to work scheme
- Support and supervision from your line manager
- Learning and Development opportunities
Safeguarding and Compliance
NYAS operates robust safeguarding procedures, and internal candidates will be subject to references in line with our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. In accordance with UK immigration law, proof of eligibility to work in the United Kingdom will be required as part of the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications.
About NYAS
NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) is an established rights-based charity ensuring that children, young people, and adults across England and Wales are respected, represented and supported in expressing their views. We work with care-experienced people who are often reliant on statutory services, and our combination of social care and legal services places us in a unique position to ensure their voices are heard.
We are an equal opportunities employer and a Disability Confident Employer, guaranteeing an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria. We welcome applications from all individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, or any other protected characteristic.
At NYAS, we listen to what children, young people and vulnerable adults want. We empower them to have their voices heard.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Support and Advocacy Practitioner
Kairos Women Working Together is looking for a Support and Advocacy Practitioner to join our specialist women’s organisation in Coventry.
Since 1999, Kairos has walked alongside women facing multiple intersecting disadvantage and therefore subject to, or at risk of, sexual exploitation. Through support, advocacy and community, we work with women to increase options and opportunities, strengthen voice and agency, and empower them to create the futures they want for themselves.
This is an exciting time to join Kairos. We are growing our work through our Women’s Hub, strengthening our specialist support offer, and developing our role as a place of safety, advocacy, community and change for women in Coventry.
About the role
This is a frontline practitioner role providing women-centred, trauma-informed, holistic support.
You will manage a caseload, provide one-to-one support and advocacy, contribute to safeguarding and risk work, support drop-ins and outreach, facilitate group activity, and work closely with partner agencies.
The work is meaningful, challenging and deeply relational. The women we walk alongside are often facing significant trauma, risk, exclusion, crisis and harm. This means the role can be tough. Sometimes very tough. It requires emotional resilience, good boundaries, reflective capacity and the ability to stay grounded when things are complex or uncertain.
But this work is also full of purpose, hope and possibility. At Kairos, you will see the difference that trusted relationships, practical advocacy, women-only spaces and long-term support can make.
Kairos is rooted in feminist values and an analysis of power, inequality and men’s violence against women and girls. Our work is practical and frontline, but it is also activist in nature. We support individual women, and we also seek to challenge the systems, attitudes and injustices that create and sustain harm.
Who we are looking for
We are looking for someone who shares our values of Hope, Compassion, Empowerment, Solidarity, Voice and Justice.
We are not only interested in formal qualifications or traditional career routes. Relevant experience may come from paid work, volunteering, community work, activism, study, caring responsibilities, personal learning or lived experience.
What matters most is your ability to build trust, listen without judgement, hold strong boundaries, manage complexity, advocate clearly, reflect on your practice and work in a way that is rooted in Kairos’ values.
We do not expect anyone to arrive knowing everything. Kairos is a learning organisation, and staff are supported through regular line management, reflective supervision, external clinical supervision and access to relevant training and development.
Diversity, accessibility and lived experience
The voices of women with lived experience are centred in everything that we do. We encourage lived experience across the whole organisation, including volunteers, staff, senior leadership and our board of trustees.
We want Kairos to reflect the diversity of the women we support. We actively encourage applications from Black, minoritised and migrant women; women with disabilities; lesbian and bisexual women; and working-class women.
You will be welcomed, supported and respected in a culture that values authenticity, honesty and sisterhood.
We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible. If you need information in a different format, reasonable adjustments, or support to take part in the recruitment process, please contact us.
Role details
Job title: Support and Advocacy Practitioner
Salary: £29,779 per annum
Hours: 37 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Kairos Women’s Hub, The Old Grammar School, 31 Silver Street, Coventry, CV1 1HP
Reporting to: Support and Services Lead
Working pattern: Hub and community based, with occasional hybrid working. The role includes some evening work, currently Wednesdays, as part of our outreach and drop-in rota. Very occasional weekend work may be required for events or fundraising activity.
Annual leave: 25 days, rising by one day for each year of service up to 30 days, plus bank holidays.
Wellbeing offer: One paid wellbeing hour each week, paid wellbeing break between Christmas and New Year, access to Employee Assistance Programme, external clinical supervision, team wellbeing activities and optional Blue Light Card scheme.
This post is open to female applicants only as an occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010. This is due to the nature of the role and Kairos’ work as a specialist women-only organisation supporting women subject to, or at risk of, men’s violence, abuse and sexual exploitation.
An enhanced DBS check will be required. The role also requires a full driving licence and access to a vehicle with business insurance, as practitioners may need to travel across Coventry and transport women as part of their support. Mileage is reimbursed.
How to apply
Please apply by submitting your CV and a covering letter.
Your covering letter should explain why you are interested in the role and how your experience, knowledge, skills, values and aptitude meet the person specification in the recruitment pack.
Please give clear examples from your paid work, volunteering, community work, activism, study, caring responsibilities, personal learning or lived experience where relevant.
We do not expect you to meet every desirable criterion. If you connect with Kairos’ mission and can show that you have the values, insight and potential needed for this work, we would welcome your application.
Closing date: 26 July 2026 at 11:55pm
Interview dates: 20 and 21 August 2026
Please read the full recruitment pack before applying.
A note on use of AI in applications
We understand that candidates may use AI tools to help prepare an application. However, your application should still reflect you.
This process is a chance for both you and Kairos to understand whether the role will be a good fit. We want to hear about your own experiences, values, skills and perspective. Applications that feel personal, specific and grounded in real examples are much more helpful than generic responses.
A movement of women working together to create the moments when change becomes possible.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.