3 Programme manager jobs in Bristol, City of, Bristol
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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!
The Youth Adventure Trust is a youth development charity working with vulnerable young people aged 11 to 16 years old from Somerset, Wiltshire and Swindon. Our outdoor activity based YAT Adventure Programme enables young people to challenge themselves, experience success, learn to go beyond their own expectations and grow in confidence. Through a series of residential camps and day activities they are able to build resilience, self esteem and develop social and life skills. The YAT Resilience Programme works to the same outcomes through a year long programme of monthly activities, home-based challenges and reflective practice. Our Mentoring Programme works with those young people in need of some additional individualised support at the end of our other programmes. The Trust’s Bursary Programme is open to all those young people who have completed an initial programme, in order to assist their next steps into further activities. Our aim is to make a lasting improvement to the lives of vulnerable young people. All our services are provided completely free of charge to the young people who are nominated by schools and other youth organisations to take part.
The Role
We are looking for an experienced, dynamic and motivated Programme Manager to support, deliver and manage our outdoor based development programmes.
Responsibilities will include:
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Acting as the key point of contact to organise, deliver and oversee the programme to a group of young people, including managing and supporting activity days and residential adventures throughout the year.
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Recruiting young people to the programme, working in collaboration with our referral partners including schools and other organisations, ensuring all involved have an excellent understanding, relationship and experience with the Youth Adventure Trust.
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Working in partnership with the young people’s families to promote full attendance, effective participation and ensure they have all the information they require.
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Carrying out direct work with young people to help support their needs and fulfil the Youth Adventure Trust’s aims.
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Providing ongoing feedback to young people, parents, carers and schools.
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Supporting the effective monitoring of the programme and measurement of young people’s developmental outcomes.
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Working with the Mentoring Managers to select and support young people moving on to the Mentoring Programme, and promote take up of the Bursary Programme.
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Ensuring the highest standards of support, safety and safeguarding across the programme and all aspects of the Youth Adventure Trust’s work.
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Completing the day-to-day administration and management of the programme. This will include maintaining a database, producing written communications and reports, information leaflets, website updates, budget monitoring, booking and negotiating with providers, and an array of detailed record keeping.
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Contributing to organisational planning and development, including supporting the development of further opportunities for young people.
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Supporting the fundraising team through providing feedback, reports or event support.
You will also;
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Be involved in sector networking and awareness raising on behalf of the Trust.
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Act as an ambassador for the Youth Adventure Trust at all times.
The post is subject to a six months’ probationary period.
The Candidate
To be up to the challenge you’ll need an excellent understanding and a proven track record of relevant experience working with vulnerable young people. You’ll need demonstrable skills at building effective relationships with young people, parents/carers and professional organisations. You’ll need strong influencing and motivational skills; the capacity to get the best out of people and confidently deal with issues and challenges. You’ll be an excellent communicator, planner and problem solver, a strong team player and an exemplary role model.
We need someone with:-
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Commitment to safeguarding and dedication to promoting the welfare of young people.
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Relevant experience of managing young people, preferably in activity based and outdoor environments, as well as away from this.
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Experience in working in partnership with other professional organisations and parents/carers.
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Strong leadership and team skills to motivate, support and work alongside a team of volunteers, activity instructors and logistics staff.
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Self-motivation with the ability to work on their own initiative to plan and manage their workload.
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Strong IT skills including experience of MS Office, web based platforms and databases.
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Excellent administrative skills and a methodical and thorough approach.
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The ability to perform well and problem solve in high-stress and changing situations. Ability to be flexible and dynamic in approach.
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Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
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A positive attitude, high energy and enthusiasm for the work of the Youth Adventure Trust; an understanding of the positive impact outdoor adventure can have on vulnerable young people, and a desire to help inspire young lives.
In addition:-
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The ability to work flexible hours, evenings and weekends as required is essential - the role includes attending occasional trips staying away from home, and monthly weekend days working on activities. If you are looking for a predictable 9-5 work environment, this won’t be the right fit.
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The role is home-based, located in or with close proximity to Wiltshire and Somerset
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A full current driving licence and access to your own vehicle is required.
Safer Recruitment
The Youth Adventure Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and requires all employees to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.
Please be advised;
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a satisfactory Enhanced DBS Disclosure with Children’s Barred List will be required for this post;
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we will seek references on shortlisted candidates before interview, and may approach previous employers for information to verify particular experience or qualifications;
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if the applicant is shortlisted, any relevant issues arising from his or her references or application will be taken up at interview;
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in accordance with due diligence checks, online searches may be conducted as part of the selection process on shortlisted candidates;
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if the applicant is currently working with children, on either a paid or voluntary basis, his or her current employer will be asked about disciplinary offences relating to children, including any in which the penalty is “time expired” (e.g. where a warning could no longer be taken into account in any new disciplinary hearing), and whether the applicant has been the subject of any child protection concerns, and if so, the outcome of any enquiry or disciplinary procedure. If the applicant is not currently working with children but has done so in the past, then contact will be made with that employer who will be asked about these issues; and
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applicants should note that providing false information is an offence and could result in the application being rejected, or dismissal if the applicant has been selected, and possible referral to the police.
Please review our Safeguarding Policy available on our website.
How to Apply
Please complete the Application Form which includes the opportunity to outline why you think you are suitable for this role, making specific reference to the Role and Candidate Specifications above.
The Application Form should be returned to:
Abigail Hinds, Operations Coordinator
Applications Closing Date: Friday 9th October at 9am
Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 5pm on Friday 9th October
Interview Date: Thursday 15th October, Frome, Somerset
A second interview will be held for selected candidates on Tuesday 27th October in the Wiltshire area.
The Youth Adventure Trust sincerely thanks all those who apply, however only those considered for an interview will be contacted.
Registered Charity
11 - 20
We use outdoor adventure and one-to-one support to empower young people to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
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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!
We are looking for experienced social workers to help take the Weekenders programme into its next chapter. You will join a small, ambitious charity and play a central role in growing a relational, child-focused programme across England.
THE OPPORTUNITY
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Salary: starting from £40,000, subject to experience
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Hours: full time, 37.5 hours per week
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Location: home-based within England, with regular team co-working and travel
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Contracts: one permanent post and two 18-month fixed-term posts
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Flexibility: occasional evening or weekend delivery, usually around once per month
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Travel: across England, including occasional overnight stays; reasonable expenses are covered
ABOUT NOW FOSTER
Now Foster brings together social work, service design, lived experience and innovation to transform fostering in England. Our vision is to bring many more wonderful people into fostering so that more children and young people can experience stable, meaningful relationships with caring adults.
We are a small team with big ambitions. We value creativity, collaboration, learning and continuous improvement, and we work with partners who share our determination to do better for children and families.
ABOUT WEEKENDERS
Weekenders is our flagship programme. We recruit and support weekend foster carers – known as Weekenders – who build regular, long-term relationships with children and young people supported by local authorities. It is about showing up, making a difference and becoming an adult a young person can count on.
The programme is entering an exciting period of growth. We are expanding our partnerships with Regional Care Cooperatives, Fostering Hubs and local authorities across England, currently including London, the South West, North West and North East.
THE ROLE – Lead delivery, develop people and stay close to practice
As a Weekenders Programme Manager, you will turn our ambition into consistently excellent delivery. You will lead the day-to-day support of applicants across an agreed portfolio of areas, making sure prospective Weekenders receive a warm, responsive and motivational experience and that our partners can rely on us to deliver what we have agreed.
This is a people-management and delivery role with a strong connection to practice. You will line-manage Journey Guides, manage a network of independent social workers (ISWs), lead our prep group training and undertake some intro chats yourself.
The role does not carry a statutory caseload. It does carry real responsibility for safeguarding, practice quality, operational oversight and relationships across a growing, geographically distributed programme.
Delivery Leadership: Lead programme delivery
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Take day-to-day responsibility for Weekenders delivery across an agreed portfolio of Fostering Hubs and local authority partners.
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Turn partnership agreements and local processes into clear applicant journeys, with roles, handovers and timescales understood by everyone involved.
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Plan capacity across Journey Guides, ISWs, prep group training and your own direct work so that delivery keeps pace with demand.
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Monitor applicant progress, identify delays or risks early and work with colleagues and partners to find practical solutions.
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Maintain a consistent Now Foster experience across regions while adapting thoughtfully to local contexts.
People Management: Manage and develop Journey Guides
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Provide reflective one-to-one and group supervision, clear objectives and timely feedback.
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Allocate work fairly, monitor workloads and create the structure needed for responsive applicant support.
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Coach Journey Guides in relationship-based, strengths-based and motivational conversations, using observation, role play and practice review where helpful.
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Support sound judgement, safe practice and professional boundaries, addressing performance or wellbeing concerns early and constructively.
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Build a connected team culture in which people share learning, ask for help and take ownership.
Practice Oversight: Manage ISWs and assure practice quality
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Build and maintain a reliable pool of qualified, registered ISWs to undertake initial home visits and teach on prep group training days.
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Coordinate ISW recruitment, onboarding, availability, allocation and briefing in line with our safer recruitment and practice arrangements.
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Set clear expectations for the quality, timeliness and tone of home visits, written outputs, training and feedback.
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Review quality, provide constructive feedback and address concerns promptly, while forecasting capacity and arranging cover.
Training: Plan, staff and lead prep group training
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Own the planning and delivery of prep group training across programme areas, including schedules, venues or online delivery, materials, communications and staffing.
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Facilitate and teach on prep groups, modelling inclusive, relational and reflective practice.
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Brief and support ISW co-facilitators so sessions are coherent, well-paced and grounded in the realities of fostering.
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Make sure applicants can reflect meaningfully on children's needs, safer caring, trauma-informed care, cultural matching and working with fostering services.
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Ensure observations and training feedback are recorded sensitively and on time, and use feedback to strengthen future delivery.
Relationships: Stay close to applicants and partners
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Undertake some intro chats, particularly where additional experience, judgement or continuity is needed.
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Step into complex applicant situations or difficult conversations without taking over work appropriately held by Journey Guides.
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Develop trusted operational relationships with Fostering Hubs, Regional Care Cooperatives, local authority fostering teams and other partners.
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Work through differences or blockages constructively, combining persistence with curiosity about other people's pressures and perspectives.
Programme Addurance: Safeguarding, quality and improvement
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Promote a strong safeguarding culture and ensure concerns are recognised, recorded and escalated appropriately.
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Maintain accurate, timely records and use pipeline data, feedback and practice observations to understand performance and improve delivery.
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Contribute to the development of tools, guidance, communications and digital workflows as Weekenders grows.
WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR – Experience, judgement and a strongly relational approach
Essential
You will need a recognised social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England. Beyond that, we are looking for someone who can combine strong practice judgement with people leadership and operational oversight.
You will thrive in this role if you have
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People-management experience – line-managing, supervising or developing staff, including giving feedback and supporting performance and wellbeing.
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Operational leadership – experience leading a service, programme or complex workflow with multiple people, deadlines and handovers.
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Children's services experience – in fostering, children's social care or a closely related setting, with a sound understanding of safeguarding and professional accountability.
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Training confidence – experience planning and delivering engaging adult learning, workshops or group training.
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Partnership skills – experience building productive relationships across organisational boundaries and working through operational challenges.
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A relational approach – able to hold warm, purposeful and appropriately challenging conversations with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
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Strong organisation and judgement – able to prioritise, delegate, manage dependencies and recognise what needs closer oversight or escalation.
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Digital and data confidence – comfortable using CRM and workflow systems, interpreting delivery information and turning insight into action.
The way you work matters
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Children first – you keep children's needs, relationships and long-term outcomes at the centre of decisions.
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Warm and reflective – you build genuine relationships, remain curious about your own impact and welcome feedback.
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Courageous and accountable – you name concerns, make decisions, follow through and own mistakes.
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Collaborative – you share learning generously while maintaining clear accountability.
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Adaptable – you are comfortable in a small, ambitious organisation where roles and systems continue to evolve.
Bonus points for
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Lived experience of the care system.
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Training or experience in motivational interviewing, systemic practice, coaching or another relational approach.
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Experience of foster carer recruitment, initial visits, assessment, prep groups, panel or post-approval support.
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Experience commissioning, coordinating or quality-assuring ISWs, associates or other independent practitioners.
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A practice educator, adult-teaching or training qualification, or substantial equivalent experience.
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Experience scaling a service across regions or working with a dispersed team and multiple delivery partners.
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Project, budget, contract, risk or resource-management experience.
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Experience of co-production, service design or continuous improvement.
WHAT IS IN IT FOR YOU
Joining Now Foster means being part of something different. We are small, ambitious and innovative, and you will have genuine influence over how Weekenders grows. You will stay close to practice and impact without carrying a statutory caseload.
You will join a supportive, collaborative team that cares about doing excellent work in a sustainable and humane way. We work a 37.5-hour week and trust people to manage their time with balance. The programme sometimes requires evening work, weekend training days or travel, and we flex working time around those commitments.
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Salary from £40,000.
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28 days of annual leave plus bank holidays.
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Home-based working with regular co-working and team days.
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Travel and reasonable work expenses covered in line with Now Foster policy.
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The tools and technology you need to work effectively.
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Workplace pension scheme
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The opportunity to help build a bold, lasting and more relational approach to fostering.
We know strong candidates do not always meet every desirable criterion. If the purpose of the role excites you and your experience gives you a strong foundation for the essentials, we encourage you to apply.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS – Key dates and how to apply
- Applications close – Sunday 20 September 2026 at 23:30
- First-round interviews – Online planned for Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 September 2026
- Role play – For candidates progressing to the second round, before the second interview. 30 mins, completed online with one of our Weekenders.
- Second-round interviews– In person planned for Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 October 2026 (reasonable travel expenses covered)
Early application is encouraged. We may close the advert before 20 September if we receive a sufficient number of strong applications.
HOW TO APPLY
Please apply through the Charity Jobs listing by the closing date. Candidates invited to interview will receive further information about the format and preparation in advance.
You must have the right to work in the UK. Appointment is subject to current registration with Social Work England, a satisfactory Enhanced DBS check and our other safer recruitment requirements.
We recognise that candidates may use generative AI tools to support their application. This is acceptable, but your application must remain an authentic reflection of your own experience and motivation. Please tell us if and how you used AI as part of preparing it.
As a small charity unfortunately we do not have capacity to respond to unsuccessful candidates or offer feedback at the application stage. Please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion if you do not hear from us before the interview dates.
OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY
Now Foster is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. Recruitment decisions are made using fair, objective and transparent criteria, and we will make reasonable adjustments so the process is accessible.
If you want to help grow a pioneering programme, develop a thoughtful team and create more lasting relationships for children and young people, we would love to hear from you.
Your answers to the four questions when you click apply are what we assess. All answers up to 300 words. Allow around 90 minutes in total. We ask for a CV because the platform requires one, but we score the questions first and use the CV only for factual checks after shortlisting.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
The young people, children and families that we support are at the heart of everything we do at Mermaids. The work that we do has significantly expanded and we now need a highly effective and experienced Youth Advocacy Manager to join the organisation. The Youth Advocacy Manager plays a crucial role in empowering trans youth, advocating for their rights and fostering inclusive and supportive communities where they can thrive. This role is a core part of our management team and will drive the organization to ensure that youth voice is centred across all of our work.
Mermaids is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from those with lived experiences (directly or indirectly) and/or close ties to the LGBTQ+ community. We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to join us and shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from BPOC (black and people of colour) and/or disabled and trans candidates.
Registered Charity
11 - 20
Supporting trans, non-binary and gender-diverse children, young people and their families since 1995
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.