Specialist vocational advisor jobs

Buddy Dog Partnership Specialist

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Exeter, Devon (Hybrid)

Bristol, Bristol City

Starting from £31,000 per annum plus excellent benefits

Full-time

Permanent

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Job description

Imagine playing a key role in transforming the lives of children and young people with visual impairments through the power of a dog. As a Buddy Dog Partnership Specialist, you’ll help them gain confidence, independence, and joy through the unique and powerful connection with a well-matched, well-trained dog. If you have a person-centred approach to care, and the ability to build relationships that truly matter, this is your opportunity to be part of something deeply rewarding.

In this role, you'll work closely with children and their families, understanding their individual needs and aspirations to deliver tailored training, support, and guidance throughout their Buddy Dog journey. From delivering engaging workshops to conducting home visits and offering ongoing aftercare, your insight and empathy will be essential to making every partnership a success. You'll see the opportunity to develop young people's skills though animal assisted interventions and empower families to reach their goals with your support.

Your expertise in dog behaviour and training will also be vital. You’ll assess dogs for temperament and suitability, develop their skills through positive reinforcement techniques, and match each one thoughtfully with the right person or family. You'll consider not just the dog’s capabilities but also the lifestyle, home environment and emotional needs of each service user, ensuring a safe, lasting, and enriching bond.

As a trusted advisor, you’ll provide professional reports, risk assessments, and progress reviews that guide key decisions. You'll be a valued part of a collaborative, compassionate team, working across departments to continually improve how we support people living with sight loss.

This is more than a job — it’s a chance to bring meaningful change to people’s lives every single day, by creating partnerships that heal, uplift, and inspire.

If you're ready to combine your love of dogs, people, and purpose into a truly fulfilling career, we’d love to hear from you.

This role covers the South-West of England and requires regular travel within this region, as well as occasional national trips. You will be linked to either our Bristol or Exeter office on a regular basis, beyond this we offer a hybrid working arrangement that allows flexibility while ensuring strong collaboration with colleagues and teams. You'll be working 35 hours per week, worked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. There will be requirement within this role to work some evenings and weekends, and due to the travel involved, occasional overnight stays.

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Posted by

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association View profile

Registered Charity

More than 1000

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Refreshed on: Saturday, 28 June 2025

Closing date: 06 July 2025 at 23:00

Job ref: 454

Tags: Advice / Information, Communications, Teaching, Care Management, Blind, Customer support, Education, Partnerships, Photography, Students / School, Youth / Children, Social / Support Work

The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.

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Independent Domestic Violence Advocate

Victim Support

Luton (Hybrid)

£21464.16 - £28611.00 per annum

Part-time (BBTECH_RESERVED:Text100)

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Job description

We currently have an opportunity for an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) to join the team in Luton. This role is for 30 hours per week to cover maternity leave with the option of hybrid working from our Luton office and home.

Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?

Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care?

If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…..

What we offer:

At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:

Flexible working options including hybrid working
28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
An extra day off for your birthday & options to buy or sell annual leave
Pension with 5% employer contribution
Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment & leisure discounts
Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes
Cycle to work scheme & season ticket loans
Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression

About the role:

As in Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) you will support victims of domestic abuse who primarily live in Luton. This role will be part of our other wider specialist services covering Bedfordshire.

As an IDVA you will be:

Providing a high quality support and advocacy service to victims of domestic abuse.
Managing a caseload; identifying and assessing risks and needs, providing a tailored crisis intervention service trough individual safety planning, advocacy, emotional and practical support.
Working with other agencies and advocating on behalf of service users in order to help them access services to keep them safe.
Working within a multi-agency framework consisting of partners as well as MARAC and other local partnerships to offer a coordinated response to domestic abuse.
Promoting the service and raise awareness of domestic abuse through the delivery of training
Supporting the Daily Domestic Abuse meeting in the IFD (Integrated Front Door), which discusses all

You will need:

Experience of working in support and advocacy with victims of domestic abuse
To be able to prioritise work and deal with competing or conflicting demands/needs and interests and promote organisation interests and values.
To ideally hold a SafeLives IDVA accreditation, relevant degree, vocational qualification or relevant experience of delivering a service and working with domestic abuse victim's/service users in a statutory, voluntary or community work setting.

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

About Us:

Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.

Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.

Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard. Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.

As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.

If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.

How to apply:

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We look forward to hearing from you.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.

If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.