Strategy director jobs in chalk farm, greater london

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

Our advice service provides over 2,000 kinship carers a year with easy access to expert advice and support to empower them to:

- realise their rights

- access the support to which they are entitled

- take the next step forward in tackling their challenges

- and navigate their way through a sometimes complex and confusing system.

We’re developing our advice service and investing in our team to make sure that we can support more kinship carers effectively. You’ll be part of a supportive team who keep kinship carers at the heart of their service.

The role of Advice Worker is pivotal in supporting kinship carers to access the right information, services and entitlements.

In this role, you’ll provide generalist advice and information to kinship carers in line with kinship carers’ preferred methods. Often, this will be by telephone, including taking live calls on our advice line, and by email. You will also need to respond to enquiries using video conferencing, text and other channels as we develop the service.

The type of person we’re looking for:

You will either have significant experience of providing advice to individuals on their rights, or you will have significant experience of providing support to kinship carers.

We will provide the training you need to undertake the role, as well as opportunities for development and progression.

You will need to be resilient and able to remain calm in difficult situations. You will have an eye for detail to identify the key issues requiring advice and the relevant legislation, guidance or practice. You will be firm, sensitive and professional in your approach and will be clear and assertive as you support kinship carers to get their needs met quickly and effectively.

The team work remotely, but there is the option to work from our office in London.

Key responsibilities include:  

Advice provision:

· Respond to enquiries through a range of incoming channels. This includes taking calls on our advice line, as well as responding to enquiries submitted through our website, via internal referral or other channels.

· Provide high quality advice and information to kinship carers on their rights, entitlements and responsibilities in relation to: welfare benefits, local authority allowances, support from children’s services, kinship care arrangements and options, housing, sources of educational, parenting and legal support and other issues that may be required.

· Address all safeguarding concerns in line with policy.

· Make referrals and signpost to other services as necessary.

· Where appropriate, provide additional advice or support to enable the client to take action or undertake follow-up action on behalf of the client to move the case on.

· Facilitate access to our advice service for people with diverse needs.

Service quality, consistency and data management:

· Respond to all enquiries in line with Kinship’s advice service framework, standards and performance targets.

· Ensure independence, impartiality and confidentiality when dealing with kinship carers.

Professional and service development:

· Maintain an up to date knowledge of relevant legislation, policy and guidance.

· Support continuous development and improvement of the service.

Essential knowledge, abilities, skills and experience include: 

· EITHER:

a) Minimum of 2 years recent experience of delivering advice work on social welfare issues (e.g. benefits, housing, education or social care) to members of the public.

OR:

b) Minimum of 2 years recent experience of providing support to kinship carers.

OR:

c) Experience equivalent to, or a combination of, a) or b) above.

· Experience of working with socially excluded or marginalised people and their
families. 

· Detailed knowledge of the statutory systems that people with advice needs frequently encounter.

· Knowledge and evidence of good understanding of safeguarding issues and good practice.

· Excellent interpersonal skills, and particularly, a sensitive and professional telephone manner.

· Excellent written communication skills in English.

· Proven ability to research complex information and communicate this in an easily understandable way. 

· Proven understanding and practice of keeping accurate and appropriate case records. 

· Ability to work flexibly, collaboratively and effectively as part of a team.

· Ability to organise and prioritise a busy workload without close supervision.

· Confident in using digital tools, and an ability to learn new tools.

· A demonstrable commitment to apply equality, diversity and inclusion principles in all areas of work.

· Willingness to travel across England on occasion, as required (such as for events), working flexibly in response to the need.

· Right to work in the UK.

IMPORTANT: See attached Job Pack for full job description, person specification and other details

Kinship are an equal opportunities employer. We warmly welcome applications from appropriately qualified people from all sections of the community and aim to promote diversity. 

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. This permanent role is open to flexible working. We have an excellent wellbeing offer including the Employee Assistance Programme. 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!

London Youth Gateway is a sector leading service supporting 18-25 year-olds facing homelessness or rough sleeping across the capital. Our mission is to make sure young Londoners bounce back quickly and safely in times of crisis and to prevent or solve their homelessness for good. You will be playing a leading role in helping to shape the work of the partnership, its collaborative processes as well as its connections with each of the London local authorities.

This is a key role in our organisation, and we are looking for someone with demonstrable experience in partnership and stakeholder engagement who knows how to get and keep people on board to meet mutual or differing needs. The ideal candidate will be a confident communicator and persuasive negotiator with an eye for detail. You will be able to facilitate multi-agency meetings and collaboration, hold responsibility for regular reporting to the commissioner, and contribute to our broader policy and influencing work. We have big ambitions for an organisation our size, so we are on the look-out for someone who can work at their own initiative, support our different teams, and is not afraid to get hand-on with administrative tasks, while tuning into partner priorities and sniffing out great opportunities to connect.

 

About UP

Unlocking Potential deliver high performing therapeutic programmes and education provision for children and young people with SEMH needs. We work in collaboration with families, communities, and other partners to ensure that children and young people access the interventions they need to thrive.

Mission

We work collaboratively with communities to enable children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health needs to unlock their full potential

Values

Trust

We build trust by being honest, transparent, and accountable in the way we work with children and young people, staff, and partners and by providing services and programmes whose outcomes are measurable and evidenced based.

Collaborative

Relationships are at the heart of our work. We prioritise communication and collaboration with partners, families, and communities, believing that by working together we create more effective and holistic outcomes for children and young people.

Empowering

We co-create opportunities for our children, young people, parents/carers and staff to actively participate in decision-making that influences change. We promote the voices of children and young people in our organisation and the wider community.

Nurturing

We provide a nurturing approach based on safety and space for creativity, exploration, and growth. We support and care for our children, young people, and staff to realise their potential.

Impact

We are committed to measuring our impact through a data driven method to develop our programmes and make a greater difference to the lives of children, young people, and their parents and carers.

Overview

We will be launching our new programme from September 2025, initially as a pilot working with families across Wandsworth, with aims to be able to expand and continue beyond this.

As a Family Support Worker, you will deliver flexible, hands-on, and therapeutically minded support to families facing multiple and complex challenges. You will build trusted relationships through home visits, school meetings, and practical support—empowering parents and carers to strengthen routines, manage behaviour, improve attendance, and access services. Your role will be guided by detailed needs assessments and focused on achieving meaningful outcomes with each family.