Job title: Voice and Influence Officer

Salary: S02 £37,280 - £39,152

Hours: 37 (full time). Role involves working evenings and weekends)

Contract: Permanent

Location: Merrion House (office base)

As a Voice and Influence Officer you’ll thrive on championing children and young people’s right to have a say over decisions that affect their lives and services they access. You will make a difference by working in partnership with children and young people and their parents and carers to improve and develop services. You will play a key role in embedding the Child Friendly Leeds Wishes across the city

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As a Voice and Influence Officer you will:

be experienced in facilitating group work with children and young people and parents and carers in a participatory way
be able to build positive relationships with children and young people through meeting their individual needs, making all engagement fun and engaging and helping develop their skills and confidence
demonstrate empathy and understanding when working with children, young people and parents and carers, listening to their experiences and challenges but also working creatively to explore their ideas and support them to communicate their views to decision makers
have excellent communication skills, demonstrated by your ability to produce communications for different audiences including reports, web and social media content
have a positive can do attitude to challenges and change and ability to enthuse and motivate others
be child centred and restorative in your approach and committed to working collaboratively with members of the team to achieve shared goals

About the role

As our next Voice and Influence Officer in the team you’ll thrive on working with children and young people in a variety of settings, planning events for and with young people and running youth voice group sessions online and in person. Your role will be varied, from meeting with different services across the city, working one to one with young people to hear their views, planning group activities, designing flyers to promote projects, writing risk assessments and creating social media posts. You will play a critical role in the team, responsible for devising creative engagement strategies to increase involvement and reach, but also lead on regular communication with children, young people and families and building positive relationships. This role involves a wide range of administrative tasks and so you will be organised, have attention for detail and be able to work to demanding deadlines.

The role is integral to our ambition to be a Child Friendly city, the Voice Influence and Change Team work in partnership with children young people and parents and carers across the city, supporting and enabling them to have their voices heard and influence positive change.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

This role follows our safer recruitment process, additional pre-employment checks are required to comply with this process.

Please complete the online application form. (please note for safer recruitment the safer recruitment application form should be used to account for a full employment history)

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.  

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Children’s Strategy and Influence Lead Hannah Lamplugh hannah.lamplugh@leeds.gov.uk

07891279304

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be carried out on preferred candidates. This may include a check against Children’s or Adults’barred list where applicable. You will not be able to commence in post until this check is returned. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.  
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa. 

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying. 

Job Description

Job Purpose: Develop, coordinate, and embed effective participation mechanisms to ensure children, young people (CYP), parents and carers voices, views and experiences are actively sought, heard and used to influence the design, delivery and improvement of Children's and Families Services. Plan and deliver participation and co-production activities enabling meaningful involvement in decision making and service development. Building strong relationships with CYP parents and carers, collaborating with colleagues across different teams and partner organisations to promote inclusive participation and ensure that feedback influences policy and practice.

Responsibilities

Champion the voice of CYP and promote their right to participate in decisions affecting their lives (UNCRC Article 12).
Lead on recruitment, communication and building positive relationships with CYP, parents and carers, leading to their sustained involvement in participation activities, networks and youth voice groups.
Plan, deliver and evaluate voice and influence projects, consultations, campaigns, events and training activities in partnership with wider teams and services/ organisations and CYP and parents and carers.
Lead on administration for youth voice programmes, including development of project plans, session plans, risk assessments and recording of finance and attendance on management information systems.
Ensure the inclusion of seldom heard and underrepresented groups, including CYP with SEND, care experience, refugee or asylum-seeking backgrounds, young carers, LGBT+ young people and those from diverse communities.
Direct work with CYP parents and carers using a range of engagement methods, including individual and group work online and in person, games, consultations, focus groups and events.
Facilitate the involvement of CYP and parents and carers in recruitment and commissioning panels.
Plan and deliver engagement events and activities to enable senior leaders and elected members to hear directly from CYP and parents and carers and support co-production.
Produce engaging, age appropriate, inclusive and accessible content across digital platforms.
Develop presentations, case studies, good practice guides and resources for a range of stakeholders.
Strengthen relationships and partnership working with colleagues on voice and influence network (representing teams and services across Leeds City Council, third sector organisations, health partners, police, early years, schools, colleges and universities etc).
Work in partnership with other local authorities to learn and share good practice.
Effective planning to ensure all activities have risk assessments, consent forms for CYP and adhering to safeguarding and health and safety procedures.
Contribute to research and evidence gathering to inform service development and improvement.
Record, analyse and report participation activity, outcomes and impact for different stakeholders, ensuring involvement demonstrably influences service development and future provision.
Deputise for the Voice and Influence Coordinator or Lead at meetings, forums and events as required.
Undertake other duties commensurate with the grade and purpose of the role.

Qualifications An appropriate professional qualification or equivalent experience and training.

Essential Requirements

Experience of facilitating groups and planning and delivering sessions with CYP and parents/ carers.
Experience of leading and delivering participation activities using a range of engagement methods including games, surveys, consultations, focus groups and events.
Experience of direct work with CYP with Special Educational Needs.
Experience of direct work with looked after CYP or have experience with social care.
Experience of planning, delivering and evaluating projects, events and training within agreed budget and timescales.
Experience of producing communications with CYP and to support engagement of CYP (e.g. films, presentations, campaigns, flyers, posters and multimedia and digital resources).
Experience of developing age appropriate, inclusive and accessible content across digital platforms.
Experience of producing resources and communications including toolkits, presentations, reports and case studies for a range of audiences.
Experience of measuring and evidencing the impact of participation and involvement activities.
Experience of effective partnership and multi-agency working.
Confident communicator with the ability to motivate and inspire CYP, parents/carers, colleagues and partners to actively participate in engagement and co-production activities.
Ability to work flexibly across locations and undertake regular evening and weekend work.
Ability to build and sustain positive trusted relationships with CYP, parents/ carers and colleagues.
Ability to demonstrate effective conflict management skills.
Ability to organise, prioritise and manage competing demands while working both independently and collaboratively.
Ability to gather, analyse and record data on information management systems and present information clearly and accurately for report and communications.
Ability to contribute to research, project delivery and continuous improvement.
Ability to promote positive change and engage others in achieving team objectives.
Ability to work within financial procedures and demonstrate value for money.
Competent in the use of IT, digital engagement platforms and tools, social media and standard office applications.
Knowledge and understanding of how to ensure the safety and wellbeing of CYP in all participation activities and recognising, responding to and reporting any safeguarding concerns.
Knowledge of the barriers to engagement experienced by children and young people, including those with SEND, are looked after or have experience with social care and how to address those barriers.
Understanding of relevant legislation, guidance, safeguarding, data protection, health and safety and confidentiality requirements.
Knowledge of local services and organisations supporting children, young people and families.
Knowledge and understanding of using a trauma informed approach to meet the different needs of children and young people and families.

Desirable Requirements Candidates are not required to meet all the following desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

Knowledge of research, policy and best practice relating to the voice and influence for children, young people, parents and carers.
Knowledge of the Leeds Children and Young People's Plan and the Child Friendly Leeds Wishes.

Essential behavioural and other characteristics

Child centred, restorative, inclusive, trauma informed approach.
Positive attitude towards managing change and the achievement of targets.
Understand and embrace Leeds City Council values and behaviours and codes of conduct.
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Leeds Ambitions of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth, thriving strong communities, and a resilient sustainable city.
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality, and diversity of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.