Senior Advocate

Salary £21,857.14 (pro rata of £25,500), with future progression to £26,956.28 (pro rata of £31,449)

Location Home based in Lancashire

Hours 30 hours per week

The Vacancy

(Please note the advertised salary is pending a pay review with effect from 1st April 2024)

We are looking for a Senior Advocate who will have day to day responsibility for the running and promotion of the advocacy service in Lancashire, working under a fixed term contract for 9 months.

You will manage a pool of advocates which involves recruitment, supporting them through induction and by conducting supervision and best practice meetings, ensuring the provisions of the service we offer to children and young people is to a high standard.

You will be responsible in managing the advocacy referrals and allocating these to the most appropriate advocate to meet the needs of the child or young person, whilst also carrying a small caseload of advocacy referrals yourself where you will provide independent and confidential advocacy to children and young people to empower them to express their wishes and feelings in decision that affect their lives to ensure that their voices are heard.

You will help drive the performance of the service by monitoring the referrals, activity and budgets, and using bespoke system, to prepare statistical and qualitative data reports for monitoring meetings to evidence service target achievements. This will also enable you to identify recurring themes and concerns which can be escalated.

This role also provides the opportunity to work in co-operation with other NYAS services and departments and well as acting the link between NYAS and the local authority.

For more information, please view the attached recruitment pack below which contains the job description.

Note to candidates:

This role is fixed term for 9 months to cover maternity leave, but with potential extend.

In order to meet the requirements of the role, you must live within the geographical area.

In your application, you will need to evidence, using specific examples, how your skills and experience meet the criteria laid out in the person specification, within the job description attached. Requirements include:

Proven experience in working with children and young people in a social care setting, particularly children in care
Proven experience of supervising staff and /or volunteers
Experience and understanding of child protection/vulnerable adult safeguarding procedures
An understanding of the importance of listening to children and young people without bias or prejudice
An ability to communicate effectively and to a high standard both orally and in writing to a wide range of people.

NYAS operates robust safeguarding procedures to ensure the protection of the children, young people and adults at risk we work with. To comply with NYAS’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, references and a Digital Risk Assessment.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early once we receive a high number of applications.

About NYAS

As an established leading rights-based charity, NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) is well positioned to ensure that children, young people, and adults across England and Wales are fully respected, represented, and supported in expressing their views and having their rights upheld.

We work with care-experienced children, young people, and adults who are often reliant on statutory services suffering the negative impact of the cuts in public expenditure. Our combination of social care and legal services places us in a unique position to ensure that they receive the services they need and that their voices are heard.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment which means NYAS welcomes applications from all individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, or any other protected characteristic.

NYAS is proud to share that we are a Disability Confident Employer and we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies.

Work with us to help change young lives.

The Benefits

26 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Salary sacrifice pension contributions

Additional sick pay

Enhanced pay for family friendly leave

Health care plan

Employee assistance programme

Cycle to work

Learning & developing opportunities

Mission, Vision & Values

At NYAS we listen to what children and young people want, care about what they say, and empower them to get their voice heard.

We ensure their wishes and feelings are expressed and acted upon to improve their situation and help them build a better future. We will never stop in our efforts to influence, lobby, and campaign to bring about positive changes and ensure children's and young people's rights are upheld.

Every child and young person has the right to be heard.
Every child has a right to feel safe.
Every child has the right to be involved in decisions made about them.

Collaborative

We work closely with colleagues and partners to deliver an outstanding service to the children and young people who need us.

Accountable

We are open, transparent, and accountable, taking responsibility for what we do.

Respectful

We value and respect each other and the people we work with, embracing diversity and nurturing trust.

Empowering

We listen to children and young people when they are not being heard, inform them of their rights and empower them to change their lives for the better.

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