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West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. The West Sussex Approach puts the child first. We work with children, families, communities, our partners and schools in a restorative, strength-based way. Strong relationships are at the heart of what we do. Central to this is young people’s voice, and the Voice and Participation Team take a youth-led approach to make a difference in the lives of young people in an honest, energetic, enthusiastic, creative, and supportive way.

We work by supporting children and young people to get involved in opportunities that enable them to communicate ideas and views about how services can be shaped to support children and young people in the very best way. This includes forums, activities that bring children and young people together, consultations, and celebration events to recognise and share the successes of our children and young people.

Salary: £35,411 to £38,296
Working Pattern: Full Time (37 hours)
Contract Length: Permanent
Location: Chichester

The Voice & Participation Team work with several different groups of young people, including the Young Voices, Children in Care Council, Youth Cabinet, National Care Leavers Benchmarking Forum, and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, as well as supporting the Children First Strategy and various campaign-led initiatives and events. The activities of the team also help to inform practice and evaluation for our services.

As one of our three Voice and Participation Officers, you will lead on ensuring children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities can have their voice heard and acted upon. You will will play a lead role in ensuring our three “Pillars of Participation” - listening, sharing, and acting - are embedded across the Council’s work with children and young people who have special education needs and disabilities. You will plan, coordinate and lead projects and workstreams with young people who use the Council’s services, as well as ensuring their voice can make a positive difference to activate change. You will support young people in our formalised voice groups, such as the Young Voices, as well as in one to one and ad-hoc group work. You will enable young people to take the lead to action change in their communities and the services provided for them through having their voice heard and holding decision makers to account.

Your work will also involve co-production with internal and external partners to inspire change in organisations to transform their culture and approach to working with young people and service-users. You will be able to confidently work on your own initiative and as part of a team.

You will be expected to plan and monitor expenditure and demonstrate good financial control and record keeping. This role is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring System Check. The job will involve some weekend and evening working to fit in with the lives of the children and young people you will be working with. There will be some travel throughout the County.

Key Skills:

• Ability to lead work with young people, creating, in partnership with other agencies/bodies, opportunities to develop programmes and activities that respond to their interests, offer challenges, and meet their identified personal & social development needs, in line with the Voice and Participation Strategy and Key Performance Indicators.
• Ability to ensure that the views of young people are central to service planning, delivery and evaluation.
• Ability to work as part of, and lead, a team to motivate, support and develop team members, other staff and colleagues.
• An awareness of the needs of children who have special educational needs and disabilities and how to have their voice heard.
• Ability to work on your own initiative and attend identified training to maintain work standards within current legislation, policy and/or quality standards, especially in relation to budgets, facility management, equality of opportunity and health & safety.
• Ability to establish excellent working relationships with a wide variety of people including young people, staff, and colleagues from other agencies.
• Excellent communication and negotiations skills, as well as the ability to plan and monitor expenditure.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• JNC recognised professional youth work qualification or equivalent social care/youth qualification.
• A good in-service training record in related areas, which might, for example, include equal opportunities, health and safety, participation work, outdoor education etc.
• Experience of working with young people ie youth work or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of Safeguarding requirements and responsibilities.

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:

• A competitive salary
• A generous pension scheme
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• Flexible working
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 (Including: Argos, Samsung, Asos, B&Q and many more)
• Free access to employee assistance programmes
• Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
• A range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

The reference number for this role is CAFHE04461 .

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Voice and Participation Team Manager, Toby Wilson at [email protected] for issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected].

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and cover letter. In your cover letter outline your motivations for applying and explain how you meet the key skills listed in full and the experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced SWE Registration, DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran’s Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.