Youth Participation Worker

Overview

Are you passionate about empowering young people and giving them a platform to shape their future? Join our Specialist Participation Team as a Youth Participation Worker, where you’ll play a key role in strengthening youth voice opportunities across Buckinghamshire.

This role enables you to ensure young people’s voices influence the design, delivery and evaluation of services across Bucks including coordination of the Councils Youth Voice Executive Committee and annual Youth Summit.

If you’re dedicated, collaborative and excited about making a real impact to young people and ensuring their voices are heard, this could be the perfect next step.

This is a fixed term/secondment role for One Year.

About us

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious, rapidly growing county, and our economy is one of the strongest in the country. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty and ranks as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK and yet it is incredibly well connected– only an hour from London on the train. The county has a rich history and heritage and is the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of our ‘Youth Voice Bucks’ programme at Buckinghamshire Council. Following the launch of our first Youth Participation Strategy, the Council has a clear commitment to listening, acting and responding to the voice of young people.

The participation of young people with SEND and those who are CLA or leaving care is a priority for Children’s Services.

You will work directly with young people to engage them in youth voice projects that impact on the design, delivery and evaluation of services. You will create opportunities for their personal and social development, using creative and innovative approaches to meet the needs of a range of young people. You will develop and build relationships with internal and external partners to maximise involvement and impact, working with a wide range of young people with differing needs.

About you

You’ll be someone who cares deeply about the experiences and outcomes of young people, with the ability to build rapport quickly and positively influence their lives.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Has extensive experience within the youth sector and an understanding of services supporting young people and early help.
• Understands participation and the value it brings to services.
• Understands legislation, safeguarding requirements and best practice within youth work.
• Can engage confidently with young people, families, partners and professionals.
• Is organised, proactive and able to manage sessions, records and planning effectively.
• Is resilient and skilled in working with challenging situations or sensitive topics.
• Is confident using ICT systems and maintaining accurate records.
• Holds NVQ/Certificate Level 3 and GCSE Maths & English (or equivalent).
• Shares our values—Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

If you are passionate about ensuring young people feel heard, understood and supported, we’d love to hear from you.

Please see job summary attached for full details of the role.

Other information

If you would like to know more about this role, please contact Kirstie Hampshire at [email protected]

Closing date: Midnight on Friday 22nd May

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/