Youth Involvement Lead – maternity cover in Newbury

The Youth Involvement Lead is focused on ensuring that youth voice and lived and living experience is integrated into work across the Charlie Waller Trust. The exact focus of the work will shift over time in line with the interests of each cohort and needs of CWT, but is likely to include:

• Supporting the Youth Ambassadors both operationally and pastorally to contribute to our Charitable Activity at varying levels of lived and living experience engagement (e.g., coproduction, participation, involvement and consultation).
• Developing and improving our internal processes and outputs including our communications work, fundraising work, equity, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability agendas.
• Supporting the CWT staff team to better understand lived and living experience perspectives so they can carry out their roles more effectively.

This role would suit an individual with a strong commitment to maximising the impact of this work. We are seeking a proactive and motivated person who is skilled at developing and nurturing relationships with partners, supported by excellent interpersonal abilities.

The successful candidate will be confident in delivering remote support to individuals with lived or living experience of mental health challenges, as well as those supporting others with mental health needs. They will be able to engage empathetically, communicate effectively, and create a supportive and inclusive environment.

• Youth Involvement team delivery:
• Act as the first point of contact for the freelance Youth Ambassadors, connect them with various stakeholders across the employed team at the Trust, including the Communications, Fundraising and Charitable Activity teams, facilitating effective working relationships.
• Manage the process, recordings and dissemination of the Youth Ambassador podcast; connect the Youth Ambassadors to contribute to Charitable Activities emerging Communities work; and support the development of the CWT staff team's understanding of lived and living experience.
• Facilitate the co-production of resources and training between our Youth Ambassadors and freelance trainers in person and online.
• Engage organisations and groups of young people in new partnerships and relationships with the Trust in line with our strategic priorities (e.g., research Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement focus groups).
• Represent the Youth Involvement team at all full CWT team meetings, reporting back to Ambassadors on the wider workings of the Trust to ensure they feel a sense of connection and belonging to the wider team.
• Attend CWT team days with Ambassadors, ensuring they are supported and given a platform (typically annually).
• Youth Involvement team management, administration and support:
• Manage our six Youth Ambassadors from across the UK.
• Allocate all tasks and time given to the Youth Ambassadors, keeping track of work allocation and progression.
• Review and approve Youth Ambassador invoices and expenses, provide oversight of the allocated budget spend and contribute to shaping the Youth Ambassador budget for next year.
• Work with the freelance Youth Involvement Coordinator, agreeing a workplan with tasks and project timelines, and checking in regularly.
• Schedule and deliver 1:1 sessions with each Youth Ambassador monthly to check-in on work progress, support joined up communication with the wider organisation, and discuss potential opportunities from both the Trust and the Youth Ambassador.
• Lead and manage the quarterly Youth Ambassador meetings including development of a collaborative agenda, collating updates from internal staff team, and following up on actions from the meetings.
• Oversee programme evaluation and the implementation of changes according to iterative evaluation findings.
• Other:
• Work as a team player supporting shared tasks such as call handling, meeting coordination, and occasionally managing shared inboxes.
• Always ensure compliance with data protection regulations, safeguarding, confidentiality and relevant organisational policies and procedures.
• Other duties as may be reasonably expected by the Trust, appropriate to the grade and responsibilities of the post.

The successful candidate is likely to have most of the following competencies and experience but not necessarily all. If you feel that you are a strong candidate, please do apply.

Essential

• Ability to think strategically, so as to horizon scan, spot opportunities, and advise CWT on emerging trends/issues.
• Well-developed communication skills to share often complex and sensitive information, orally and in writing, to a range of audiences.
• Excellent attention to detail and very good Microsoft Office 365 skills.
• Ability to work efficiently, accurately and at speed as necessary, prioritising effectively and working to deadlines.
• Ability to exercise discretion and good judgement in dealing with confidential matters.
• Budget management skills and high levels of organisation.

Experience

• A strong track record of delivering against project or initiative targets regarding timelines and expected outputs including budgets.
• Experience of working with young people who have lived and living experience of mental health challenges (this can be in a range of settings e.g., education, healthcare, volunteering etc).
• Knowledge and understanding of wellbeing policies / safeguarding processes and procedures.
• Experience of engaging young people in groups and individually.
• Knowledge or experience of working in meaningful participation / co-production with young people.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the education and/or health sector, ideally some experience of working within schools / colleges / universities or a mental health care setting.
• Experience working in the UK charity sector.

Personal attributes

Essential

• A commitment to working to diversity, equity and inclusion, and a desire to meet the charity’s objectives.
• Passionate about the value of youth voice and excited about enabling lived and living experience to inform a mental health charity's work.
• Ability to work flexibly around the timetables and commitments of the Youth Ambassadors, who also study and/or work elsewhere.
• Capable of working as part of a team and autonomously.
• Initiative-taker and solution-minded with a proactive attitude towards any task or challenge.
• Professional, enthusiastic and flexible, with a strong willingness to listen and learn.
• A commitment to working to meet the charity's objectives.

If you would like an informal discussion with the current post holder, Naomi Dannatt, this can be arranged by emailing recruitment(at)charliewaller(dot)org. The deadline for applications is 12noon on Friday 5 June. Please submit via your chosen job website, or send your CV and a supporting statement to the email above. We ask that you structure your supporting statement, by providing relevant information under person specification bullet points (combining these if multiple points are effectively responded to by one experience). Please try to keep your supporting statement to a maximum of 800 words, excluding headers. Applications will not be considered without a supporting statement. You will hear back from us by Tuesday 9 June, if not before and should you be shortlisted, an interview will take place on the morning of Thursday 11 June in Newbury. We will provide 50% of the interview questions in advance so that all candidates can perform at their best.