Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service Manager – Newport (Maternity cover)

Fixed term contract for one year - maternity cover

Hours: 3 days or 4 days

Salary: £21,060 pro rata (for 3 days) / £28,080 pro rata (for 4 days)

Office based - Information Station, Newport (and travel for delivery in Newport)

Are you passionate about early help, emotional health and wellbeing support for children? Space to Grow is an emotional health and wellbeing service in Newport for children aged 8-13 years old and we are looking for an experienced Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service Manager to join us on a fixed term, one-year maternity cover contract. We are seeking someone with strong knowledge of local services and organisations in Newport and experience working in collaboration with others in the sector. You will provide service leadership and local management for the BBC Children in Need “A Million and Me” Space to Grow programme in Newport ensuring the delivery of a high quality and safe service.

We view diversity and inclusion as fundamental to achieving social change. To tackle the complex issues facing children, we need access to diverse talent, perspectives, experiences and working practices. Applications from diverse backgrounds and communities are encouraged and we have policies to support flexible, inclusive and accessible employment.

• The ability to speak Welsh is desirable
• To supervise, empower and manage the performance of staff to deliver the best they can for children who are struggling with their emotional wellbeing and effectively support the child's parents/carers.
• Strong ability to think creatively and respond to new, complex, or challenging situations
• Experience of leadership and management in an Emotional Health and Wellbeing setting
• The ability to act on own initiative, supervise others and co-ordinate work.
• Community outreach: Experience engaging families who are not represented in EHWB and mental health settings and providing accessible support in community settings.
• Competent use of IT programmes.
• Can demonstrate lone working experience and aptitude.
• Confidence to deliver Emotional Health and Wellbeing Resilience Sessions / Workshops in schools

Work-based Knowledge:

• Excellent understanding of common mental and emotional health issues that children face, informed by current research and evidence bases.
• Clinical insight into emotional health and mental health pathways
• Appreciation and awareness of issues facing young people who are not represented in early help and crisis support.
• A working knowledge of current mental health support agencies in the local area.
• Understanding of how to place children and parents and carers at the heart of the service, to enable them to have a voice and influence the work.
• An understanding of current legislation, policy, procedures, and issues relating to safeguarding young people.
• Experience of leadership within an emotional health service.
• Track record of working with external stakeholders to deliver better outcomes for children.
• Experience of working with a range of partners (both statutory and wider)

Emotional Health and Wellbeing services opening hours supports the needs of the communities in which we work, and therefore there are elements of unsociable hours - this may include evenings, weekends, and bank holidays.

Benefits: 28 days holiday per year pro-rata (plus Bank holidays), Family-friendly policies, Cycle to work scheme, Pension - employee contributions of up to 8%, Death in service benefit, Discounted health scheme, Free confidential counselling service (further benefit details can be found in the job pack).

The closing date for applications is midnight Sunday 3rd May 2026. Provisional Interview date (Could be subject to change) w/c 11th May 2026.

The Children's Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services. Therefore, candidates applying for work in our Youth Impact Domain will be required to complete an account of their full work history.

About the Space to Grow Programme: Space to Grow is a nationwide partnership between The Children's Society in England and Wales, Children First in Scotland, and MACS in Northern Ireland. The programme is funded by a £1 million grant from funding partners BBC Children in Need, The Health Foundation, and Impact on Urban Health, their single biggest award through an open funding programme, called the 'Million and Me Award'. To amplify and increase our impact and to reach as many children as possible, The Children's Society is investing a further £1 million meaning we have £2 million over the next two years to truly change the lives of children. The funding is going to create an early support programme which will support children aged 8 - 13 years-old across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland with a strong focus on those children and families who are not represented in emotional health and wellbeing and mental health services. Our ambition is to support children and their families as early as possible to help prevent children developing and experiencing mental health difficulties as they become teenagers. The programme will offer one-to-one time-limited wellbeing interventions to children and their families. We will utilise solution-focused approaches to provide children and their families with a toolbox of strategies to help support the child's emotional health and wellbeing and manage their feelings. The direct work with children and families will be supported by digital interventions, through the use of our own wellbeing app “Me Time”.