Participation Lead

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Job description

The starting salary for this 12 month fixed-term position is £34,356 per annum based on a 36 hour working week.

We are excited to be hiring a new Participation Lead for Mental Health Support Teams in schools. This is a hybrid role so you will have opportunities to work from home but you will also be required to visit schools and offices across the county when the need arises. We have a really supportive team culture and we are passionate about getting the voices of children and young people heard in the services they use.

Rewards and benefits:

• 26 days' annual leave
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the team

The User Voice and Participation Team run Surrey Youth Voice which includes participation groups and projects for children and young people that enable them to have their voice heard, build their confidence and skills, whilst having fun and encouraging peer support. The aim of the team is to build trust with children and young people who use Surrey services, so they feel able to share with us their experiences; what is and isn't working well. Our role is to ensure leadership, colleagues, teams, and partners make changes to improve children and young people's experiences.

Our participation groups and projects support looked after children, care leavers, children and young people with additional needs and disabilities and children and young people who use emotional wellbeing and mental health services. We also support our future politicians through Surrey Youth Cabinet.

About the role

We are recruiting a Participation Lead to specifically oversee the work of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). Mental Health Support Teams work in several schools across Surrey to deliver interventions for children and young people with mild to moderate mental health issues and are part of the "School based needs" service, in Mindworks Surrey. For more information about MHSTs, please visit Mindworks Surrey.

This role will be responsible for ensuring participation is embedded into the Mental Health Support Teams' approach and will need to be aligned to wider participation projects, user feedback processes and emotional wellbeing and mental health themes across Surrey. Although this role sits in the User Voice and Participation Team, the day-to-day work will be provided by colleagues from Surrey and Borders Partnership who run the MHSTs and the role will also work very closely with the Participation Lead for MindWorks Surrey.

This is a unique role that will allow you to make your mark on embedding participation within MHSTs and will be an opportunity to work closely with senior managers, boards and partners to positively effect change following from youth participation.

Shortlisting criteria

We're looking for someone with experience of working with and empowering children and young people to have their voices heard in the services that they access. We also need somebody who is a strategic thinker and can align their work with other participation projects and processes that are already established.

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your CV and personal statement will need to evidence the following:

• Ability to recognise themes and align areas of work with established projects and processes
• Ability to build positive rapport with children and young people whilst supporting them to actively participate in projects and events
• Ability to be self-directed and able to build strong working partnerships to facilitate participation
• Ability to effectively manage multiple areas of work including engagement events, market research projects and surveys etc.
• Ability to analyse data, identify feedback themes and create meaningful reports
• People and influencing skills: ability to work with a wide range of people, demonstrating active listening, curiosity and empathy to truly understand others' views and experiences

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 16/05/2024with interviews to follow.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Our commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.