Engagement and Participation Officer

• You will be based at The Hollies in Taunton. it will be hybrid working, and you will be needed in the office 2 days per week. There will be some evening and weekend work.
• You must be able to travel to fulfil the requirements of the role.
• 30 days annual leave
• This role develops vulnerable children and young people in Somerset to have opportunities to have a voice about their life experiences and aspirations, and the services that care for them. The learning from this engagement helps to improve services to better meet their needs.

We’re working to improve the lives of people in Somerset – and you’ll be a key part of that.

You will be:

• Working with care experienced children and young people across the county to develop co-production at local, regional and national level.
• Supporting the development of the Somerset In Care and Leaving Care Councils (SiCC and SLCC) to inform decision-makers about the quality and efficacy of the services they receive.
• Facilitating engaging and meaningful events and activities that engage hard to hear voices and produce reports and resources that effectively capture those voices.
• Develop young people to represent care experienced children and young people on the Somerset Corporate Parenting Board.
• Understanding, upholding and promoting the aims of Somerset Council’s equality, diversity and inclusion policies; health, safety and wellbeing of self and others; and Organisational values in everything you do. Equality and Diversity practice covers both interaction with staff, service users and communities and includes challenging discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity for all.

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be.

• We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated person who is passionate about participation and committed to the engagement of vulnerable children, young people and their parents/carers in decisions about the services we provide for them.
• Working in the Children’s Social Care Quality Assurance Team as part of the Partnership and Participation function, you will have an understanding of the importance of engagement and co-production and a creative and innovative approach to working with groups of care experienced young people to help them to develop their voices to be heard at local, regional and national level.
• You will be supported through supervision, guidance and peer encouragement, giving you the opportunity to expand your skills and knowledge of informal education and participation and engagement principles and values. You will be expected to write your own reports that advocate for the young people you work with – and present these reports at a strategic level. There will be occasional evening and weekend working.
• You must be a good role model to our young people; be able to build trusted relationships and offer engaging activities that our children and young people will want to take part in and have fun.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset. We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a car or bicycle for work
• Staff benefit scheme offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits, holidays, gym membership and more.

You will be based at The Hollies Children Centre, South Street, Taunton, TA1 3AG.

The salary for this role is £32,597 - £36,363 per annum.

Please note that this advertisement may close early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

We anticipate that interviews will take place on 20.08.2025 and 21.08.2025.

If you have any questions – please contact Heidi Hunt (Partnerships Service Manager) Heidi.hunt@somerset.gov.uk

This role requires a criminal background check (DBS) via the disclosure procedure.