Office of the Children’s Commissioner
Participation Officer
Position: Participation Officer
Location: London
Salary: circa £28,179 per annum
This post is a fixed term appointment until March 2013. Secondments are welcome.
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) is England’s only statutory independent champion for children and young people. Our statutory duty is to promote awareness of the views and interests of children. Pending legislative changes, we are charged by the Secretary of State for Education to promote and protect children’s rights as recommended by the Dunford Review.
Children and young people are at theheart of all our work at the OCC, and we are now seeking a Participation Officer to assist the Participation Team in engaging wider networks of children and young people and to develop our work with younger children between the ages of 7-12. They will work to encourage this younger group of children to be actively involved in the OCC work, ensuring they have a voice that can inform and influence decision-making at a strategic level and across relevant projects. The role will also include developing new partnerships and relationships with organisations and groups who work with children and young people who have experience of the issues OCC is currently working on.
This is an exciting role for someone with the passion to see children’s views have a real influence over policy and practice, the skills to work with younger children under the age of 12, and the ability to develop and maintain OCC’s partnerships with organisations and groups across England who work with children and young people who may be able to contribute to the Office’s work.
The successful candidate will have a good understanding of children’s rights and experience of putting Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice. We expect them to be able to demonstrate the success of their work with children and young people, experienced in planning participation activities and sessions, and be an excellent communicator.
If you think you have what it takes to fulfil this challenging yet highly rewarding role, then please send a completed application form to: OCC.Recruitment@childrenscommissioner.gsi.gov.uk
We would also ask that you complete our safeguarding and equality monitoring forms and forward them to us together with your application.
For more information, please find below the job description and person specification outlining the responsibilities and experience that is required for appointees, as well as the application form and equality monitoring form.
The closing date for these posts is on 24th October 2012
Interviews will be held on 31st October 2012
All staff will be treated equally and the post filled on merit. Priority will be given to substantive surplus staff within the Civil Service and employees working for non departmental public bodies.