Key Worker

Are you passionate about supporting children, young people and adults who are autistic and/or have a learning disability?

We are seeking to recruit a highly skilled Key Worker for our Key Worker Service in East Berkshire. The role is diverse and service user centred. It would suit someone with significant experience in supporting young people and young adults with autism and Learning Disabilities and their families.

The day-to-day work will involve a flexible approach to coordination and direct support for the young person and their family, as well as providing responsive communication at times of increased need. This is an exciting role which allows for the Key Worker to support families to navigate the system whilst advocating for them and ensuring that their voice is heard.

There will be opportunities for collaboration and co-production - our vision is to provide young person and family centred support, whilst influencing system change to achieve better outcomes for more children, young people and adults under the age of 25.

The service will be provided across the entire East Berkshire footprint covering Slough, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell Forest. Although the team is virtual , there will be frequent (weekly) travel within and across the East Berkshire area, therefore being a car driver with access to a car is essential, as well as being based near the local area.

The Key Working Function has been developed as a response to the NHS England & NHS Improvement Long Term Plan (LTP) commitment that by 2023/24, children and young people with a learning disability, autism, or both, with the most complex needs will have a designated Key Worker, applying the recommendations made by Dame Christine Lenehan in These are our Children'. The East Berkshire Key Worker Service has been established since 2023 and continues to develop and evolve.

We are looking for someone who:

• has significant experience of working with individuals with Learning Disabilities and/or who are Autistic as well as their families.
• has an understanding of mental health and how this may impact this service user group
• Is tenacious and passionate about advocating for our families, whilst respectfully challenging professionals and working collaboratively with other agencies
• Able to complete frequent visits to service users and have the ability to be flexible to complete visits/meetings at short notice within working hours across the East Berkshire area

A Barnardo's Project Worker 3 job description and person specification is attached to the advert for this role. This is a generic role description in use throughout the organisation to cover all roles at the given salary band. The Additional Information Sheet outlines the specific responsibilities, skills and experience required and it is important that you read this carefully before you apply.

When completing your application form, please refer to the skills, knowledge and experience required as detailed in the Person Specification and also in the Additional Information Sheet. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Where a role is advertised as fixed term, we are happy to consider secondment opportunities. Please discuss this with your line manager and the hiring manager for the role.

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Our basis and values