Purposeful jobs

Programme Lead (North West & Yorkshire) 

Salary: Starting Salary: £34,237- £36,853 depending on experience, skills and qualifications* 

 (see below for more details on remuneration)

About Voice 21 

Voice 21 is the national oracy education charity. We exist to empower every child to use their voice for success in school and life. Our work transforms learning and life chances through talk by increasing access to a high-quality oracy education for those that need it most. Follow the links to find out more about why oracy is so vital and the impact Voice 21 has. 

Your purpose

To lead professional development and school improvement programmes facilitating the Voice 21 approach in our Voice 21 Oracy Schools by delivering our high impact learning experiences and materials for teachers and school leaders. To be part of the team, designing and reviewing programme content.

Your opportunity 

Tackle a vital challenge, with great people. Voice 21 exists to transform childrens’ learning and life chances through talk and we are aiming to be working with 2,000 schools a year by 2025. To reach this goal we recruit great people and give them real responsibility, training and support. 

Output focused culture, with flexible working opportunities. We have an agile and flexible approach – our team can work when and wherever works best to deliver the requirements of their role. For staff working at home, we support them to create a workspace and provide technology that enables them to work effectively. 

Real development opportunities. We believe in supporting people to develop the skills they need to be excellent – whether this means funding external training, finding a mentor to support them or giving them the time to learn from others in the organisations through our regular CPD sessions. We also offer paid study leave for team members taking part in formal studies outside of work. 

Great benefits. 36 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays and Christmas closure period). Holiday entitlement increases linked to length of service, 5% employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket, cycle and technology loans, employee assistance scheme. 

Remuneration. Our pay is a band and spine point approach where there is up to 7 years progression available (depending on starting point) 

Your responsibilities

Quality programme delivery

• Lead high quality professional development and school improvement programmes in our Pathway programmes and Open Learning for groups of teachers. These may be delivered in person, online or in school. 

• Deliver transformative consultancy support, working with teachers and school leaders to design and implement bespoke improvement plans for their oracy provision, including through in school and online consultancy support, and one-to-one advice.

• Build credibility and purposeful relationships with programme participants, both at programme days and touchpoints, and on an on-going basis to drive impact in our schools.

• Be responsible for participant learning and experience on your programmes, upholding high standards for all elements such as preparation, adapting to participant needs, content and rigour, on-going interactions and support, and participant feedback.

Learning content & programme development

• Proactively share insights and learning from the programmes you deliver, proposing and shaping solutions to enable Voice 21 to continually improve its programme offer.

• Apply and share expertise through varied outputs such as teaching materials, online learning content, resources, written or video outputs. Proactively identify and respond to opportunities or gaps and fulfil briefs or commissions. 

• Contribute to the continual improvement of Voice 21’s programmes, through development and review cycles, based on first-hand learning from our schools, content expertise, programme insights and external research and evidence. 

Team and organisational contribution

• Act as an ambassador for Voice 21’s national oracy expertise, communicating the value and impact of our approach at conferences, events and through publications.

• Embody and communicate oracy teaching and learning expertise within the organisation, acting as a resource for the wider team and making contributions to organisational priorities, projects, campaigns and events, outputs and publications etc. 

• Continually and proactively develop your own and others’ expertise in Voice 21’s approach to a high quality oracy education, and use this to leverage impact for our schools through tangible learning outputs.

• Identify and carry out other tasks commensurate to the level and spirit of the role as required.

Your experience

• You are an excellent teacher (primary or secondary)

• You are passionate about teaching and learning, and the role of talk in learning. You have used talk to support learning in your classroom.

• You have experience leading whole-school change and inspiring teachers to embrace new approaches and ideas.

• You have a knowledge of a range of speaking and listening techniques and contexts for oracy, these could include: debate, dialogic teaching, storytelling, public speaking or communication and language development. 

• You are a strong communicator both when working in a small team and when facilitating learning for large groups of adults. 

• You are flexible, can think on your feet and can bring your own experiences to the work we do.

• You are highly-organised, look for solutions and can prioritise and manage a varied workload. 

• You are enthusiastic, willing to learn and feel you would be energised by our mission. If you do not fully meet all the above criteria, but are happy to work towards developing into the role, we would be happy to consider your application.

• You are willing to travel nationally on a frequent basis (2-3 days a week) during term time; this will include regular overnight stays. 

Application details 

We are looking to hire someone whose location is well connected for reaching our schools in the North West and in Yorkshire and Humber. Please send your most recent CV and a document answering the questions below:

• Tell us why you want to work at Voice 21. What is it about us and our mission that excites you? (Max. 400 words)

• Making direct reference to the job description, please tell us the three main reasons why you would make an excellent Programme Lead (Max. 400 words).

• Tell us about something you have achieved recently that you are proud of? (Max 200 words)

Closing date: Wednesday 30th April 

Interview dates: First round phone interviews on Tuesday May 6th and & Wednesday May 7th

Second round online interviews for shortlisted candidates on Friday May 9th and Monday May 12th

Start date: August 2025 

Terms: Permanent, subject to successful probation review at 3 months.

Contract: This is a full time post, but we would welcome applications from those looking for part-time or flexible working. 

Location: Home-based with frequent national travel, including overnight stays, to work with schools and attend meetings. Applicants must hold a valid UK driving licence and have access to a car they can use for work. 

Questions: If you have any questions before applying for the role, please contact Catherine Pass

Valuing every voice

Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Voice 21.

The post holder will focus on delivery of the child, adolescent to parental violence and abuse programme which is incorporates an Non Violent Resistance approach.

Specialist Child to Parent Violence delivery:

· Advocate for the rights of children to be respected, heard and protected.

· Deliver sessions for parents using Non Violent Resistance (NVR) techniques and child and family members, applying a systematic family approach to managing violence and abuse in the home.

· Adhere to the relevant programme manuals for parents as well as for the children and young people.

· Use motivational interviewing techniques and strength based approaches to engage with families.

· Support parents and young people to learn skills and knowledge to deal with behaviour in a non-violenct way, using NVR and trauma informed CBT methods.

· Work closely with other statutory and voluntary professionals to ensure appropriate steps are taken to protect where there is an imminent risk to another person. Apply RISE’s escalation procedures.

· Be responsible and accountable for working with Team leader and/or Service Manager and Advanced practitioner to ensure risk is reviewed on a weekly basis.

· Attend monthly risk review and practice development meetings with Team leader or Advanced practitioner to ensure effective risk management procedures are applied at all times.

· Attend training sessions to enhance their delivery and understanding of NVR.

· Be personally accountable for the completion of assessments, pre and post questionnaires, and End of Intervention reports, and ensure they are to a high standard.

· Provide support and consultancy to other professionals to ensure appropriateness of referrals  and improve understanding on NVR and CBT techniques and working with families (parents and children and young people.

· Ensure effective planning for the delivery of each intervention in advance of the session.

· Partake and pass all relevant NVR and other child, young people  and parent centred training to undertake this specialist work.

· Deliver community training as required.

Recording and administrative tasks:

· Ensure timely and accurate recording of all relevant data (attendance, feedback, mid-way and end of intervention reports) using systems provided and in line with performance standards.

· Maintain an accurate audit trail of all relevant communication with partner organistions involved.

· Ensure completion of pre and post questionnaires in line with RISE’s Social Impact strategy.

· Contribute to the evaluation and evidencing of social impact, including questionnaires and service user case studies.

General tasks:

· Develop excellent relationships with customers and respond positively to their needs.

· Be a strong advocate for RISE interventions, representing RISE and its interventions at key stakeholder events.

· Attend Clinical Consultancy  and Practice meetings to support safe practice and develop resilience during the delivery of demanding work as directed by the Senior Practitioner.

Confidentiality and Information Security

· Adhere to the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts and comply with the terms of RISE’s Privacy, IT and Data protection policies, and that of our partners where relevant.

· Comply with security measures in accordance with RISE policies and our partner’s E-mail and Internet use.

Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults

· RISE has a legal Duty of Care to all persons with whom we work- please see our Duty of Care Statement .

· RISE is committed to keeping children, young people  and vulnerable adults safe. Post holders with direct service user contact are responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults s/he is responsible for or comes into contact with. Post holders not in direct offender contact have a general responsibility for safeguarding children, young people  and vulnerable adults in the course of their daily duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.

Other duties

• Undertake other duties as may be required which are commensurate with the grade and nature of the post.
• Cover for other posts as appropriate, and willingness to be trained in new interventions.

Do you have a heart to see positive change in the lives of people who are trying to make a new start in the community after prison, and a genuine belief in their ability to make such changes?  Do you have experience of working in a prison environment?

South West Community Chaplaincy (SWCC) aims to provide effective care and community support for people as they leave prison and re-integrate back into the locality, within the counties of Devon, Cornwall and West Somerset.  This includes mentoring, practical support and signposting to assist the integration of ex-prisoners into their communities, in collaboration with other professionals.

We are actively seeking to strengthen our team of Community Chaplains and specifically to appoint a new Community Chaplain in Cornwall, to work with people in the community after they have served a sentence.  The role is also a strategic one, in that it will involve extending the network of support in the county, through the development of support hubs with other service providers.

There is a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) under the Equality Act 2010 for applicants to actively embrace the Christian faith ethos and values of SWCC, and to be able to promote an environment where people of all faiths, and people of none, can work together for the transformation of lives and communities.  The successful applicant will have the ability to build positive relationships with a wide range of people, from aged 15 to 80!  Flexible Homeworking is possible by agreement.  The role entails a significant amount of travel, and some occasional weekend and evening work will be involved.