Project Worker 2 - Independent Child Trafficking Guardian

We are recruiting for staff to join our team located in the following areas:

• Essex, Kent, North West & South London
• North Wales & Merseyside
• South Wales
• Bedfordshire
• East Midlands

We are looking for passionate individuals to work in the National Counter Trafficking Centre as Independent Child Trafficking Guardians.   

Are you ready to improve the lives of young people affected by modern slavery?

Do you have Immigration, Social Care, Youth Work or Criminal Justice Experience?

If you have answered yes then we are waiting to hear from you! 

Independent Child Trafficking Guardians support children who have experienced trafficking and exploitation, working alongside other professionals to ensure that children receive appropriate support in line with their needs. 

Our team works remotely, so you'll need a private, confidential space to work from at home. We use a virtual office to stay connected and collaborate just as we would in a physical office.

Work with children happens in community settings and involves extensive, regular travel across ICTG regions. Throughout the year we bring the team together for in‑person meetings and training, sometimes with overnight stays, all planned in advance to support staff to plan travel and time away from home. Candidates must have a current driving licence and use of a car or be able to effectively manage extensive travel via public transport.

We offer a robust induction and training programme developed to meet the needs of our staff team and the children and professionals that we support.

This role is an opportunity to work alongside passionate committed and experienced colleagues from a wide range of sector backgrounds all committed to improving the lives of children

What are the responsibilities of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian:  

Within this role some of your responsibilities will be: 

• Supporting professionals, including Social Workers, Police, Youth Justice Teams, Foster Carers and Residential Support Workers, to identify children exploited through modern slavery and refer them into the Service 
• Providing advice, guidance and information about child trafficking and initial safety planning to professionals through 1:1 case consultations or attendance at multi-agency meetings 
• Developing initial needs assessments and action plans 
• Supporting practitioners from partner agencies to meet the needs of children who have experienced trafficking and exploitation
• Managing a substantial caseload of young people supported through direct and indirect work, working within the requirements of service Key Performance Indicators and in line with Home Office Guidance.
• Supporting children through face-to-face contact and online platforms using creative approaches to ensure that children receive an excellent standard of specialist support within the boundaries of the role.
• Identifying and responding to safeguarding, alerting managers to concerns and working with staff from partner agencies to deliver a robust safeguarding response. 

Please include in your application which area are you applying for?

• Essex, Kent, North West & South London
• North Wales & Merseyside
• South Wales
• Bedfordshire
• East Midlands

Please note - although this role is primarily home-based, it will include extensive travel around the regional areas and other ICTG areas.  

Confidentiality: the role is predominantly home based and you will need to have a confidential space available to work from.

Although this contract has a permanent status, please be aware that this post is subject to funding currently to 31 March 2027 and therefore should this funding not be extended further, you may be subject to a redundancy consultation or a TUPE arrangement.

This contract is due to expire on 31 March 2027.

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document. 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.

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. 

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 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

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