About the role

Children and Family Worker

Service: Medway Universal Parenting Programme

Salary: Starting at £25,221 raising to £27,780 FTE per annum (£15,132.60 - £16,668 per annum for part-time, 22.2 hours per week)

Location: Chatham, Medway

Hours: 22.2 hours per week (part-time)

We offer flexible working arrangements - please see below for more details.

Contract: Fixed term until 30th November 2026 with a potential to extend, subject to funding

Family Action & the Role’s Impact:
At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

Medway Universal Parenting Programme is a service commissioned by Medway Council Public Health and funded by the Department for Education via the Family Hubs and Best Start in Life Programme.

We are looking to appoint a highly motivated, experienced Children and Family Worker to deliver our universal parenting programme and support positive outcomes for families across the Medway area. The aim of the service is to work with local partners within Medway to deliver a sustainable and cohesive evidenced based parenting programme and weekly developmental, play based groups for families of children aged 0-2years, supporting transition from pregnancy to parenthood.

This is an exciting opportunity for the right person who will work in collaboration with the Service Manager, stakeholders and partners such as Family Hubs, Best Start in Life offer and Perinatal services, as well as building on existing services to enhance the offer to families.

Main Responsibilities:

• Deliver evidence informed parenting programmes to groups of parents and caregivers in community settings.
• Provide 1 to 1 support for families who may require additional help, including signposting to targeted and specialist services.
• Plan and deliver weekly sessions for parents/carers and babies (0-2) including creating an engaging play environment, facilitating singing/rhymes, and sharing early development messages.
• Build strong relationships with local partners such as Family Hubs, Health Visiting, Midwifery and other early years services, promoting positive engagement with families.
• Use agreed outcome measurement tools to record impact and contribute to monitoring and evaluation.
• Maintain accurate and up to date records and ensure all data collection complies with safeguarding, confidentiality and data sharing requirements.
• Promote the service professionally within the community and uphold Family Action’s values at all times.

Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):
• A relevant Level 3+ qualification in health, social care, childcare, education, or a related field.
• Experience facilitating groups with adults, ideally including parenting related content.
• Experience in supporting parents in accessing additional targeted support services, including safeguarding referrals.
• Knowledge of early child development (0–2 years), with the ability to plan and deliver engaging early years group sessions such as parent–baby groups.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and organisational skills, including competent IT and record keeping abilities.
• A commitment to equal opportunities, diversity and equality.
• The ability to align with and support Family Action’s mission and values.
• A full driving licence and access to your own car is required for this post.

Benefits:
- an annual paid leave entitlement that commences at 25 working days, rising each April by one day, subject to a maximum of 30 working days plus bank holidays (pro rata)
- up to 6% matched-pension contributions
- enhanced paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions
- eye care and winter flu jabs vouchers
- cycle to work scheme
- investing in your professional development with ongoing quality training and career development opportunities

We are forward looking, ambitious and committed to continuous improvement. We are a people focused, can-do organisation, which strives for excellence in all we do and operates with mutual respect.

To Apply:
• Click the ‘Apply’ link below and fill out our digital application form
• Closing Date: Wednesday 13th May at 9pm

For any queries, or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the selection process or the potential for flexible working, please email: Mariya.Zlatinova@family-action.org.uk

All appointments with Family Action are subject to satisfactory Safer Recruitment checks.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:
We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process and you will be asked whether you require any adjustments if shortlisted for interview. We also make reasonable adjustments on the job, where required.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in all that we do and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Intersectionality is important to us and we welcome applications from ethnically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ candidates and disabled candidates. We are committed to increasing the representation of these groups at Family Action because we know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for families and children and we strive for our workforce to be truly representative of the diverse communities we support.

All candidates with a disability are welcome to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and request priority consideration for an interview, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role.

To help remove financial barriers to working with us, we will reimburse reasonable travel costs if you are invited to attend an interview in person.

*Ordinarily Family Action appoints new starters at the starting point of the salary scale (with subsequent annual pay progression), unless you have experience that would justify appointment further up the salary scale or there are any other exceptional reasons.