Jobs

We are seeking maternity cover for a Head of Youth Participation to build on our existing activities and infrastructure to inform, shape and deliver the Youth Futures approach to systemic change through youth participation.

Here at Youth Futures, we think youth participation is a vital part of achieving our mission to improve the employment outcomes of marginalised young people and their experience of the system. As the main “users” of the system and the individuals for whom outcomes we are aiming to transform, young people who face barriers to work are central to our mission and are ultimately the reason we were established as a Foundation. This is why we believe in the principle of 'nothing about us without us'. We believe that the young people who are most affected by the system have invaluable perspective and experience, and therefore must be at the heart of efforts to change it.

Building on the existing programmes and structures we have created to enable youth participation to be threaded throughout what we do, you will help to maintain this high-quality delivery and supercharge its impact (on the young people themselves, our organisation and on the wider system).

You will be the strategic lead on youth participation across the organsation – helping to ensure that it is understood, communicated well and is active in the most important parts of what we do. You will work closely with the Senior Participation Officer and staff across the organisation to ensure that activity is always of high quality, is non-tokenistic and can demonstrate impact.

You will be an emotionally intelligent individual, who understands the complex challenges that young people from marginalised backgrounds face in work. Using this knowledge and empathy, you will ensure that their voices and perspectives are built into appropriate activity and you will ensure this is done with sensitivity and regard for their welfare at all times.

You will sit within the Policy and Communications Directorate and manage our Senior Participation Officer. Working closely with the Heads of Policy and Head of Marketing and Communications and across the wider organisation, you will seek to underpin our organisational activity with high quality youth participation and ensure its impact is shared externally.

For more information, please view the recruitment pack.

The young people we aim to serve – and the challenges they face - are all unique. We are looking to build a team that reflects this diversity. Our commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, class, religion, identity, and experience forms the cornerstone of our work. We are an equal opportunities, Living Wage and Disability Confident employer and encourage applications from a diverse range of backgrounds representative of our communities.  We offer a welcoming and inclusive workplace, where employees are encouraged to have a voice.