ID: 1737 Job Title – Family Researcher
Service: Private Intermediary Service – PAC-UK
Salary:
£13.11 to £14.44 per hour based on experience
Location: Homebased
Hours: Sessional
We offer flexible working arrangements - please see below for more details.
Contract: Sessional
Family Action & the Role’s Impact:
At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we have 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.
This is an exciting opportunity to join PAC-UK Private Intermediary Service working with adults impacted by adoption. You will be involved in analysing individuals historic adoption information, conducting details research of records and exploring genealogy and other tracing platforms in order to confirm evidenced connection between family members separated by adoption.
Main Responsibilities:
• To review information provided by the service user. This might include adoption records, family trees and other tracing material
• To access and interpret records, including those held publicly and through genealogical databases such as LexisNexis, Ancestry, Findmypast, FreeBMD) to trace birth relatives and family histories
• To cross-reference information from multiple sources to verify identities and family relationships
• To highlight safeguarding and potential safeguarding concerns identified in research findings
• To maintain accurate, confidential, and organised records of research activity
• To prepare clear and sensitive reports summarising findings for intermediaries and service users
Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):
• Strong research and analytical skills, with excellent attention to detail
• Experience in genealogy, social work, or adoption services
• Ability to interpret historical and legal documents
• Familiarity with UK public records and family history tools
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Comfortable working independently and collaboratively
• The list is not exclusive and if you are passionate about adoption family tracing we would like to hear from you.
• Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service – STANDARD DBS LEVEL
Benefits:
• Holiday Pay
• Training and career development opportunities
• Employee Assistance Programme
• 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: Friday 10th April 2026 at 23:59
Interviews will be commencing from the week of the 20th April 2026
For any queries, or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the selection process or the potential for flexible working, please email: Sharon.lake@pac-uk.org
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.
