ID: 1798 Intermediary
Service: Private Intermediary Service
Salary: £13,633 - £15,016 per annum for 20 hours a week (FTE £25,221 - £27,780 for 37 hours per week)
Location: Homebased
Hours: Part-time (between 10 and 20 hours per week)
We offer flexible working arrangements - please see below for more details.
Contract: Permanent
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.
This is an exciting opportunity to join PAC-UK Private Intermediary Service working with adults impacted by adoption. You will be providing sensitive, professional, and trauma-informed support to individuals seeking renewed contact with those they have been separated from by adoption.
The role involves facilitating communication, offering emotional support, and ensuring ethical and legal standards are upheld throughout the intermediary process.
Main Responsibilities:
• To manage a varied caseload including adult adoptees, birth parents, siblings separated by adoption and descendants / prescribed relatives of adopted people.
• To provide advice, guidance and support with issues arising from adoption and a desire for reconnection, including staffing the Family Connect Adviceline.
• To liaise with AAA and LA with statutory requests for LA views and recorded vetoes.
• To explore the possibility of connection or reunification between family members and manage expectations around the potential limitations of this.
• To maintain accurate and factual written case records of contacts for all service users, using the PAC-UK database.
• To raise safeguarding concerns and participate in discussions with the Service Manager and Safeguarding Lead in adherence with PAC-UK Safeguarding procedures.
• To attend team meeting / group supervision and participate in relevant training and development events.
Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):
• Social Work or counselling qualification desirable, but not a requirement of this role
• Open to developing understanding of adoption law and intermediary regulations
• Ability to work with sensitive information and manage complex or competing needs of all parties
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent active listening skills and an empathic approach
• Self-awareness and the ability to reflect on personal experiences to ensure they do not impact professional judgement or interactions
• Ability to work creatively utilising a blend of both in person work and video/telephone appointments
• Able to work independently as well as in a team context, alongside peers, supervisor and Service Manager
• Willingness to participate in initial and ongoing training and personal development relevant to the role
• Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service – STANDARD DBS LEVEL
Benefits:
• an annual paid leave entitlement that commences at 25 working days, and after a full year of service, rising each April by one day, subject to a maximum of 30 working days plus bank holidays
• 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: Friday 22nd May at 11:59 (midnight)
Interviews are scheduled to take place on Tues 9th and Wednesday 10th June virtually, with slots throughout the working day and early/late slots available.
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.
