Family Justice Young People's Board (FJYPB) Participation and Business Support Officer

Job description

The Vacancy

Important role clarification
This post is dedicated to the Family Justice Young People's Board (FJYPB). Cafcass sponsors and supports the FJYPB, but this is not a general Cafcass business support post. The role's day-to-day purpose is to provide business, administrative and participation support for the FJYPB, its members and its programme of work.

Do you believe children and young people should have a genuine influence on decisions, services and systems that affect their lives?

About the FJYPB

The Family Justice Young People's Board (FJYPB) brings together children and young people with lived experience of family justice. Board members use their experiences and ideas to influence practice, policy and decision-making across the family justice system in England and Wales.

The FJYPB is sponsored by Cafcass and works with Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru and a wide range of family justice partners. Although the post will involve working alongside Cafcass colleagues and using relevant organisational processes, the role is specifically assigned to the FJYPB and exists to support the Board's members, activities and priorities.

The FJYPB delivers a substantial programme of participation activity, including commissions, consultations, events, training, conferences and strategic influence work. Members require thoughtful, reliable and well-coordinated support so they can participate safely, meaningfully and inclusively.

About the role

We are looking for an FJYPB Participation and Business Support Officer to join the team that supports the Board. This is not a general support role for Cafcass services or teams. Your focus will be the effective running of the FJYPB and the practical arrangements that enable children and young people to take part in its work.

The post combines business administration, coordination and direct participation support. You will help organise the FJYPB's programme, maintain clear information and records, coordinate practical arrangements, communicate with members and stakeholders, and support children and young people before, during and after FJYPB activities.

Meaningful participation is about more than organising meetings and events. It requires trust, safe spaces, careful planning, clear communication and effective follow-up. You will play an important part in ensuring FJYPB members feel informed, valued, prepared and able to influence real decisions.

What you will be doing

• Provide day-to-day business and administrative support for the FJYPB and its programme of work.
• Maintain regular, appropriate contact with FJYPB members so they are informed, prepared and supported.
• Support children and young people before, during and after FJYPB participation activities and commissions.
• Coordinate FJYPB projects and commissions from initial planning through to delivery, feedback and follow-up.
• Organise Board meetings, participation sessions, travel, accommodation and other practical arrangements.
• Maintain accurate information, records, trackers and systems that support FJYPB activity, oversight and reporting.
• Prepare accessible information, communications and materials for children and young people, professionals and partners.
• Support creative, digital and inclusive approaches that enable members to participate in ways that work for them.
• Help present the views and messages of FJYPB members clearly, while preserving their meaning and ensuring their voices remain central.
• Help members understand how their contributions have been used and what has changed as a result.
• Work with the wider FJYPB support team, Cafcass colleagues, Cafcass Cymru and family justice partners to coordinate opportunities and maximise the impact of members' voices.
• Apply safeguarding, confidentiality, data protection and professional-boundary requirements throughout the role.

Travel and working pattern: The role requires national travel and flexibility to support FJYPB activities, including up to four Saturday Board meetings per year, of which two are in-person Board meetings, conferences, and other weekday events and projects as required. Occasional overnight stays may be necessary.

Are you someone who?

Participation

Believes children and young people's experiences should shape services, policy and practice.

Understands that participation should be safe, purposeful and connected to genuine influence.

Values inclusion and can help create opportunities where members can participate in ways that suit their individual needs.

Can build positive relationships with children, young people, families, colleagues and external stakeholders.

Understands the importance of safeguarding, confidentiality, professional boundaries and trauma-informed ways of working.

Business

Communicates with warmth, professionalism and respect, adapting their approach for different audiences.

Can balance competing priorities while remaining calm, careful and responsive.

Enjoys contributing to a collaborative team and is willing to undertake the careful, often unseen work that makes high-quality participation possible.

Administrative

Is highly organised, reliable and comfortable managing detailed administrative work.

Maintains accurate records, follows processes carefully and pays close attention to detail.

Can manage multiple tasks and deadlines effectively, ensuring work is completed to a high standard and within agreed timescales.

Why join the FJYPB support team?

This is an opportunity to work directly in support of a nationally recognised young people's board and to help children and young people influence senior leaders, judges, policymakers and professionals across family justice.

Your participation and business support will help turn the FJYPB's ideas and priorities into well-planned, safe and meaningful opportunities. The quality of the administration, coordination and follow-up you provide will directly strengthen members' experiences and the impact of their work.

Your support will help children and young people use their lived experience to influence change across the family justice system. Through a combination of participation practice, coordination and administrative support, you will help create safe, meaningful opportunities for members to share their views, shape decisions and understand the difference their involvement makes.

Next steps / timelines

If and when you are ready to apply, our application process is straightforward and quick to complete. You don't need to complete your application in a single visit, you can start it and come back and amend your responses / update your CV, just make sure you come back before the closing date to submit.

Below we have given you an indication of a timetable we are hoping to work towards, although dates are subject to change.

Closing date:

26th October 2026

Initial interview:

10th and 13th November 2026

Final Interview:

23rd and 24th November 2026

We understand you may benefit from finding out more to help you decide to apply. There is a lot of information available at Cafcass Careers but if there is something else you need to find out more about, you can either contact Upekha Welivita - @[email protected] from our HR Resourcing team if your query is to do with the recruitment process or is HR-related, or Lauren Shepherd, Family Justice Young Peoples Development Worker at [email protected] if your questions relate more to the role, providing your contact information and best times / methods to get hold of you.

Whilst we will always try and respond a.s.a.p. we wouldn't want you to miss the closing date before we are able to. If this is the case, we recommend you apply and as part of your application you can ask questions and this may allow us to contact you and provide you with the required information that will help you decide if you still wish to be considered.

Finally, in anticipation of your application being successful, you might want to read about the offer and pre-employment checks process. As part of your application, you can highlight any concerns or questions about the pre-employment checks and we encourage all applicants to do so, safe in the knowledge such information will not be shared with individuals involved in the selection process.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Be Their Voice

We are Cafcass - the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service - and we represent children in family court cases in England.

Independently advising the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests, we speak up for over 130,0000 children every year when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures, ensuring their needs, wishes and feelings are heard.

Watch our video to find out we don't just listen to children's voices but we can be their voice.

If our purpose resonates with you, and you share our ambitions for children - exceptional experiences, for every child, everywhere and every time - then if you join us, you will work alongside like-minded people in a diverse, inclusive and supportive organisation.

You will be trusted to work flexibly and independently using outstanding technology (e.g. touchscreen laptops, iPhone, all with first class support, including IT Trainers) with access to substantial resources (e.g. Cafcass Library has over 27,000 resources on social work, child protection and related topics). You will also have opportunities to develop, whatever team you join, wherever you are in the country and at whatever stage you are at in your career.

Whether you join us in one of our social work roles that work directly with children and families or our corporate and business services teams who provide technology, support and expertise, you will have the chance to make a difference for children and families. You can also find out more at www.cafcass.gov.uk/careers.

Wellbeing

The wellbeing of our colleagues is something we are truly passionate about, as demonstrated by everyone having four dedicated, additional days per year when they are encouraged to spend time focusing on their health and wellbeing.

Colleagues can also have a health and wellbeing cash plan, for which Cafcass pays the basic premium (you can upgrade to include family members), which allows them to claim back some costs of routine health expenses, including dental check-ups, eye tests, physiotherapy sessions and more.

Overall, we foster a holistic approach to supporting our colleagues, benefitting physical, mental and financial health. This is led by a dedicated in-house team, the benefits of which include meaning support is targeted and specific to what colleagues need. Our team can also offer support and guidance when it comes to specific health conditions, such as neuro-diverse conditions, cancer and the menopause.

Our wellbeing offer is further strengthened by an external Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) which provides a free confidential support service 24 hours a day. This means access to clinical and professional expertise which gives you a chance to talk about all kinds of work and personal issues.

If this wasn't enough, we are especially proud that over 125 colleagues have completed training and receive ongoing support to act as Health and Wellbeing Champions. Furthermore, we have nearly 100 people that have trained to be Mental Health Allies.

Diversity

We represent children and families from diverse backgrounds and having a diverse workforce helps us to fulfil this responsibility authentically.

It also helps us to grow, evolve and innovate, so we particularly welcome applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader, we invite you to join our team, we are committed to actively attract and recruit individuals with disabilities including "non-visible" disabilities and mental health conditions. Our inclusive and accessible recruitment process means we aim to accommodate reasonable adjustments as needed. This commitment highlights our dedication to employing, training, retaining, and developing the careers of our colleagues with disabilities.

Our Diversity Networks provide a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience - supported by allies across the organisation. The networks help ensure we provide an inclusive working environment and a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds.

For more information watch our video here.

Our current networks include:

Ability Matters

Colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

Carers Network

Colleagues with additional caring responsibilities for someone close to them who has a disability or long-term health condition.

Faith Network

Colleagues who are part of, or have an interest in, religious or spiritual faith communities.

Kaleidoscope Network

Colleagues from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Mental Health Network

Colleagues who experience, or have an interest in, Mental Health issues.

Pride
Network

Colleagues who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans - LGBT+.

Neurodiversity Network

Colleagues who are neurodivergent, or support someone who is.

Together

'Together with Children and Families' (which we just call 'Together') is the name of our relationship-based practice framework. It applies to the work of every individual in Cafcass, from Social Workers to Leaders and includes our Corporate and Business Support teams.

It is at the heart of what we do and is made up of our values, how these values work in practice, the tools to use to incorporate these values in our work and the impact this will have on the children and families we serve.

This framework encourages us to be pro-active and to look for the strengths in ourselves and others. It also enables us to build positive relationships with our colleagues, our partners and most importantly, with the children and families with whom we work.

We look forward to telling helping you learn more about Together should you join us.

Benefits

We know if you join us you want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, including time away from work to spend time with those important to you, manage your financial present and future, whilst also be trusted to manage your work/life balance.

Therefore, in addition to our unique, holistic approach to supporting your health and wellbeing we also provide:

Generous holidays

28 days holiday (including three for Christmas) rising to 33 days with five years continuous service, which could include your current employment. You can also sell any you do not need.

Excellent pension

13.7% employer contribution to Local Government Pension scheme, potentially building on your current pension.

Flexible working

Most colleagues work in a hybrid way, having the benefits of working both from the office and home, we also accommodate flexible working requests (e.g. 9-day fortnights).

Exclusive discounts

Generous discounts with wide range of companies covering leisure, technology, travel, personal finance, fashion and supermarkets.

Professional fees

Social work colleagues have their annual Social Work England membership fees reimbursed.

Car leasing schemes

We offer a personal car leasing scheme which provides vehicles at competitive rates through a third party.

This list is just a selection of main benefits and we have a range of policies and processes that allow us to support our colleagues - and their families - and we look forward to providing you with further information about these in due course.