Child Protection Advocate

Directorate: Children and Young People Services

37 hours per week, Full Time, Permanent

Are you passionate about children’s rights and ensuring that children and young people have a genuine voice in decisions that affect their lives?

We are looking for a committed and enthusiastic Child Protection Advocate to join our Voice and Influence Team. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference by supporting children and young people to share their views, influence planning, and actively participate in Child Protection processes.

About the Role

As a Child Protection Advocate, you will work directly with children and young people who are subject to Child Protection processes, ensuring their views, wishes and feelings are heard and considered. You will build trusted relationships with children and families, support participation in Child Protection Conferences, and help professionals understand what matters most to the child.

You will use creative and engaging approaches to help children express themselves, represent their views where appropriate, and ensure plans and outcomes are communicated in a way that children can understand.

This role will also contribute to wider participation and engagement activities across the Voice and Influence Team, helping to shape and improve services through the lived experiences of children and young people.

Key Responsibilities

• Visit children and young people in their homes, schools or other appropriate settings.
• Support children to understand and participate in Child Protection Conferences.
• Gather, record and present children’s views, wishes and feelings.
• Produce reports and child-friendly plans that reflect the child's voice.
• Work closely with social workers and partner agencies to ensure children's views inform decision-making.
• Use creative methods and tools to engage children and young people.
• Gather feedback from children and families to help improve services.
• Support consultations, participation events, focus groups and wider Voice and Influence activities.
• Maintain accurate records and contribute to service monitoring and evaluation.

About You

We are looking for someone who has:

• Experience of working with children, young people and families through areas such as youth work, education, social care, health, family support, advocacy, counselling or community development.
• A strong commitment to children's rights, participation and empowerment.
• Experience of building positive and trusting relationships with children and young people.
• A practical understanding of child development and safeguarding.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with both children and professionals.
• Confidence in presenting information in creative, engaging and child-friendly ways.
• Experience of using IT systems, including Microsoft Office applications and databases.
• A qualification at NQF Level 3 (or equivalent) or equivalent knowledge gained through relevant work experience.

For further information or an informal discussion, please contact Joanne Hacking via email joanne.hacking@rotherham.gov.uk

Interview Date: 1st December 2026

This post involves working with children and therefore if successful you will be required to apply for a disclosure of criminal records check at an enhanced level. Further information about the Disclosure Scheme can be found at www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. For further information, please visit our website.