8 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7QE

November 2013

Dear Candidate,

Job Reference / 1338
Job Title / Head of Sector Support, NCB Northern Ireland

Thank you for your interest in our post, please find attached:

  1. Some information about NCB - see also our website at and view the vacancies page which contains downloadable documents about NCB, including the latest annual review
  2. The job description and person specification and summary of the terms and conditions of the job
  3. Application form and equal opportunities form

To apply please submit a completed application form that clearly addresses all the essential and desirable criteria listedin the person specification. Failure to do so will considerably lessen your chances of being selected for interview.

Please return your application by either email to , Fax 0207 713 5497 or post to the address at the top of the page, to be received by 9am, Monday 25th November 2013.

Interviews will be held in Belfast, week commencing 2nd December 2013. In the interests of economy we will only notify those candidates who are short-listed.

Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Hanneke Koekkoek
Human Resources Advisor

The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) is a leading charity that for 50 years has been working to improve the experiences and life chances of children and young people across England and Northern Ireland, especially the most vulnerable.

Strategic Direction for 2013 - 2014

Aim 1 – Reduce inequalities of opportunity in childhood

Aim 2 – Ensure children and young people can use their ‘voice’ to improve their lives and the lives of those around them

Aim 3 – Improve perceptions of children and young people

Aim 4 – Enhance the health, learning, experiences and opportunities of children and young people

Aim 5 – Encourage the building of positive and supportive relationships for children and young people with families, carers, friends and communities

Aim 6 – Provide leadership through the use of evidence and research to improve policy and practice

We play a strategic support and leadership role across the sector by:

  • initiating partnerships and projects, for example, children's play, disability, life skills, and youth justice that aim to improve the lives of children and young people
  • sustaining the effectiveness and efficiency of over 30 key specialist networks, including the Council for Disabled Children, the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, the Early Childhood Forum, Anti-Bullying Alliance, Play England and the Childhood Bereavement Network
  • championing the use of evidence, and the involvement of children and young people, to shape and improve national policy and local services
  • building the skills, knowledge and networks of practitioners and voluntary groups working with children and young people

Every year we reach more than 100,000 children and young people through our links with organisations including local authorities, children’s service providers, academic bodies, schools and voluntary organisations. For more information visit

NCB NI:

NCB Northern Ireland works to enhance the outcomes of children in Northern Ireland, through support to children and young people and to those who work with or for them.

Our work programme includes practice development, direct participation work with children and young people, research and evaluation projects, as well as dissemination activity through publications, resources and events all aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people.

NCB Northern Ireland works in partnership with several fora concerned with children’s issues to promote the views of children and young people.

NCBNI Office is based at:

Albany House
73-75 Great Victoria Street
Belfast
BT2 7AF

APPLICATION PACK

Job description

Post:Head of sector support

Grade:I

Responsible to: Northern Ireland Director

Department:NCB Northern Ireland

Terms:35 hours per week, Based in Belfast, 2 year fixed term contract.

Scope and objectives

  • To make a major contribution to the management and strategic direction of the practice development work of NCB in Northern Ireland, including contributing to the development of the internal policies and procedures, generating income and raising the profile of the department.
  • The post-holder will take overall responsibility for a varied portfolio of evidence based programmes including Incredible Years, Participation programmes and other practice development activity, ensuring that they are delivered to time and budget and to the quality required.
  • All tasks are to be carried out in line with the NCB Research and Ethical guidelines as well as NCB’s Statement of Values and Principles and its Equal Opportunity and Child Protection policies.

Specific responsibilities, Incredible Years (IY)

  1. Strategic coordination of the Incredible Years programme delivery across the region, including:
  2. Advise and support both commissioners and local delivery agents to assist in the roll out of the programme, ensuring effective implementation.
  1. Build effective working relationships between IY coordination team and IY Seattle programme developers.
  1. Establish a learning community for practitioners to provide continuous support and peer group learning. Organise and deliver regular practice sharing workshops.
  1. Provide support for local delivery teams to incorporate reflective practice including supervision sessions and monitoring/evaluation of service delivery in their day to day work.
  1. Deliver large-scale, high quality regional events such as seminars, conferences, workshops to allow good practice sharing, continued skill development and showcasing of visiting speakers locally, nationally and internationally who can provide leadership and examples of good practice.
  2. Together with the NCB NI research team, establish a standardised monitoring and evaluation system for programme impact and implementation
  1. Develop a database of current delivery agents and practitioners and existing skill levels. Identify gaps for delivery.
  2. Carry out training needs analysis for the wider sector from which to develop a regional training plan.

Specific responsibilities, General

  1. Provide leadership on issues concerning children and champion young people’s involvement, working with colleagues across NCB and with stakeholders to identify, promote and ensure engagement opportunities for children and young people.
  2. Overseeing the co-ordination of YNCB NI and the involvement of its members in organisational improvement and governance
  3. Lead the delivery of the participation support programme for schools
  1. Support the effective implementation of other evidence based programmes for children young people and families.
  1. Support knowledge exchange to improve practice in the children, young peoples and families sector.
  1. Build practitioner support network for Early Intervention in NI, working with the knowledge management officer to disseminate knowledge and raise capacity of practitioners.
  1. Identify practitioner support needs across the children and family sector and responding with support when appropriate

Departmental responsibilities

  1. Develop and build positive working relationships with a range of other internal and external agencies, to identify and develop opportunities for partnership working
  2. To actively contribute to the financial viability of NCB in Northern Ireland, including effective and timely budget management, sourcing appropriate funds and preparing funding bids.
  1. Contribute to the development of departmental policy and working practices
  2. Ensure all NCB’s work is evidence-based, needs-led and secures improvements in outcomes for children and young people
  1. Ensure NCB retains an effective, high quality, high impact and shared voice about improved outcomes for children and young people.
  1. Contribute to coherent and collective leadership for the organisation as a whole, taking corporate responsibility for the actions and activities of NCB, in Northern Ireland enhancing and reflecting cross-organisational accountability
  2. Demonstrate and deliver a spirit of collaboration, mutuality, co-production and support in working across NCB

Staff management

  1. To supervise and line manage the Participation Officer and Project Assistant, including carrying out annual appraisals.

General

  1. To keep up to date with significant developments in children’s services and research and policy relating to children and young people
  2. To attend departmental, staff and other NCB meetings as required.
  3. To attend training courses, seminars and conferences as appropriate.

Special Conditions

This post is offered on a full-time basis for a period of two years.

Travel and some out of hours working will be required with notice.

October 2013

Person Specification

Head of sector support

Essential criteria

  • Extensive experience of leading the implementation of evidence based programmes and/or projects for children and/or families
  • Demonstrable experience of working with or for children and/or families
  • Excellent communication skills in terms of writing, making presentations and delivering training
  • Experience of engaging with stakeholders and working collaboratively with a number of partners
  • Excellent project management skills encompassing: experience of leading, supervising and supporting individuals and teams; budget management
  • Experience of research or evaluation
  • A commitment to children’s rights, equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices
  • Sound IT skills including word processing software, spreadsheets and data analysis packages
  • Ability to undertake out of hours working and travel for which notice will be given

Desirable criteria

  • Experience of delivering the Incredible Years programme
  • Experience of income generation through drafting or contributing to tender/funding submissions

October 2013

Summary of Terms and Conditions of Employment and Benefits

Salary / The salary range for this post is £36,676 - £41,148 per annum inclusive. This is related to Local Government salaries that are incremental on an annual basis until staff reach the top of the scale. New employees will normally be appointed at the bottom point of the grade.
Nature of contract / This is a 2 year fixed term post. The contracted hours are 35 per week and there is one unpaid hour for lunch each day.
There may be out of hours working and some travel for which notice will be given.
Base / The post is based at the National Children’s Bureau offices in Belfast.
Holidays / Leave entitlement is at the rate of (pro-rata) 30 days per annum. In addition to the statutory and Bank Holidays, NCB gives three fixed non contractual "extra statutory" days' holiday which will be taken over the Christmas period.
Probation Period / NCB has a standard probationary period of 6 months for posts of this nature.
Pension / NCB offers a pension to all employees. Further details will be given to staff when they join.
Additional benefits / NCB offers a Child Care Voucher Scheme and confidential Employee Assistance Programme.
Season ticket loan / NCB has a scheme for providing an interestfree loan for the purchase of an annual season ticket from the relevant rail company or London Underground Ltd.
Smoking Policy / NCB has a no smoking policy.
Equal Opportunity Policy / NCB has an equal opportunity policy and implements a programme of positive action to make this policy fully effective by ensuring that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, age, disability, sexuality or faith.
Pre-employment checks – Information for applicants / To ensure we safeguard the children and young people that we work with, NCB will carry out a number of pre-employment checks as part of our recruitment and selection process to enable us to make informed recruitment decisions.
NCB’s pre-employment checks / After interview we may ask potential staff members for consent to a Disclosure check which will be carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) or AccessNI.
In order to process the Disclosure check, NCB is required to confirm the identity of any potential staff members. For this reason we will seek documentation as evidence of identity and a list of the documents required will be discussed with the potential staff member by the Human Resources Unit.
Please note that any information supplied will be treated in confidence and in accordance with the Data Protection Act and the DBS Code of Practice.
NCB has a policy statement on the recruitment of ex-offenders.

For staff based in NCB Northern Ireland Offices / Staff based in our Northern Ireland Office may be required to complete an Access Northern Ireland disclosure instead of a DBS disclosure.
What is Access Northern Ireland?
AccessNI was established by a joint programme between the Northern Ireland Office, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, the Department of Education and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
AccessNI enables organisations in Northern Ireland to make more informed recruitment decisions by providing criminal history information about anyone seeking paid or unpaid work in certain defined areas, such as working with children or vulnerable adults.
AccessNI is part of central government and operates under the provisions of Part V of the Police Act 1997.
Further information
or telephone 02890 259100
Access Northern Ireland, Brooklyn, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE

Section 1 - PERSONAL DETAILS

Job applied for / Job ref number
First name / Surname
Title / Email
Telephone / Mobile
Address and post code
Preferred method of contact
Are you a UK citizen? / YES NO / If not, do you have a permit to work in the UK? / YES NO

Section 2 - ELIGIBILITY TO WORK IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
To be considered for a role, you will need to have the right to work in the UK or have a valid UK work permit. You will be asked to bring documentation under the immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 to support your right to work in the UK.
Section 3 - REFEREES
Please give the names of two employment referees, starting with your present or most recent employer. References are only taken up after a provisional offer of employment has been made.

Name / Name
Position / Position
Company / Company
Address / Address
Telephone / Telephone
Email / Email

Section 4 - CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Please confirm your current notice period and salary.

Notice Period / Current Salary (£)

Section 5 - DECLARATION
I declare that, to the best of my knowledge, the information given on this form is correct. I understand that providing misleading or false information will disqualify me from appointment or, if appointed may result in my dismissal.

Signed / Date

If you are completing this form electronically and are invited to interview you will be required to sign your application form at that stage.
PLEASE RETURN YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO:

Address / HR Department
NCB, 8 Wakley Street
London, EC1V 7QE
Telephone / 020 7843 6000
Fax / 020 7713 5497
Email /

Section 6 – EDUCATION
Please give details of education and qualifications including secondary, further and/or higher education, starting with your most recent

Name of institution / Address
Dates attended / Qualifications and results
Name of institution / Address
Dates attended / Qualifications and results
Name of institution / Address
Dates attended / Qualifications and results

Section 7 - IT SKILLS
Please list the IT packages you use and your level of proficiency.

Package / Proficiency
Package / Proficiency
Package / Proficiency
Package / Proficiency
Package / Proficiency

Section 8 - TRAINING
Please list any training courses and any qualifications gained (if applicable)

Course title / Date attended / Qualification gained

Section 9 - PROFESSIONAL BODIES
Are you currently a member of any professional bodies? If yes, please state which body, your level of membership and qualification gained.

Professional body / Level of membership/Qualification gained

Section 10 - EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Please provide details of all jobs held including unpaid or voluntary work, starting with your current or most recent employer.

Name of Employer / Date from / Date to / Reason for Leaving / Job title held
Main responsibilities of role
Name of Employer / Date from / Date to / Reason for Leaving / Job title held
Main responsibilities of role
Name of Employer / Date from / Date to / Reason for Leaving / Job title held
Main responsibilities of role

Section 11 -COVERING STATEMENT
Outline any relevant skills, experience and training appropriate to the post you have applied for. YOU MUST relate your application to the requirements set out in the person specification.

Person specification criteria / Evidence of skills, experience and training

Section 12 – EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FORM
NCB is fully committed to the active promotion of equality and diversity in its employment practices, in the work that it undertakes and in the provision of all its services. NCB treats all employees, service users and the children and young people with whom we engage fairly, irrespective of their age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, faith, disability or impairment, including HIV status and mental health.

NCB needs to record these details which will only be used to fulfill NCB’s equal opportunities obligations and as a guide in building efficient recruitment strategies. The information contained in this form is completely confidential.

1. Where did you hear about this position
2. What position are you applying for? (include job reference)
3. Your age range (please tick box)
16 – 21 / 22 – 30 / 31 – 40 / 41 – 50 / 51 – 60 / 61 – 65 / 65+ / Not stated
4. Gender / Male Female
5. How do you identify your ethnic group? Pleas tick the appropriate box or complete the section below
White UK / White Irish / White EU / White other
Black UK / Caribbean / African / Black other
Asian UK / Pakistani / Indian / Bangladeshi
Asian other / Mixed / Other (state)
6. Do you consider yourself to have a disability? / YES NO PREFER NOT TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION
If ‘YES’ Please state the nature of the disability and whether you need any adjustments to be made in order to be able to carry out this role/interview at the best of your abilities.
7. If you wish, you may disclose information about yourself in this section about your religion and sexual orientation
Religion / Sexual orientation
Date form completed / D / D / M / M / Y / Y

By completing this form I understand that I give my consent under the Data Protection Act 1998 for this information to be processed in accordance with the NCB policy for the purpose stated above.