Youth Voice & Participation Manager

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About the job

Salary: £42,839 - £46,142 a year plus £963 essential car user allowance
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Fixed term until June 2027

This position is available as a secondment opportunity until June 2027. If you are a permanent LBC employee, you must have written approval (an email will suffice) from your manager prior to applying and a copy will need to be submitted with your application. Please note: we will not be able to proceed with your application form without your manager's permission.

Luton Council is committed to ensuring that children and young people are heard, valued and actively involved in shaping the services and decisions that affect their lives. We are seeking an experienced, passionate and values-driven Youth Voice & Participation Manager to lead and develop inclusive participation and co-production across the borough.

As Youth Voice & Participation Manager, you will lead on developing and embedding high-quality participation opportunities for children and young people, including those from traditionally excluded and vulnerable groups. You will work strategically and operationally across statutory and voluntary sector partners to champion children's rights, promote equality of opportunity and ensure young people's voices meaningfully influence service delivery and decision-making.

You will manage projects, budgets and staff, while building strong multi-agency partnerships that support effective participation practice aligned with Luton 2040 and the values underpinning our work.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of inclusive participation and co-production opportunities alongside children and young people, reducing barriers to engagement.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary professionals across statutory and voluntary sectors to promote participation and youth voice.
• Plan, design and deliver projects, sessions, activities and resources for children, young people and their families.
• Manage delegated budgets and ensure effective use of resources.
• Monitor, evaluate and report on project performance, outcomes and impact.
• Represent the service in multi-disciplinary and partnership meetings, influencing professionals, senior staff and elected members to support children and young people's participation.
• Ensure safeguarding, health and safety and risk assessment procedures are embedded in all work.
• Champion children's rights, including Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

About you

You will bring:

• In-depth experience of developing inclusive participation opportunities for children and young people, including traditionally excluded groups.
• Proven experience of co-production with children and young people, promoting equality of opportunity and reducing barriers for particularly vulnerable groups.
• Strong experience of managing and working with multi-disciplinary professionals across statutory and voluntary sectors.
• A high sense of justice, a commitment to children's rights and a strong appreciation of diversity and young people's lived experiences.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with children, young people, parents, professionals and partners.
• The ability to persuade and influence others to actively support participation and youth voice.
• Experience of developing and supporting team members to achieve high standards of professional practice.
• Strong project development, monitoring and evaluation skills, including report writing.
• Confidence in using social media platforms to engage children and young people.
• Competence in using IT systems for case recording and reporting.
• In-depth understanding of equality and cultural issues in a multi-agency setting and the ability to take appropriate action.
• Knowledge of participation in practice and the issues faced by children and young people accessing services, including mental health.

Additional Requirements

• Relevant professional or degree-level qualification, or equivalent experience within Social Services, Health, Youth Services or Education.
• Full valid driving licence and access to a car, with flexibility to travel within and outside the borough and provide transport where required.
• Flexible approach to working hours, including willingness to work evenings and irregular hours.

Why Join Luton Council?

At Luton Council, children and young people are at the heart of our vision for the future. This role offers the opportunity to make a real difference by shaping participation practice, influencing decision-making and ensuring that every young person's voice counts.

About us

Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision - that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty - is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council - and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough

Application Process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person's criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received.

Benefits

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

- From 25 to 32 days' annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
- Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
- Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
- Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 19.2 per cent (at April 2026) and 3x salary death in service grant
- Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
- Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
- Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
- Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
- Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
- Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel