Youth Engagement Coordinator– Making It Matter Project
Help young people’s voices shape real change
We are looking for a Youth Engagement Coordinator to lead the Youth Engagement Panel within Making It Matter. You will use individualised approaches to engage directly with young people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities. Engagement might take place in the family home, in the community, at school or college or in residential settings. This work will continue to build on the innovative engagement approach the CBF implemented under our What Matters to Me project. It is part of our new flagship UK-wide project funded by the National Lottery’s Community Fund.
You will be someone who believes that everyone has the right for their views to be heard. You will be keen to learn how to use our approach but also open to exploring new and creative ways of finding out what matters to young people. Working alongside young people, families, circles of support and partner organisations, either individually or in small groups, you will ensure the experiences, preferences and views of young people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities are heard and understood. You will use these insights to inform learning, shared through videos and meetings. You will work with practice and policy colleagues to ensure the learning influences individual decisions, organisational practice and services more widely.
Hours: 26 hours per week (0.7 FTE)
Salary: £23,573 Pro Rata (£34,000 FTE)
Location: Office based or Southeast preferred with regular travel in Kent and London for engagement sessions with young people. Hybrid working will be considered. The CBF office is in Chatham (5 min walk from Chatham train station).
Travel: Occasional UK wide travel required.
Contract: Fixed term until 30 April 203
Responsible to: Learning Disability Sharing Best Practice Lead
What you will do
- Plan, establish and lead an inclusive Youth Engagement ‘Panel’ of 8-10 young people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities. This group will not function as a panel in the traditional sense of the term but will involve engaging with young people from diverse backgrounds either individually or in a small group in settings that are familiar to each individual young person.
- Build trusted relationships with young people, families, support staff and project partners.
- Use our proven approach, alongside creative, accessible and person-centred engagement methods for each young person to communicate and participate meaningfully.
- Plan and facilitate safe, ethical engagement activities in line with safeguarding, consent, confidentiality and data protection requirements.
- Capture and share learning accurately, respectfully and in accessible formats. You need to be comfortable being filmed during engagement sessions as video content will be used to share good practice.
- Work with policy colleagues to ensure young people’s experiences, preferences and views influence the Challenging Behaviour National Strategy Group and wider policy and strategy.
- Support the coordination of twice-yearly online Community of Practice events and support the development of resources, workshops and learning opportunities.
- Potential to line manage the Project and Events Intern creating a supportive learning environment that enables them to build their skills, knowledge, confidence and experience.
About you
Do you have experience of supporting and communicating with people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities? Do you have a passion for upholding people’s rights and making sure their perspectives are heard and understood? Do you have the skills to build relationships and work collaboratively with a range of people, including family carers, professionals and the other members of our small, dedicated CBF team? Then we want to hear from you. You may be a family carer or have a background in education, health or social care, you may be someone looking for a change, to do something more meaningful. This role has the potential to change the way people view individuals who do not communicate verbally and who may display behaviours that challenge.
You will be an organised person who works well as part of a team. You believe that everyone’s views matter and should be heard. You will be able to learn from colleagues working on the project and communicate clearly to people outside the organisation to explain the project. You will be able to organise your own work and take responsibility for making things happen. You will know how to use individualised approaches to communicate with people with learning disabilities.
We are particularly interested in applicants who can demonstrate:
- Experience of inclusive direct engagement with people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities, including young people whose behaviour may be described as challenging, and their families.
- Confidence in using accessible, creative and person-centred communication approaches.
- Ability to communicate clearly and co-ordinate group discussions.
- An understanding of safeguarding, consent, confidentiality and data protection.
- The ability to work independently and to work in partnership with others.
Why join us?
This is an opportunity to play a key role in a new national pioneering project, placing young people who have often been excluded at the heart of decisions that affect their lives. You will join a collaborative project which aims to drive forward improvements in national standards around engaging with young people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities. The CBF offer 25 days annual leave plus public holidays (pro rata) and access to an enhanced Employee Assistance Programme.
How to apply
Please read the following:
Application deadline: 17:00 on Wednesday 28th October 2026. We will review applications as they are received and encourage early applications, as we reserve the right to shortlist and close the vacancy before the advertised closing date.
Interview date: 11th November 2026
To apply: To submit an application please email recruitment@thecbf.org.uk with the subject ‘Youth Engagement Coordinator Application’. You should include your CV and a covering letter (maximum of two A4 sides) explaining why you are applying, how you meet the person specification, and what you would bring to our charity.
Your cover letter is an opportunity for us to learn more about your experiences, interests and reasons for applying. Please write it in your own words without using AI to generate the content. What matters to us is understanding your motivation and what you could bring to the role.
We politely request no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales.
Additional information:
- Regular travel will be required within Kent and London and occasional UK travel which may involve some overnight stays.
- To fulfil the role, you must have the right to work in the U.K.
- This role requires a Basic Disclosure Check
- We welcome applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds and lived experience.
- We are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and welcome discussions about any support applicants may need.
We will consider adjustment requests on an individual basis. However, applicants should be aware that the ability to work with detailed written information is an essential requirement of this role. We will always seek appropriate adjustments that enable candidates to participate fairly while ensuring the key requirements of the role can be assessed.