Helpline Practitioner

At the NSPCC, our vision is to end cruelty to all children in the UK. An ambitious but worthwhile mission — and one you will help us achieve as a Helpline Practitioner.

At our UK-wide Helpline, our priority is to empower the public to protect children and young people. With empathy, sensitivity and common sense you will provide emotional support, practical guidance and help to anyone who thinks a child may be at risk of abuse. Working as an advisor to adults across the UK you will encourage and empower them to look out for the children around them - to take action and give children a voice when they are unable to ask for help themselves.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to develop your child protection expertise within a unique and highly influential national service, to work for an organisation whose core value is putting children first and for you to personally make a positive impact on thousands of families across the UK.

You will be providing advice and assistance to the public via telephone, email, text and through social media. You will take ownership of each contact you take and you will be responsible for assessing the risk, liaising with our external child protection partners (Children's Services, Police) to ensure prompt and effective action is taken to minimise the risk to any child.

To be successful in this role, you will need to have the following:

An appropriate qualification from a safeguarding field, for example, social care, health, education, law enforcement, youth justice, youth work or counselling AND post-qualification experience of working in a role where you have had a level of responsibility for safeguarding children or families.
Driven by making a difference
Up-to-date knowledge of child protection legislation and practical experience of child protection and welfare issues
A passion for customer service
An understanding of the needs of children and their psychosocial development
Ability to collect, assess and summarise essential information in written format
Good IT skills

This is a fast-paced national helpline with demanding targets, where self-discipline and the ability to work quickly are as essential to enable us to effectively deliver a child focused service. If you believe you tick all of the above and want to join us in the fight for every childhood please apply now.

In return we offer:
Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 29 days per year
Employee discounts on everyday goods and services offering up to 35% off your favourite brands
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Pension
Life Assurance Scheme
Family friendly policies including paid parental and carers leave
Bicycle and Season Ticket Loans
Staff volunteering opportunities

The Helpline operates a hybrid-working model, with a requirement that one in three weeks is worked from home; these will be a mix of day and evening shifts. IT equipment will be provided, but you will need to have an ergonomic workspace at home that will allow you to work confidentially and keep organisational information secure.

The post holder will be required to participate in a rota working pattern and support a team that covers the period 7.30am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am-7pm on weekends. This also involves bank holiday working/weekend working.

If you would like any further information about the role, please contact our recruitment team at HelplinesRecruitment@NSPCC.org.uk.

The NSPCC is committed to equality and diversity and wants to attract a range of talented people. The NSPCC fully supports the rights and opportunities of all staff to seek, obtain and hold employment and to enjoy equal employment opportunities without discrimination.

As an organisation, we are committed to creating and fostering a culture that promotes safeguarding and the welfare of all children and adults at risk. Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and thorough process of obtaining, collating, analysing and evaluating information from and about candidates to ensure that all persons appointed are suitable to work with our children and adults.

Annually: £31,266 per annum plus 3.5% Rota Allowance and £200 per annum hybrid home working allowance
Region: Northern Ireland
Location: Belfast - The Lanyon Building
Department: NSPCC Helpline
Vacancy Type: Fixed Term
Working Hours Per Week: 35
Duration of Fixed Term: Until 31st March 2024
Closing Date: 20 June 2023