The Youth Endowment Fund
Senior Change Manager, Youth Justice

Reports to: Change Lead for Diversion

Salary:  £52,700 per annum
Location:  Central London or Hybrid*(see below)
Contract: (2-year fixed term – potential to extend)
Closing date for applications: 12pm Monday 12th January 2026
Interview dates: Week commencing 26th January 2026

About the Youth Endowment Fund
We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.

We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this
knowledge into practice.

In recent years violent crime has risen significantly. Homicides, assaults, robberies

and offences involving weapons have all seen sustained growth. We have also
seen large increases in violent crime involving children and young people. This is

a tragedy. Every child captured in these numbers is an important member of our
community and society has a duty to protect them.

The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) is a charity with a £200m endowment and a

mission that matters. We exist to prevent children becoming involved in violence.
Our mission is to find what works and build a movement to put it into practice. A

big part of the movement that we need to build is in the world of youth justice.
We need to inspire and connect with youth justice leaders across England and

Wales to spread what works and make our country safer for some of our most
vulnerable children. We are looking for someone to lead on making this happen.

Key Responsibilities

We are making good progress building the evidence of what works within and

around youth justice to reduce violence. This year, in conjunction with the Centre

for Justice Innovation, we published Diversion Practice Guidance and have

recently launched our new self-evaluation tool for diversion practice (ORPIC). But

1

the big risk is that we publish these resources and nothing changes. That’s where

you come in.

Your role is to work out the best way to make this change happen by getting

youth justice services (YJSs) and police forces to adopt evidence-based practice

through our new change programme: the Whole Area Model (WAM). WAM helps

police forces and youth justice services strengthen diversion practices by aligning

their work with the 7 C’s:

1.  Culture – A child-centred, pro-diversion ethos
2.  Contact – Interactions are trauma-informed and maximise prevention and

safeguarding opportunities

3.  Custody – Considered use of police custody, prioritising alternatives and

swift triage.

4.  Criteria – Clear, consistent eligibility for diversion.
5.  Collaboration – Multi-agency decision-making panels; shared protocols

and referral pathways.

6.  Care – Evidence-based support, monitoring engagement, closing cases

responsibly.

7.  Checks – Ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and scrutiny to ensure quality

and equity.

Your role will involve:

•

Supporting the delivery of the Whole Area Model through activities like:
−  Facilitating completions of diversion self-evaluations with youth

justice services and police forces.

−  Delivering training to youth justice, police and other relevant agencies

about the evidence-base or specific areas of diversionary practice

and governance (e.g. scrutiny panels).

−  Supporting the ongoing development of a National Diversion Network,

which will contribute to a wider repository of diversion resources and

evidence

•

Identifying and creating practical resources which help youth justice
professionals and police officers to put evidence into practice.

2

•  Developing great relationships with senior leaders, youth justice workers

and police officers, generating a strong understanding of key issues and

needs in relation to youth justice matters, and building credibility and trust

with the sector.

•  Working out other effective ways to connect people with the evidence, then

making those things happen, from virtual learning events to presentations.

As a senior member of staff in the organisation you also:

•  Build a culture where it is natural to perform well and support colleagues

brilliantly.

•  Contribute to setting the strategy, delivering results and building and

modelling the culture that we need to succeed.

About You

You must have this sort of experience:

-  You’ve changed frontline practice and/or systems:  You have significant
experience in leading behaviour, practice or policy changes within a youth
justice setting. You can show how these have been effective in delivering

tangible change.

-  You’re working in or around the youth justice service, preferably in a
role/setting specifically working with children who are vulnerable to or

involved in violence.

-  You work well in multi-agency environments: You have experience
collaborating across police, youth justice, local authorities and other

partners, and you can communicate confidently with a wide range of
stakeholders to build alignment and drive change.

You might have this sort of experience:

•  Supporting a youth justice team/service to reflect on and adopt evidence-
based practice in relation to diversion or wider youth justice activities.

You are this sort of person:

•  You are fascinated about change and are experienced in making it
happen. You have outstanding analytical judgment alongside the

3

emotional intelligence and experience needed to identify the right
opportunities for change, then make them happen. You understand why
people find change difficult. You come alive talking about how people
make decisions and why they do the things they do.

•  You understand the youth justice sector and diversion specifically. You
really understand how the youth justice sector works, from leaders to
frontline officers.

•  You write in a way that people easily understand. You have that rare skill
of writing in plain English. You have experience of translating complex
information into plain writing that everyone can understand.

•  You have excellent project and time management skills and the ability to

design and deliver high quality outputs such as reports and digital
resources to a high standard.

•  You win people over. People tend to warm to you and respect you. You

have built good relationships with very senior people and with very junior
people. You are good at chairing meetings, connecting people and having

good introductory meetings. You are comfortable talking to a government
minister, a youth worker, a company CEO, a teacher and a 15-year-old

student. Listening to people from all backgrounds matters to you.

•  You learn fast but remain humble. You are very quick at getting your head

around things. You like learning. You are very good at synthesising

information. You know how much you don't know. You know that you can
learn more. You know that it's easy to assume you know when you don't.

You care more that good things happen than who gets the credit. You are
a great and supportive team player.

•  You don't want young your days to pass without making a difference.

You want to play a significant part in reducing violence.

•  You understand people. You understand what the lives of vulnerable

young people can be like, and you understand some of the organisations

that work with them, ideally through first-hand experience.

•  You are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.

4

While  it’s  not  a  criterion,  we’re  especially  interested  to  hear  from  applicants  who

have lived experience of violence affecting children and young people.

It’s also important to us that the people we hire do not discriminate. We believe in
being inclusive and giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. Applications are

welcome from all regardless of age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil
partnership,  pregnancy  and  maternity,  religion  or  belief,  race,  sexual  orientation,

transgender status or social economic background.

Hybrid Working

Our office is located in Central London. Team members who reside within the 32
London Boroughs or are within a 90-minute commute are expected to attend the

office at least two days per week.

For those living outside of London but within England, Scotland, or Wales, the

expectation is to work from the London office two days per month.

Travel

Due to the nature of the programme there is some national travel required within

England and Wales. This is likely to be up to five times per month; all travel costs

can be reimbursed with flexibility for overnight stays if preferred.

To Apply

Please click on the "Apply for this" button and submit your CV, your completed

monitoring form and ensure your covering letter answers the following three
questions below. Please submit your application by 12pm Monday 12th January

When applying for this role, please ensure that you answer the application
questions below:

Personal and professional experiences in violence prevention
1. What personal and professional experiences shape your understanding of the
youth justice sector and its role in preventing youth violence? (max 400 words)

5

Developing strategy
2. Can you describe a time when you successfully supported youth justice
partnership leaders to improve their practice or systems? Please be specific
about the scale and context of your involvement. (max 400 words)

Improving practice or systems
3. Describe your experience improving diversion for children. What actions did
you take, what impact did they have, and what did you learn? (max 400 words)

Interview Process

This will likely be a one stage interview process. Interviews will take place the week
of 26th January 2026.

Please Note: We do not sponsor work permits and you will be required to provide

proof of your eligibility to work in the UK.

Benefits Include

•  £1,000 professional development budget annually
•  28 days holiday plus Bank Holidays
•  Four half days for volunteering activities
•  Employee Assistance Programme – 24hr phone line for free confidential

support

•  Volunteering days - 4 half days per year
•  Death in service - 4 times annual salary
•  Flexible hours. Core office hours 10am – 4pm
•  Financial support including travel and hardship loans
•  Employer contributed pension of 5%.

Your Data

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise.
This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the

project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service
provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do

not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for
employment is successful, and we make you an offer of employment. We will then
share your data with former employers to obtain references for you. We do not

6

transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

7