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CHILDLINE PRACTITIONER (CONNECT)

THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN
34,582 per year
Foyle Hub
Full-time
5th March 2026
Listed today

Closing Date:

5 March 2026

Closing Date:

5 March 2026

  • Annually:£34,582 plus 7% shift allowance and £200 working from home allowance for hybrid working
  • Region:Northern Ireland
  • Location:Foyle Hub
  • Department:Childline
  • Vacancy Type:Fixed Term
  • Working hours per week:35
  • Duration of Fixed Term:1 year April 1st 2026- April 1st 2027
  • Closing Date:5 March 2026

At Childline, we give young people a voice when they need someone to listen.

We want to be there for every child or young person who needs our support, any day of the year, any time of day or night. Childline is one service, with three core offers for children and young people

  • ChildlineUniversal(available 24/7 and focused on being there forchildrenandyoungpeoplewhocontact us on a one-off or irregular basis)
  • ChildlineConnect(available 365 days a year during peak hours and focused on giving those that contact us regularly consistentsupport)
  • ChildlineOnline(our online community forallchildrenandyoungpeopleto access advice, guidance andsupport24/7 when, where and how they want).

We're currently recruiting for a  fixed  term 35 hour position in our Connect team in  Childline Foyle. 

You will use your skills flexibly to support volunteers while they talk to children. You will also have opportunities to directly support children and young people by responding to contacts in your role as a Childline Practitioner (Connect). You will lead on key on-shift safeguarding decisions and use coaching to maintain and develop the quality of the service. You will ensure every child and young person receives a high-quality service and outside of shift provide effective supervision, coaching, feedback, training and support to volunteers. You will use your case management skills to ensure that the plans for children and young people in our Connect service meet the unique needs of each of young person who contacts us regularly.

You will have the chance to personally make a positive difference for thousands of children and young people every year.

We support hundreds of thousands of children all over the UK every year. As a Childline Practitioner (Connect) you will deliver this vital service alongside a committed and dedicated team who will share your values of supporting children and young people.

You will work a hybrid rota which includes a consistent balance of daytime and evening shifts across a 6-week pattern, which includes weekend working one in every three weeks. There is built in time for 3-day weekends and up to half of the working days can be done from home. Every Childline Practitioner (Connect) receives a 7% rota allowance on top of their basic salary. You can see an example of the rota pattern for this role in the relevant base folder on Childline's Private SharePoint.

We're looking for talented people who value putting children first:

To be successful in this role, you will need to be someone who

  • Has a strong background working with childrenandyoungpeoplewithin a safeguarding context
  • Believes in ourcause,ourmission, and wants to help us be there forallchildrenandyoungpeople
  • Has a passion for supportingothers, especially in situations which can beemotionallychallenging

Please refer to the job description for a full person specification. We ask all candidates to address and evidence that they meet each of the points in the person specification in their supporting statement (within a total word limit of 10,000 characters).

If you would like any further information about the role, please contact Helplines Recruitment 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.

If you are interested in applying for this role, we encourage you to apply early. To help us manage the process we may close the vacancy before the advertised closing date should we receive a strong response to the role.

In keeping with our values and our policies, if any individuals who are regrettably at risk of redundancy apply for a role and meet the minimum essential criteria they will be given priority consideration. We hope that you understand our position on this and that this will not discourage from applying. We cannot predict who, internally, will apply for a role, or whether they will meet the minimum essential criteria. Where no at-risk candidates meet the minimum essential criteria, all applications will be considered as normal.

Supporting Documents

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.

At the NSPCC we are on a journey to becoming a trauma-informed organisation for the children, young people and families that we work with, as well as our staff and volunteers. To be trauma-informed is one of the guiding principles that shape and guide our 2021-2031 Strategy. This means understanding the nature of adversity, trauma, and resilience so that we can work towards reducing and preventing further harm and promoting recovery and healing. Coming to work at the NSPCC will provide the opportunity for you to join us in our commitment to becoming a trauma-informed organisation.

NSPCC is that the NSPCC highly embraces,

encourages and promotes diversity and

inclusiveness of staff.

Siobhan Walters / Children's Services