Independent Professional Parent Advocate

Interview Date: w/c 3 November 2025

This is a fixed-term contract position until 31 March 2026. 

The role

The Families First for Children pathfinder was announced by the UK Government in 2023 as part of the Government’s children’s social care implementation strategy which aims is to improve services to help more children stay with their families in safe and loving homes and protecting vulnerable children from harm.

As part of the programme, we are looking for an Independent Professional Parent Advocate (IPPA), working 17.5 hours per week over five days, to provide independent and confidential advocacy to parents with children subject to a child protection plan and parents of looked after children under the age of 18 years.

Your role as an IPPA is to support parents to positively engage with professionals from third sector and statutory organisations to resolve issues that are negatively impacting their family. You will work directly with the parents to empower them to achieve positive outcomes and help them deal with issues that are affecting their families.

You will do this by:

• Helping them to make effective use of policies or complaints procedures by providing information, support, and advice.
• Empowering them to express their views and wishes.
• Helping them to engage with professionals.
• Supporting them to understand professional reports, letter and correspondence.
• Helping them understand their rights and entitlements.
• Signposting to other relevant services.

About you

We are looking for someone who shares our passion in changing the lives of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You will have direct experience in working within a similar role and have the ability to communicate effectively with them and other professionals. You will also understand the importance of maintaining professionalism.

You will also live within the geographical area in order to fulfil the requirements of the role.

We understand that you may or may not meet all the requirements of the role but we would encourage you to apply as will offer full training and you will be supported by NYAS in obtaining an Advocacy qualification.

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role, please contact natasha.peebles@nyas.net.

When completing the application form, it is important that you refer to the person specification within the job description and detail how you can evidence the criteria.

The job description can be located at the bottom of this page.

NYAS operates robust safe procedures to ensure the protection of the children, young people and adults at risk we work with. To comply with NYAS’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, references and a Digital Risk Assessment.

In accordance with UK immigration law, NYAS is required to ensure that all prospective candidates have the legal right to work in the United Kingdom. Therefore, proof of eligibility to work in the UK will be required as part of the recruitment process.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early once we receive a high number of applications.