At Catch22, we are proud of our reputation as a modern and progressive employer. Our 1,300 colleagues and 300 volunteers work at every stage of the social welfare cycle, supporting over 60,000 individuals from cradle to career. Our work spans education, social justice and rehabilitation, children's social care, family support, social action and getting people into work.

Pause works with women who have experienced, or are at risk of, repeated pregnancies that result in children needing to be removed from their care. We aim to give women the opportunity to pause and take control of their lives breaking a destructive cycle that causes both them and their children deep trauma.

Pause seeks to work with women in a way which addresses everybody in their lives – fathers of their children, partners, family members and friends – as well as professionals such a social service, housing, the NHS and the justice system. Partnership underpins our work, with the women, with local areas and with policy-makers and service providers.

Pause Northamptonshire is delivered by Ripplez/Catch22, working in collaboration with Northamptonshire County Council. It has been structured as a ‘Social Outcomes Contract’, with the Council committing to pay for successful outcomes. Up-front funding and ongoing support is provided by Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, a specialist social impact investor with extensive experience of delivering outcomes contracts. 

This role needs someone well organised and enthusiastic, who pays close attention to detail to support a fast paced and busy assertive outreach team.

As a Pause Practice Co-ordinator, you will be responsible for providing comprehensive administrative support and general assistance to Pause Northamptonshire to enable staff to perform their duties effectively and efficiently.

In addition, you will act as a key liaison for partner agencies and Pause Northamptonshire, as well as being a direct point of contact for the women themselves (although this will not include taking on any case work directly).

You’ll be a big part of a small team, where everyone takes a flexible and collaborative approach to work, and is committed to improving outcomes for vulnerable women. The Co-ordinator has a vital role in ensuring the smooth running of the Pause Practice, where most of your colleagues will be out of the office a lot of the time.

Key responsibilities

Administration and data:

·       Provision of administrative support to Pause Northamptonshire to ensure smooth running of the Practice, including receiving and coordinating incoming correspondence, coordinating a range of meetings and event management;

·       Developing, maintaining and regularly updating internal systems, both manual and IT, that support and enhance the work of the Practice;

·       Providing technical support and ensuring case recording is completed by the team in order to facilitate quality assurance reporting, which in turn demonstrates outcomes for women;

·       Assisting the development of effective systems for financial management of the ‘Woman’s Resource’ across the service area and management of the team’s expenses;

·       General office management, including responsibility for health and safety and working closely with the Practice Lead (team manager) on maintaining an accurate record of the team’s whereabouts, including lone working, leave and other absence arrangements.

Working with Pause women:

• Whilst this role does not involve any direct case work, Pause Co-ordinators do have some face-to-face contact and telephone calls with women. This requires the ability to speak to vulnerable women, sometimes in challenging circumstances, and respond sensitively to any cultural differences;
• Maintaining an up to date knowledge of significant developments in cases allocated to the team in order to support the Pause Practitioners in their work;
• Contributing to monitoring and evaluation of the programme by completing feedback interviews with participating women;
• Coordination and organisation of events (e.g. a launch party or yearly graduation for women), as well as group activities for Pause women;
• Coordination of newsletters for women and creative work that women can get involved in;
• An understanding of safeguarding requirements and processes and/or a commitment to attend necessary training;
• Adherence to compliance and confidentiality policies, ensuring all legislative, national and local policies in relation to children and vulnerable adults are followed correctly.

General requirements:

·       A shared understanding of the ethics and core values that underpin Pause, alongside a commitment to develop and deliver a trauma informed service;

·       Working within a flexible framework in order to meet the demands of the service outside usual office hours and travel as required;

·       Any other duties as might be required within the remit and responsibilities of the post.

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NB:  All employees are expected to adhere to Diversity & Equality and Health and Safety Policies.

Qualifications:

·       Relevant qualifications or demonstrated experience in delivering high quality administrative and office support at both operational and strategic levels.

Experience:

·       Effective administration experience and evidence of using verbal and written communication skills to enable liaison with a range of women, professionals and agencies

·       Experience of setting up and working on new projects (highly desirable);

·       Good level of numeracy and experience of monitoring budgets (highly desirable);

·       Experience of managing a variety of demanding tasks simultaneously and successfully achieving deadlines and targets through effective project management skills, often without close supervision;

·       Experience of setting up and maintaining effective office systems and ensuring access and confidentiality details are managed appropriately;

·       Some experience of front facing work with vulnerable adults (highly desirable).

Knowledge and skills:

·       Ability to think differently, problem solve and offer helpful, creative solutions in a fast-paced and demanding environment;

·       Ability to work in a self-motivated and proactive way, getting things done before they become major problems;

·       Proficient writing and data analysis skills with an ability to produce high quality work in a variety of formats;

·       Knowledge of a variety of software packages, particularly Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint; knowledge of other key digital levers is desirable (such as WordPress, InDesign, Adobe, social media platforms and creating info-graphics);

·       Ability to take and produce accurate and confidential minutes;

·       Reliability and integrity, together with an enthusiastic and flexible attitude, an ability to use initiative, apply diplomacy and demonstrate resilience in the workplace;

·       Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability and confidence to influence and manage a range of relationships., including the ability to deal with complex issues in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

Salary scales range between £18,000 – 22,000, depending on experience. This is a full-time position.

The Pause Co-ordinator is key to the successful functioning of a Practice. There are some significant differences between the Pause Co-ordinator role and more typical business support functions, therefore the job often does not have an existing equivalent within the local organisation structure. Early conversations with HR are helpful to ensure the role in not evaluated as purely administrative.

Pause Co-ordinators manage a wide and varied range of tasks, from the design and implementation of finance, data and performance monitoring systems, to event organising and high level strategic management support, as well as having some contact / liaison with women and partner agencies.

The importance of this role cannot be underestimated and it is not unusual for Pause Co-ordinators to have experience of direct work with vulnerable people, as well as significant experience of working in the public and voluntary sectors.

They are front facing and the main point of contact for the women themselves, professionals and others in their system. This means they need to demonstrate excellent interpersonal and communication skills at all levels, as well as having a depth of understanding around the needs of the women and their presenting issues.

This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised

At Catch22 we value equality, diversity and inclusion. We are wholeheartedly committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, both as an employer and as a provider of services. Diversity and Inclusion is part of what we do every day, working to deliver our vision to build a strong society where everyone has good people around them, a purpose, and a good place to live.