About Kinship:

Kinship is the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales. We offer kinship carers financial, legal, practical and emotional support and understanding from the moment they need it, for as long as they need it. Our expert advice, information and guidance helps with complicated and stressful decisions that so many kinship families have to make. We are always there to support them through challenging times and celebrate the good. 

Kinship carers are strong and determined. Together, they are powerful. We help them build communities of support and action by connecting families locally and across England and Wales. 

We are at the heart of kinship networks, partnering with and influencing service providers, local and national government and other organisations. We give everything we have to fight for each family and their rights, changing society until every kinship family is recognised, valued and supported. 

Kinship care often begins in crisis. A child has parents who are unable to care for them, for whatever reason. It can be frightening, confusing and heart-breaking.

Instinctively, a loved one steps in – a grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle or family friend. They are now a kinship carer, bringing up the children they love. There is often no chance to prepare. Plans may be pushed aside. Relationships, jobs and savings are frequently sacrificed.

It is life changing and challenging raising children who have been hurt or neglected, but kinship carers do it anyway because they put the children first.

We know how hard life can be for kinship carers, but we have seen the amazing things they are capable of, with someone by their side. With the right support, children raised in kinship families can flourish. 

That is why we support, connect and campaign – to keep kinship families stronger by keeping them together.

About the Team:

The Strategic Engagement Manager role sits in our newly formed Network Development team, created to ensure successful delivery of our Department for Education funded Training and Support Service. The Network Development team is part of the Development department which also includes Business Development, Fundraising, and our development work in Wales.

The Network Development team is responsible for engaging with Local Authorities and other strategic partners to raise awareness of our work and drive referrals of kinship carers to our services. As a department, we generate income through a range of channels to maintain and extend our wide-ranging support to kinship carers.

About the role

The Strategic Engagement Manager is a key role in our Network Development Team, reporting to the Head of Network Development. The postholder will work with organisations across England to build partnerships which help us to reach more kinship carers with our Training and Support Service. Developing our partnerships across multiple locations and varied organisations will enable us to reach a broader, more diverse community of kinship carers – ensuring as many kinship carers as possible benefit from the service and our wider Kinship Community offer.

We are looking for a capable and energetic partnership development professional to join our team and help us achieve our ambitious targets for this programme, for Kinship, and for kinship carers.

Key responsibilities:

• Working with the Head of Network Development to plan and execute a new strategic approach to developing partnerships with relevant organisations

• Building an up-to-date and accurate picture of the organisations in contact with kinship families

• Leading on the development and ongoing management of partnerships across a wide range of organisations including education and health, charities and cultural and faith groups

• Establishing connections between partner organisations, the Training and Support team, peer support groups, Kinship’s services, and the wider ecosystem of kinship support

• Proactively using our Salesforce CRM database to record, collate, and analyse information to inform delivery and evidence effectiveness of your work

• Collaborating effectively with internal colleagues and external partners to collect and share information and to develop and deliver effective plans to reach and engage kinship carers

• Collaborating with the marketing team to develop integrated plans or reaching and promoting Kinship to key organisations

• Being a credible and knowledgeable face of Kinship, including preparing and delivering high quality presentations, in person and online, to raise awareness about the Training and Support Service and other services and programmes

• Promoting available resources including the online information hub, Kinship Compass to kinship carers

• Collaborating with partners to attend awareness raising workshops on the Training and Support Service, establish referral pathways, and improve signposting to support

• In collaboration with the training team, supporting the development and delivery of high quality and engaging training and support roadshows and events for kinship carers

Knowledge, abilities, skills and experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering a strategic engagement plan to develop strong, collaborative relationships with a range of stakeholders, ideally in a relevant role and organisation

• Experience of proactively and successfully identifying and securing new relationships, managing a pipeline, and account managing relationships

• Excellent project management skills with proven ability to work across teams and coordinate work and activity to achieve organisational objectives 

• Ability to respond quickly and effectively to external opportunities and developments

• Excellent communication skills, with an ability to present information clearly, accurately, and persuasively

• Ability to represent Kinship confidently and effectively with a range of audiences 

• Experience of using databases to manage and build relationships (ideally Salesforce)

• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment, responding with flexibility and agility to changing and competing priorities and emerging opportunities

• Able to work on own initiative and take responsibility for own area of work

• Ability to apply Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Principles in all areas of work

• Empathetic, with an understanding of the lived experience of kinship carers and the children and young people they care for.

• Confident user of Word, Excel and PowerPoint

• Ability to travel to meet the needs of the role

Desirable

• Experience of kinship care

• Own vehicle and clean driving license

Equality Diversity and Inclusion 

Kinship is committed to championing equality, diversity and inclusion.  We believe our work is greatly enhanced by the varied backgrounds, experiences and views represented within our teams.  We aim to create inclusive teams, celebrate differences and encourage everyone to join us and be their true self at work.   We therefore encourage applications from anyone who fits our values, whatever their religion or belief, sex, gender identity, race, age, sexuality or disability and are actively seeking candidates that can bring real innovation and commitment to us.