Foundation Advocate (E4187) - The Advonet Group

We have new opportunities for someone passionate about upholding people’s rights to work as a Foundation Advocate and join our existing team of Advocates who provide this service across Leeds.

About the role:

This is an exciting new role for the organisation. The vision of the role is that you will spend twelve months gaining experience of statutory and non-statutory advocacy and that at the end of your contract, be in a position to progress into a Universal Advocate role. 

You will use your knowledge and skills working with and supporting individuals to have a voice and advocate with, and for them.

You will be expected to:

• Within service boundaries, to provide high quality independent advocacy.
• To keep timely, accurate client contact and other records using The Advonet Group’s database and any other recording system in place. 
• To empower clients to build on their strengths and promote self-advocacy as appropriate. 
• To work in an instructed manner wherever possible or use a non-instructed approach to establish as far as possible, the clients’ views, wishes and feelings, using appropriate forms of communication with clients. 

We are looking for someone who has:

• Ability to develop and maintain trusting and positive professional relationships with people who use our services. 
• Ability to communicate effectively with different audiences in a variety of settings and using different formats. 
• Ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with a range of stakeholders e.g. partner organisations, statutory services. 
• Good IT skills in order to be self-supporting, including online research, production of reports and presentations. 

We particularly welcome applications from people identifying as male as they are currently under-represented within the advocacy team. 

Please note, if you can demonstrate that you meet the criteria of a Universal Advocate (job description and person spec available on request) you may be offered a Universal Advocate role which is the top end of the salary scale advertised.

About us:

Established in 1998, The Advonet Group is an independent advocacy charity based in Leeds. The Advonet Group is comprised of statutory and non-statutory advocacy services and specialist inclusion services, (Asking You!, CHANGE, Leeds Autism AIM, Leep1 – Leeds People First). All of our services support individuals to have their voices heard and their rights upheld.

We are united in our commitment to uphold the nationally recognised advocacy principles and have a diverse staff team of 80 people working within the organisation. We are a disability confident and Mindful Employer with Investors in People and Volunteers and have achieved the Advocacy Quality Performance Mark.

The Advonet Group values and respects the diversity of backgrounds, experiences and knowledge that staff, volunteers and job applicants bring. All our staff undertake mandatory training on both Equality and Diversity and LGBTQ+ Awareness to increase awareness and understanding of discrimination both in and out of the workplace, with a view to reduce the impact this has on our colleagues and the wider community. This creates a workplace where staff feel comfortable to be themselves and empowers them, and our service users, to use their unique experiences to inform their work.

“I feel I have grown as a person working for Advonet. I work with such a diverse group of people who are happy to support and help you to grow” - Staff satisfaction survey, (2020)

Benefits of working with us: 

We offer 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, a free employee support scheme, within an inclusive, supportive and friendly team. We also offer extensive internal training opportunities.

Closing date: Monday 15th July 12 Noon
Interviews to be held on: Thursday 25th July

Please note, if you are successful in securing an interview, we will be in contact on or before Friday 19th July

How to apply:

To apply for this role please complete The Advonet Group Application Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form, which can be found on the Advonet Group website, along with a detailed job description and person specification.

Please return applications to jobs@advonet.org.uk. (CVs will not be accepted).

If you would like more information or an informal chat about the post, please call on 0113 244 0606 and ask to speak to Kerry Shipley, Advocacy Lead for Health Complaints and Community or Tajinder Lyal, Advocacy Lead for IMHA or e-mail Kerry.shipley@advonet.org.uk  tajinder.lyal@advonet.org.uk 

The above post is not a Leeds City Council vacancy and has been advertised on behalf of the relevant organisation. To apply please follow their application instructions.