Family Support

hireful; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 19,000; Part time

Job summary

A well-known charity is seeking a compassionate Appeals Supervisor in South West London to support families of missing individuals. This part-time role involves assessing support requests, providing guidance, and liaising with police and media. Ideal candidates should have experience in frontline services and safeguarding, as well as strong communication skills. Benefits include generous annual leave and pension contributions. This role is crucial in helping families navigate the trauma associated with missing persons, embodying the charity's values of support and hope.

Benefits

28 days annual leave

Company pension contribution

Life insurance

Employee Assistance Programme

Interest-free Season Ticket Loans

Qualifications

• Experience handling sensitive interactions and crisis intervention situations.
• Ability to communicate compassionately with people experiencing trauma.
• Experience working collaboratively with various stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Assess and process requests for support from families of missing individuals.
• Communicate effectively within safeguarding procedures.
• Train and supervise volunteers to maintain service quality.

Skills

Experience of working in a frontline service delivering advice, help or support to vulnerable people

Understanding of safeguarding vulnerable adults and/or young people

Ability to risk assess and take appropriate safeguarding actions

Knowledge of issues surrounding missing children and vulnerable adults

Sensitivity to the impact of class, gender and race

Job description

Family Support – Appeals Supervisor

Location: South West London (Central Office is based in Mortlake – 12 mins from Clapham Junction and 23 mins from Waterloo)
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part time 20 hrs per week, Monday to Friday. 5 shifts 10.00 - 14.00
Salary: Salary £32,140 per annum pro rata (£18,365 actual)

Benefits: 28 days annual leave per annum/pro rata plus statutory holidays on appointment. Additional annual leave days awarded on length of service* • Company pension contribution • Life insurance (3 x salary)* • Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) including 24/7 support helpline • Interest-free Season Ticket Loans* • Additional maternity pay and leave* • Additional paternity pay* • Additional sick pay* *available after probation period passed

Job Summary

When someone goes missing, our client provides help to families, friends and professional carers who wish to publicise their appeal. This can be through the charity’s website resources, appeals and opportunities for publicity in the media.

You will support families, friends and professional carers to make appeals when someone has officially been reported as missing. The role will involve communicating in a timely, compassionate and knowledgeable manner with people experiencing the trauma of missing someone and managing families’ initial expectations of the service. You will assess the most appropriate activities to safeguard and reconnect the missing person and be responsible for police liaison and updates. You will assess with families the use of public display publicity which may begin after 3 days and help families to understand what they can do themselves. You will work closely with the Communications team, providing them with accurate and timely information if publicity is the appropriate choice. You will also access and process 'Urgent missing’ requests and work with the Communications team to make the alert happen.

You will understand the needs of longer-term families who still want to publicise their missing person, and you will advocate on their behalf to help make sure their voice is heard.

You will work collaboratively with specialists in Family Support, Publicity, Helpline and Fundraising & Communications teams to support the families and missing people they are here to help.

Key Accountabilities

Service delivery

• Assess and process incoming requests from family members, friends and professional carers and agree the most suitable support and publicity actions. Manage requests with high standards of accuracy, risk and criteria management, data management, and confidentiality;
• Risk assess all contacts to ensure any safeguarding issues in relation to the missing person or their family members are dealt with effectively. Participate in safeguarding decision making and implement safeguarding procedures.
• Handle sensitive interactions, deal with crisis intervention situations, assess risk within Missing People policy and consult where appropriate.

Team Working and external communications

• Ensure families are aware of all the services on offer to them, working collaboratively with other members of the team to provide a smooth transition into Family Support and Publicity;
• Work closely with IT, Impact, Family Support, Publicity and helpline teams identifying data issues,
• Communicate updates and signpost into their services, initiatives, engagement opportunities, events and activities to family members and other people affected by a disappearance.

Volunteer supervision and support

• Train volunteers on shift in identified tasks. Provide clear written instructions and demonstrate the task through examples and shadowing.
• Monitor volunteer work on shift to ensure good record keeping, professional communication, appropriate safeguarding and accuracy.

About you

You must have the right to work in the UK. The person specification in the job description provides full details of what we are looking for, and this includes:

• Experience of working in a frontline service delivering advice, help or support to vulnerable people by phone or digitally;
• Experience and/or demonstrable understanding of safeguarding vulnerable adults and/or young people;
• Experience of working with a range of internal and external stakeholders including volunteers, other teams and the police or other statutory services.

Abilities, Skills and Knowledge

• Ability to risk assess, make welfare and needs assessment and take appropriate safeguarding and contact care actions.
• Knowledge of the issues surrounding missing children and vulnerable adults;
• Aware of and sensitive to the impact of class, gender and race and to be willing to act appropriately;
• An ability to navigate the issues and nuances of working with people experiencing trauma in a way that centres their needs with an expert but open approach.

About Them

Somebody goes missing in the UK every 90 seconds. They exist to ease the heartache experienced by those missing someone, and to help people who are away from home find their way back to safety. Their vision is for every missing child, adult and family left behind to find help, hope and a safe way to reconnect. They are a non‑judgemental, highly skilled team of staff and volunteers working for everyone who needs them. They provide free, confidential support, help and advice by phone, email, text and live chat. They coordinate a UK‑wide network of people, businesses and media to join the search for the estimated 170,000 people who go missing each year. They aim to put people with lived experience at the heart of their work, amplifying their voices to achieve change. Working for them means living their values. It’s a place where people are encouraged to ‘let fly’ so you can ‘make things happen’. They know you’re more than just a job title, and ‘be human’ is an important value here. They are an independent charity that relies on donations.

Please find attached a detailed job description and person specification, and a letter to applicants from the line manager.

Closing date: 12:00 on 2 January 2026. They reserve the right to close the advert early if they have sufficient interest.
Interviews: 7/9 January 2026
Start: ASAP

Please ensure you include your CV and a brief covering letter explaining how you would be a good fit for this role.

REF-225 537