Lived Experience and Engagement Worker (23744)

Barnardo's; Horsforth; Remote; GBP 1,653,000 - 1,929,000; Part time

Job summary

Barnardo's in West Yorkshire is recruiting a Lived Experience and Engagement Worker. The role is 14.8 hours per week, spread over two days, with a work-from-anywhere approach blending community, office and home working.

You will engage autistic/learning-disabled families, capture lived experience to shape services, and work within the Lived Experience and Engagement Team to co-design and consult. Vehicle access is essential.

Qualifications

• Experience as parent/carer of a child with SEND/autism/learning disability.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• High level of computer literacy and note-taking ability.
• Ability to present complex information accessibly.

Responsibilities

• Engage with autistic and/or learning-disabled young people and families.
• Capture lived experience and feed into service development.
• Collaborate with the Lived Experience and Engagement Team to co-design and consult.
• Support parents/carers by reducing isolation through drop-ins, virtual and home visits.

Job description

Make a Difference in Your Community

West Yorkshire Keyworker Service

Barnardo's is proud to lead the delivery of Keyworker provision across West Yorkshire.

Incredible things happen when we believe in children

The West Yorkshire Keyworker Service offers non-clinical support for children and young people (up to the age of 25) who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic and are supported by the Dynamic Support Register. Support is also offered for their families/carers. This includes those who are currently in mental health inpatient settings or are at risk of admission and those at risk of family and residential placement breakdown.

We provide a wide range of high-quality, locally designed services for families in Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

Our commitment is to create strong, resilient children, young people and young adults, supported by cross sector services, their families and friends within their local communities.

The values of our Keyworker Team are paramount; person centred, non-judgemental, creative and passionate about supporting children, young people, and their families.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and is an important part of all the work we undertake.

About the Role

We are looking to recruit a Lived Experience and Engagement Worker who will lead supporting and capturing lived experience and engagement. The role is 14.8 hours per week and would be worked over 2 days per week.

You will be part of the Lived Experience and Engagement Team. Lived experience and learning is fed into ongoing service development and shared on a local level with service and area leads and at regional and national strategic levels.

This role will be embedded in the Keyworker Team to work closely with, co-design, engage and consult with autistic and/or learning-disabled young people and their families.

We recognise from our work with families that having a young person on the Dynamic Support Register (DSR) can be an anxious and isolating experience and the need for support and contact with other parents and carers in a similar position is valuable. You will empower parent carers and young people to share their experiences, share their learning and reduce isolation. This will be in a variety of ways, including drop-in sessions, virtual appointments and 1:1 home visit, where appropriate.

You will have experience of being the parent/carer of a child or young person with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)/autism and/or learning disability or experience of working with families of children or young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. It is essential to have a high level of computer literacy, proficiency in the use of MS Office applications, note taking and video conferencing (e.g. Teams).As our Lived Experience and Engagement Worker you will have excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to present complex information in an accessible manner for a variety of audiences, a non-judgemental attitude which makes you approachale and compassionate towards working with families and young people in crisis.

Barnardo's is taking a 'work from anywhere' working approach meaning a blend of, community, office and home working.

Access to a vehicle for work is essential in this role.

For an informal discussion, please contact Cheryl Shaw - Lived Experience and Engagement Lead at [e-mail]

Interview date is Thursday 22nd October 2026, please ensure you are available on this date.

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible