Early Help Advice Line Lead

Contract to start ASAP

Duration: 27 weeks with a possible extension.

Early Help Advice Line Lead – Vale of Glamorgan Council

Hours: Full-time (37 hours per week)

Contract: 27-week temporary contract from 30 November 2026 to 6 June 2027

Lead Early Help Advice and Support for Children, Young People and Families

We're recruiting an experienced Early Help Advice Line Lead to join Vale of Glamorgan Council, based at 7 Skomer Road, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, CF62 9DA.

This is a key early help and family support role responsible for leading an advice line service, supporting professionals and families to access the right help at the right time.

You'll provide guidance on early help pathways, coordinate enquiries, support decision-making and help ensure children, young people and families are connected to appropriate services before needs escalate.

About the Role

As Early Help Advice Line Lead, you'll oversee the effective delivery of the early help advice function, providing professional guidance to colleagues, partner agencies and families.

You'll help assess presenting needs, advise on suitable support options, coordinate referrals and ensure enquiries are managed consistently, safely and within required timescales.

What you'll be doing:

• Leading the day-to-day delivery of the Early Help Advice Line
• Providing advice and guidance to families, professionals and partner agencies
• Supporting early identification of need and appropriate intervention
• Reviewing enquiries and referrals to determine the most suitable next steps
• Providing information on available early help services and support pathways
• Supporting professionals with threshold and referral decisions
• Identifying safeguarding concerns and escalating appropriately
• Coordinating referrals and signposting to relevant internal and external services
• Maintaining accurate records of advice, referrals and outcomes
• Supporting consistent application of early help processes and guidance
• Monitoring workloads, response times and service demand
• Providing support and guidance to colleagues within the advice line function
• Working closely with children's services, schools, health and voluntary-sector partners
• Contributing to multi-agency working and information sharing
• Identifying recurring themes and gaps in service provision
• Supporting service improvement and development of early help pathways
• Preparing reports, performance information and management updates
• Ensuring confidentiality, safeguarding and information governance requirements are followed

Requirements

We're looking for a confident and experienced early help or family support professional with strong communication, safeguarding and decision-making skills.

You'll ideally have:

• Previous experience within early help, family support, children's services or a related field
• Experience providing advice and guidance to families or professionals
• Good understanding of early help pathways and intervention
• Strong knowledge of safeguarding and child protection
• Experience reviewing referrals and assessing levels of need
• Ability to make sound decisions and escalate concerns appropriately
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Experience working with schools, health services and partner agencies
• Good case-management and record-keeping skills
• Ability to manage a busy advice or referral service
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills
• Experience providing guidance or support to colleagues
• Previous local authority children's services experience would be highly desirable
• Knowledge of multi-agency working and information-sharing requirements
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound professional judgement
• Eligibility to work in the UK
• Ability to provide relevant references/work history
• Ability to complete required safeguarding and pre-employment checks

Why Apply

• Opportunity to work with Vale of Glamorgan Council
• Competitive Umbrella rate of £26.01 per hour
• Full-time 37-hour working week
• 27-week temporary assignment
• Key role supporting children, young people and families
• Opportunity to influence early intervention and referral pathways
• Chance to work closely with multi-agency partners
• Opportunity to build further local authority children's services experience

Benefits

• Weekly Pay
• Company Pension
• Ongoing Agency Support

Additional Information

Client: Vale of Glamorgan Council

Job Title: Early Help Advice Line Lead

Location: 7 Skomer Road, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, CF62 9DA

Positions Available: 1

Hours: 37 hours per week

Start Date: 30 November 2026

End Date: 6 June 2027

Contract Duration: 27 weeks

Contract Type: Temporary

Pay Rate: Umbrella: £26.01 per hour

Job Types: Full-time, Temporary contract

Pay: £26.01 per hour

Benefits:

• Company pension

Application question(s):

• Do you have previous experience within early help, family support or children's services?
• Do you have experience providing advice and guidance to families or professionals?
• Are you confident reviewing referrals, identifying levels of need and escalating safeguarding concerns?
• Do you have experience working with schools, health services or other partner agencies?
• Are you able to reliably travel to 7 Skomer Road, Barry, CF62 9DA?
• Are you available to start from 30 November 2026?

Experience:

• Early Help / Family Support: 2 years (required)
• Children's Services / Safeguarding: 2 years (preferred)
• Advice Line / Referral Management: 1 year (preferred)
• Local Authority Children's Services: 1 year (preferred)

Licence/Certification:

• Relevant Children's Services / Family Support Qualification (preferred)

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Disclaimer: On applying for this vacancy, you agree that your personal details will be passed onto our client for their consideration of your suitability for the role. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to notify iWork Recruitment Limited of any hirer who I do not want my details to be passed onto.

OR121250-11-26