Recruiting a Childrens Lead

Job advert

Children’s Lead / Children’s Worker

12 hours a week (including 2 hours some Sundays, and some limited evening/weekend working)

Salary - currently funded in the region of £9,600pa (£28,800 FTE) across five years

Closing date for applications: Sunday 15th March 2026

‘Brum Unitarians’ is a Unitarian community attended by both atheists and people with a faith. We offer Sunday gatherings from a fundamentally humanist perspective, inclusive of people of all faiths and none. We are explicitly LGBTQ+ inclusive, committed to anti-racism, and guided by the principle that ‘we need not think alike to love alike’.

In 2025 we piloted a new style of Sunday gathering designed to be welcoming and accessible to families with younger children. This has been successful in attracting and retaining new families. We are now ready to take the next step by recruiting someone to develop our offering for children and families, and have confirmed funding for this role for up to five years.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape something new, creative and impactful.

The Children’s Lead will:

Take responsibility for creating and leading a values-led Sunday programme for children to be delivered in the hall during Sunday Gatherings
Oversee our continued creche-style provision for babies and pre-school children (liaising with workers, assisting in design of activities, leading on safeguarding)
Take the lead on introducing age-appropriate social justice activities
Lead on helping us experiment with intergenerational Sunday gatherings, i.e. ones designed for attendees of all ages to remain in the same space throughout
Explore/support the establishment of an after-school/early-evening “not-Sunday” group for children within our congregation, to further their relationships with each other, and provide a space for their exploration of their spiritual values, sense of agency, and their place in the community and wider world
In due course, explore additional programming, which might include establishing a Woodcraft Folk group, designing a “Coming of Age” programme for children and young people, or other ideas developed collaboratively with the congregation
Recruit, support and coordinate volunteers and any paid assistants involved as necessary
Work closely with the minister, trustees, and Sunday Gatherings team to ensure children and families are fully included in the life of the community, in all our activities, not just Sunday gatherings.

The Children’s Lead and our trustees will agree together the focus areas, and will have regular check-ins about progress. Support will be offered from the trustees, part-time minister and Sunday gatherings team, and further support is available from the wider Unitarian movement in the form of advice from a Children & Families network which meets remotely, on a monthly basis.

The successful candidate will be able to evidence that they are a “starter finisher” able to work independently, take initiative and see a project through to completion.

The role will suit someone who is experienced in and passionate about working with children particularly the 5-12 age group, values reflective and exploratory approaches to spirituality and ethics, and enjoys building something from the ground up. You do not need to be a member of a Unitarian congregation, but you must be in sympathy with our ethos. This includes being comfortable working within a community that expressly caters for people with a diverse range of beliefs including atheists and theists. You must be at ease working within our values, including of LBGTQ+ equality.

Wider Unitarian values include an emphasis on the interdependence of all living beings, pluralism, justice, freedom of religious thought, rational inquiry, and the embracing of wisdom and teaching from many diverse sources.

The post is subject to an enhanced DBS check. We are committed to safeguarding and to creating a safe, welcoming environment for all children and families.

We will appoint as soon as the right candidate is found. Contract length and salary will be discussed: the funding is for five years reviewable annually. The role is based in Birmingham, with some Sunday working required, and some possible occasional after-school/early evening work.

Please see Person Description below.

How to apply:

Closing date: Sunday 15th March 2026.

Application form (via a google form) is here: https://tinyurl.com/34up8xv3

Information regarding application form:

Please note that the application form requires you to answer three questions. Before you can progress to that part of the application form, it will ask you to confirm that you have emailed us your C.V.

The three questions are:

1.⁠ ⁠Working with children aged around 5–12 is a central part of this role. Please describe your experience of working with children in this age group, including how you design and deliver engaging, inclusive age-appropriate activities. You may find it helpful to refer to an example.

2. This role involves building and developing new provision over time. Please describe your experience taking projects from initial idea through to delivery and completion, including organising and prioritising work, and working with others. You may find it helpful to refer to an example.

3. Brum Unitarians is an explicitly inclusive community that welcomes people of all faiths and none and supports children to explore values, meaning and ethics without promoting a fixed belief system. Please tell us why this ethos appeals to you, and how you would approach supporting children’s moral, ethical and spiritual development in such a setting.

Please note that the application form will ask you to confirm whether you have used A.I. in the writing of your application, how, and why.

Person description:

Essential experience and skills:

Experience of teaching or working with groups of children, particularly primary age children, in an educational, community, youth work, childcare or similar setting.
Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to plan programmes over time, juggle multiple strands of work and follow things through.
Ability to design and deliver engaging, age appropriate activities that support children’s moral, ethical and spiritual development, understood in a broad and inclusive sense.
Experience of leading, coordinating or supporting others, such as volunteers, interns or assistants.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with children, parents/carers, volunteers, trustees and ministers.
A strong understanding of safeguarding practice and a commitment to creating safe, inclusive and welcoming spaces for children and families.
Willingness to undertake an enhanced DBS check.

Values and approach:

A commitment to inclusion and equality, including towards LGBTQ+ people, attentive to racial and cultural diversity, welcoming to people of all faiths and none, and respectful of diverse family structures.
Comfortable working in a setting that explicitly welcomes people ‘from atheists to theists’, and able to support children in exploring values and meaning without promoting a fixed belief system.
A reflective, creative and curious approach, with a willingness to experiment, learn from what works and what does not, and adapt over time.
An understanding of Unitarian values such as freedom of belief, rational inquiry, compassion, justice and respect for diversity.

Desirable experience and skills:

Experience of developing structured programmes or curricula for children or young people.
Experience of intergenerational work or family-focused activities.
Experience of community development or growing participation in community and/or faith-based settings.
Familiarity with organisations or approaches such as Woodcraft Folk, Scouts/Guides, ‘messy church’, or Coming of Age style programmes.
Knowledge of the Unitarian movement, or experience in similarly open and non-creedal faith or ethical communities e.g. Quakers, Red Sunday School or similar.
Competency in engaging children through oral storytelling, or similar skill-set.