Best Start in Life Parenting Officer

Best Start Parenting Officer

Ref:

Salary: £40,777 p.a. plus benefits

Please note: 3.3% national pay award increase to be applied in October.

37 hours per week

Fixed term contract – 12 months

Swindon Borough Council is on an exciting journey to transform service delivery. We want our town to be the best it can be. Our ambitious vision in the Swindon Plan is supported by realistic transformation programmes, with the people of Swindon at their heart. Because that's who we're doing it for: the communities and businesses that make our borough great. As part of the Council, you'll support a friendly local authority making decisions with real impact. It's all for better public services, better processes and a better quality of life for everyone. Join us, and Swindon will be better with you.

Your next role

This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in developing and coordinating Swindon's parenting offer as part of our ambitious Best Start in Life programme.

As our Best Start Parenting Officer, you will work across the partnership landscape to ensure parenting support for families is accessible, equitable, evidence-based and responsive to local needs. Your primary focus will be on coordinating services, building strong relationships with partners, identifying gaps in provision and ensuring families can access the right support at the right time.

About you

• Coordinate parenting support services across Swindon, particularly for families with children aged 0-5.
• Map and review parenting provision, identifying gaps, duplication and opportunities for improvement.
• Build strong partnerships across statutory, community and voluntary sector organisations.
• Improve referral pathways and family access to support.
• Lead on performance monitoring, quality assurance and service improvement activity.
• Use data, feedback and local intelligence to improve reach, accessibility and outcomes.
• Line manage and support four Family and Parenting Workers.
• Promote strengths-based, inclusive and relationship-focused practice.
• Support the delivery and sustainability of evidence-based parenting programmes.
• Contribute to the Best Start in Life programme and wider early help priorities.

About you

We're looking for an enthusiastic, collaborative and organised professional who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and families.

You will be required to have the following skills and experience:

• A relevant Level 3 qualification or above, or substantial relevant experience in parenting support, family support, social care, youth work, housing or a related field.
• Experience of working directly with children, parents and families.
• Strong understanding of safeguarding and child development.
• Experience of partnership working across services and organisations.
• Experience of leadership, supervision or line management.
• The ability to build positive relationships and engage families from diverse communities.
• Excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills.
• The ability to work independently and manage competing priorities.

Desirable

• Accreditation or qualification in evidence-based parenting programmes such as PEEP, Family Links, Solihull Approach, Freedom Programme, RESPECT RYPP or similar.
• Experience of Family Hubs, early help or community-based family support services.
• Experience of service coordination, quality assurance or programme development.

The role requires travel across the borough and occasional evening or weekend working within contractual hours.

Enhanced DBS check required.

You must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act "for the effective performance of a customer-facing role").

Your next package

Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.

As an employee, you will receive a diverse and exciting environment in which to work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst recognising the need to support ongoing personal development and a flexible work life balance.

For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.

Please see our Vision and Values page for more details and our new Swindon Plan.

Potential applicants are sometimes put off if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We think individual experience, skills and passion make all the difference, so if you meet the majority of the criteria, we’d love to hear from you.

As an inclusive employer, we welcome applications from a diverse range of communities, and in particular disabled people and people from ethnic minorities. Read our statement of commitment to equality & inclusion.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Suzie Igoe, Programme Lead for the Best Start in Life on

If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application, please email

Closing date: 16 October 2026

Interview date: 29 October 2026

#J-18808-Ljbffr