Job Description

HENRY Infant Feeding Practitioner (community), Waltham Forest

Part time fixed-term contract to 30th June 2027

0.6fte (22.5 hours/3 days a week), 0.4fte (15 hours/2 days a week)

Based on a full-time salary of 28,751.87 per annum, pro-rated salary of 17,251.12 for 0.6fte or 11,500.75 for 0.4fte

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Are you passionate about babies and helping support families with breastfeeding and bottle feeding journeys?

We are seeking an accredited Infant Feeding Practitioner/breastfeeding counsellor, who has experience of leading group sessions in a community setting.

Become part of a friendly team who care about providing a supportive environment to deliver excellent care to families in Waltham Forest.

With an empathic and caring approach, you will support families with both breastfeeding and bottle-feeding through face-to-face support. You will be able to build and maintain good relationships with our health and infant feeding partners to share our offer to help more local families find out about the service.

We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates who are from or represent our local community.

HENRY is a learning organisation with a strong culture rooted in development, self-reflection and partnership working. Our teams have a shared sense of support and community building at the heart of what we do. We respect differences and believe it helps build a stronger service.

Overview of role: Infant Feeding Practitioner

The local service:

We have a successful and established HENRY Infant Feeding service in Waltham Forest, based in the Children and Family Hubs. We provide practical and emotional support for families however they feed their babies. Practitioners deliver this support through face-to-face drop-in sessions and through a local Infant Feeding helpline.

The team will form a vital and early link into our Children and Family Hubs, helping families to know what is on offer in health and community settings so they can access support when they need it. You will be involved in community outreach to promote the service and to understand how we can best meet local needs.

Waltham Forest Family Hubs:

This role forms part of Waltham Forest's Family Hubs. HENRY and The Family Hubs team want all families in Waltham Forest to have access to the services and the support they need, within easy reach of their home.

We're looking for people who are passionate about giving families the best possible support in their community, reaching those who have been previously underserved and creating neighbourhoods where early feeding support is within reach of all families.

The team:

You will be joining a small team of community Infant Feeding Practitioners, who are accredited breastfeeding counsellors. The team is led by an Infant Feeding Team Lead, who oversees our community and hospital teams. Once recruitment is complete, you will be a key member of a team of 6 part time staff. The team is a flexible and friendly group, and there are regular opportunities to learn and reflect together, as well as 1-1 and group supervision.

There is a wider Waltham Forest HENRY team which you will work closely with.

Our early Infant Feeding team is currently delivering infant feeding support through the local hospital and provides a key link to help the community team. We also have a Healthy Families team, who deliver workshops, programmes and drop-in sessions for families on the topics of a healthy family lifestyle and dental health.

We are all driven by a desire to create a mutually supportive and creative team, as well as providing the very best support for families. We believe in ongoing learning and sharing. As part of this team, you will also build and maintain relationships with partners in the local community such as health services, children and family hubs, libraries, early years settings and other community providers.

Work base and travel:

This is a hybrid role, working between our office in Walthamstow Family Hub, a variety of settings and venues across Waltham Forest and your own home (should you wish). You will travel within the borough across each working week to provide infant feeding support and to undertake outreach at different locations. However admin tasks and helpline calls are often undertaken at a convenient office or home setting.

Infrequent travel across London may occasionally be required for training purposes. This will always be discussed with you first and with notice.

Hours:

We are recruiting a practitioner able to undertake 15-22.5 hours of work, over two or three days.

The team delivers a service running Monday to Friday, with face-to-face delivery taking place between 9.30-3.30 and helpline cover 9-5pm.

While many of our practitioners work part time, we each have set days and working hours in the week.

We are looking for a practitioner who can cover sessions across the week, with shortfalls identified as Tuesday and Friday afternoons to deliver a group session. We would also like to have the successful candidate work regular Wednesday afternoons for team meetings and phone line support each week.

We are open to whether a candidate would like to work just on Wednesday and either Tuesday or Friday, or all three days.

Contract:

Fixed term contract to 30.06.2027

Contact name: Marjorie Aissani, Infant Feeding Team Lead

Benefits package:

30 days annual leave per year plus bank holidays, pro-rated for part-time staff Charity Sick Pay Access to a pension scheme with a matched employer contribution of up to 6% Employee Assistance Programme, giving free and confidential access to a variety of wellbeing support services.

Job description: Infant Feeding Practitioner

Job Purpose:

To provide high quality and responsive infant feeding support to families, as well as developing the skills and knowledge of partner agencies to increase rates of breastfeeding. The HENRY practitioner role may comprise any or all of the following responsibilities. Additional role-specific information gives a more detailed description of individual posts.

Key Responsibilities:

Reach and engage diverse families Deliver infant feeding support in accordance with best practice Support volunteers and staff in partner agencies to promote breastfeeding Collect data to measure impact of services and drive improvement Reach and engage diverse families Participate in local public health events and campaigns to promote messages around infant feeding and babies' wider health and wellbeing. Consult with local services, community groups and families to identify diverse needs within the local population. Build and maintain collaborative relationships with local partners, creatively overcoming barriers to engage vulnerable and marginalised groups. Contribute to the development of resources, flyers and posters to promote key messages and HENRY support. Support and/or deliver outreach activities. Deliver infant feeding support in accordance with best practice Contribute to the delivery of the HENRY infant feeding service in accordance with planned milestones and targets and the needs of families, commissioners and stakeholders. Provide high-quality person-centred support, promoting the benefits of breastfeeding whilst respecting a mother's choice not to breastfeed. Set up, run and publicise workshops, drop-in sessions and other activities to support parents in feeding and caring for their baby. Follow safeguarding, lone working and health and safety policies to protect your own safety and the safety and wellbeing of children and families. Refer and/or signpost families to other local services, including specialist services, in response to identified needs and/or complex feeding issues. Support volunteers and staff in partner agencies to promote breastfeeding Contribute to the development of training materials and resources. Support and mentor staff in other organisations to deliver UNICEF Baby-Friendly services. Provide support and supervision for breastfeeding peer supporters. Disseminate evidence-based guidelines and resources for use by partner agencies. Collect data to measure impact of services and drive improvement Ensure feedback, evaluation and monitoring information is gathered and recorded for all services. Accurately collect and enter relevant data. Contribute to the preparation of reports. Participate in service reviews to establish the effectiveness of support provided and identify areas for improvement. Attitudes, behaviour & values Build respectful relationships, understanding the impact of your behaviour on others and being willing to adapt it when necessary Work effectively as a member of the team by consulting and sharing information with colleagues, managing your time to meet deadlines and preparing for meetings Maintain clear and accurate records Communicate effectively with partners. Comply with all organisational policies and procedures Model HENRY values Support own development through on-going reading, research and supervision

Person specification

Essential

Qualifications

Breastfeeding training, at least Peer Supporter level from a recognised organisation eg BfN, ABM, NCT

Experience

Minimum of 1 year's experience of effective and person-centred provision of infant feeding support

Promotion of breastfeeding

Working in a health or community setting with individuals and groups

Working with diverse ethnic and social groups

Partnership working

Working with vulnerable clients

Capturing data in relation to key indicators

Mentoring and supporting peer breastfeeding volunteers

Knowledge

Best practice in infant feeding support based on Baby Friendly guidance

Healthy development in the first year

Relevant health and early years services

Data protection and confidentiality

Safeguarding policies and procedures

Understanding the needs of volunteers

Fluent in one or more community language(s)

Skills and attitudes

High motivation to contribute to HENRY's work and commitment to organisational values

Working effectively as part of a team

Empathic and non-judgemental, skilled at providing information and support using a partnership approach

Excellent interpersonal skills - able to build respectful and sensitive relationships with mothers, families and multi-agency partners

Willingness to work flexibly, including evenings and weekends as required, to reach families

Committed to diversity, equality and inclusion

Able to manage and prioritise workload

Ability

Able and willing to travel and work across the service area

This role requires an enhanced DBS check.

Closing date for completed applications: 9am, Wednesday 12 November 2025

Interviews: TBC Tuesday 25th November 2025

Please go to www.henry.org.uk/jobs

for more information and to apply.

Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 8 months

Pay: From 28,751.87 per year

Expected hours: 15 - 22.5 per week

Benefits:

Additional leave Company pension Sick pay
Work Location: Hybrid remote in London E17 5PX

Application deadline: 12/11/2025