Job Description

Barnardo's is delighted to be working with Buckinghamshire Council to develop an innovative, culturally competent and culturally safe service to improve health outcomes for local women.



The role of the Women's Community Health Worker is to help improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of a targeted group of women, living within identified areas of Aylesbury and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire before, during and after their pregnancies. You will provide a range of targeted one-to-one, group and community-based activities offering health advice and guidance as well as support to access other services as appropriate. The Women's Community Health Workers will provide:

Support

: Provide women with opportunities to identify areas for support and cocreate a plan together of how you will achieve these.

Education

: Provide evidence based information to women in both one to one and group settings, enabling them to make evidence informed decisions about their health and care (training will be provided).

Navigation of the system

: working collaboratively with partners to support their engagement of women and actively remove any barriers.

Gathering and sharing knowledge:

Bring together local information pertaining to women's experiences, to help shape the service and bring about wider system change, ensuring all women have access to equitable services.

Women's Community Health Workers will also serve as "buddies" for peer support volunteers who will support the work of the service.

Who we are looking for

Whilst we strongly encourage applications from local ethnically minoritised individuals, we will prioritise those who bring a complementary skillset and experience to the role; as well as those that can strongly demonstrate the values of cultural humility in the following ways:

Self-reflection:

Being aware of how your own world view/ use of language/ behaviours/ practices can positively and negatively contribute to people's ability to achieve

A commitment to ongoing learning/curiosity:

Knowing that as an individual, you cannot know everything about someone's/ a group's lived experience and continuously seek to learn new things with an open mind, from a range of sources- including from communities themselves.

Compassion/empathy:

The ability to decentre your own feelings and understand and share the feelings of others.

Awareness of negative power relations:

Having an understanding of dynamics within society which can negatively impact others. This includes issues relating to: race, social class, gender, disability and sexuality.

There is a strong emphasis on supporting maternal and infant outcomes within this service, so experience working with mothers and babies/ young children would be advantageous but not essential.





In addition to the above, the Women's Community Health Workers will need:


To be approachable and friendly To be adaptable To use initiative and be able to work alone or as part of the team Courage and confidence to challenge ways of working both within the service/ organisation and partners (with support) Have the ability to work across Aylesbury and High Wycombe in a variety of settings including health and community venues

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.

Pay & Reward FrameworkWe know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.


For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.


Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.



Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.


Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements. Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options Service related sick pay from day 1 Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension Cycle2work scheme Interest free season ticket loans Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal 20% discount at Barnardo's stores Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's


We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Our basis and values

Reference number: 21865
Job Title: Women's Community Health Worker
Location: Workplace offer: Hybrid working, Barnardo's hub/office or home address
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 37
Salary: 25,492.00 - 27,023.00
Closing Date: 24 October 2025
Interview Date: 4th November 2025

Benefits

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Discounts at 100's of retailers
Employee suggestion scheme
Company pension
Employee Assistance Programme