The Vacancy

While predominantly known for the role Cafcass takes in supporting almost 140,000+ children and young people in family court cases, what may be less well known is that our targeted use of technology is a key factor in ensuring we are at the forefront of our sector.

A digital organisation rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in 2024, our IT team, in collaboration with our private sector partners, provides the technology that is a critical enabler for our diverse, flexible, mobile workforce. We are proud to work hand-in-hand with colleagues to provide the tools and services that ultimately benefit children and families.

As we continue to evolve and grow our team, we are recruiting for a number of roles that whilst distinct, have some common features and therefore you may want to view all of these to decide which best play to your strengths > current vacancies.

About the role

We are seeking two experienced Senior IT Project Managers to support the successful delivery of a portfolio of IT projects and programmes across Cafcass. Working closely with the IT Programme Manager, you will lead large-scale and/or complex transformational projects, provide leadership to project teams, and ensure that agreed outcomes and benefits are delivered to time, cost and quality. Whilst we already achieve a 95% staff satisfaction with our technology, we have an ambitious programme in place to make it even better.

This is a key leadership role, combining hands-on project delivery with coaching and mentoring of IT Project Managers and strong stakeholder engagement at all levels.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and manage complex IT projects from initiation through to implementation
• Provide visible leadership to IT Project Managers and project teams
• Plan and manage multiple projects concurrently within agreed governance
• Select and apply appropriate delivery methodologies (e.g. Agile, Waterfall)
• Manage project budgets, risks, issues and dependencies
• Ensure project benefits are clearly defined, tracked and realised
• Challenge assumptions and provide assurance on plans, delivery and outcomes
• Report progress, risks and finances to sponsor boards and senior leaders
• Build strong partnerships with business stakeholders, PMO and suppliers

About you

You will be a confident and experienced IT Project Manager with strong leadership capability and a track record of delivering complex change in demanding environments.

You will have:

• Substantial IT project management experience, including risk, issue and budget management
• Line management experience and experience leading project teams and working with external suppliers
• Strong knowledge of Agile and traditional delivery approaches
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills
• Experience working with sensitive and confidential data

Desirable:

• Practitioner-level project management qualification
• Degree-level qualification (preferably IT-related)

What we offer

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer generous annual leave (28 days rising to 33 days with 5 years' continuous service, and it may be possible to recognise your current service), a Local Government Pension Scheme with significant employer contribution and a range of other financial and non-financial benefits to support your financial, physical and mental wellbeing.

Where you will work

If you join us, whilst your contractual office base will be one of the 30+ offices we have across England, it is highly likely you will work remotely as you will be part of a team based around the country. However, you can expect some level of national travel for things like meetings with your team, senior leaders and key suppliers.

Timeline

Here is an indicative timeline for the recruitment process:

Closing date

02/06/2026 23:59

Initial interview (remote via Teams)

29 & 30 June 2026

Meet the team (remote via Teams)

6 July 2026

Final interview (in-person, Manchester)

14 July 2026

We have purposefully set an initial deadline not too far away but reserve the right to extend. If we do, this doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of anyone that has already applied, only that we wish to extend to allow more people to apply and give ourselves the broadest pool of applicants to consider.

While we don't wish to discourage you from using AI as a support tool, applications should reflect your own thinking, experience and voice, as overreliance on AI-generated content may limit our ability to assess your suitability for the role.

As long as you have started your application by the closing date, you will have up to two days to complete and submit your application.

The 'meet the team' is an informal opportunity for you to meet the wider IT team (including those you may line manage) and key internal stakeholders, something that when we've recruited previously applicants have found valuable in helping them to get a deeper insight into our team, organisation and culture.

In anticipation of your application being successful, you might want to read about the offer and pre-employment checks process. As part of your application, you can highlight any concerns or questions about the pre-employment checks and we encourage all applicants to do so, safe in the knowledge such information will not be shared with individuals involved in the selection process.

Please be advised successful applicants will be subject to a range of pre-engagement checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). In accordance with the DBS code of practice and our own policy, should an individual have a declared criminal offence an individual assessment will be completed. Further information on what the assessment covers can be found by viewing the Cafcass DBS policy.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Be Their Voice

We are Cafcass - the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service - and we represent children in family court cases in England.

Independently advising the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests, we speak up for over 130,0000 children every year when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures, ensuring their needs, wishes and feelings are heard.

Watch our video to find out we don't just listen to children's voices but we can be their voice.

If our purpose resonates with you, and you share our ambitions for children - exceptional experiences, for every child, everywhere and every time - then if you join us, you will work alongside like-minded people in a diverse, inclusive and supportive organisation.

You will be trusted to work flexibly and independently using outstanding technology (e.g. touchscreen laptops, iPhone, all with first class support, including IT Trainers) with access to substantial resources (e.g. Cafcass Library has over 27,000 resources on social work, child protection and related topics). You will also have opportunities to develop, whatever team you join, wherever you are in the country and at whatever stage you are at in your career.

Whether you join us in one of our social work roles that work directly with children and families or our corporate and business services teams who provide technology, support and expertise, you will have the chance to make a difference for children and families. You can also find out more at www.cafcass.gov.uk/careers.

Wellbeing

The wellbeing of our colleagues is something we are truly passionate about, as demonstrated by everyone having four dedicated, additional days per year when they are encouraged to spend time focusing on their health and wellbeing.

Colleagues can also have a health and wellbeing cash plan, for which Cafcass pays the basic premium (you can upgrade to include family members), which allows them to claim back some costs of routine health expenses, including dental check-ups, eye tests, physiotherapy sessions and more.

Overall, we foster a holistic approach to supporting our colleagues, benefitting physical, mental and financial health. This is led by a dedicated in-house team, the benefits of which include meaning support is targeted and specific to what colleagues need. Our team can also offer support and guidance when it comes to specific health conditions, such as neuro-diverse conditions, cancer and the menopause.

Our wellbeing offer is further strengthened by an external Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) which provides a free confidential support service 24 hours a day. This means access to clinical and professional expertise which gives you a chance to talk about all kinds of work and personal issues.

If this wasn't enough, we are especially proud that over 125 colleagues have completed training and receive ongoing support to act as Health and Wellbeing Champions. Furthermore, we have nearly 100 people that have trained to be Mental Health Allies.

Diversity

We represent children and families from diverse backgrounds and having a diverse workforce helps us to fulfil this responsibility authentically.

It also helps us to grow, evolve and innovate, so we particularly welcome applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader, we invite you to join our team, we are committed to actively attract and recruit individuals with disabilities including "non-visible" disabilities and mental health conditions. Our inclusive and accessible recruitment process means we aim to accommodate reasonable adjustments as needed. This commitment highlights our dedication to employing, training, retaining, and developing the careers of our colleagues with disabilities.

Our Diversity Networks provide a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience - supported by allies across the organisation. The networks help ensure we provide an inclusive working environment and a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds.

For more information watch our video here.

Our current networks include:

Ability Matters

Colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

Carers Network

Colleagues with additional caring responsibilities for someone close to them who has a disability or long-term health condition.

Faith Network

Colleagues who are part of, or have an interest in, religious or spiritual faith communities.

Kaleidoscope Network

Colleagues from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Mental Health Network

Colleagues who experience, or have an interest in, Mental Health issues.

Pride
Network

Colleagues who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans - LGBT+.

Neurodiversity Network

Colleagues who are neurodivergent, or support someone who is.

Together

'Together with Children and Families' (which we just call 'Together') is the name of our relationship-based practice framework. It applies to the work of every individual in Cafcass, from Social Workers to Leaders and includes our Corporate and Business Support teams.

It is at the heart of what we do and is made up of our values, how these values work in practice, the tools to use to incorporate these values in our work and the impact this will have on the children and families we serve.

This framework encourages us to be pro-active and to look for the strengths in ourselves and others. It also enables us to build positive relationships with our colleagues, our partners and most importantly, with the children and families with whom we work.

We look forward to telling helping you learn more about Together should you join us.

Benefits

We know if you join us you want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, including time away from work to spend time with those important to you, manage your financial present and future, whilst also be trusted to manage your work/life balance.

Therefore, in addition to our unique, holistic approach to supporting your health and wellbeing we also provide:

Generous holidays

28 days holiday (including three for Christmas) rising to 33 days with five years continuous service, which could include your current employment. You can also sell any you do not need.

Excellent pension

13.7% employer contribution to Local Government Pension scheme, potentially building on your current pension.

Flexible working

Most colleagues work in a hybrid way, having the benefits of working both from the office and home, we also accommodate flexible working requests (e.g. 9-day fortnights).

Exclusive discounts

Generous discounts with wide range of companies covering leisure, technology, travel, personal finance, fashion and supermarkets.

Professional fees

Social work colleagues have their annual Social Work England membership fees reimbursed.

Car leasing schemes

We offer a personal car leasing scheme which provides vehicles at competitive rates through a third party.

This list is just a selection of main benefits and we have a range of policies and processes that allow us to support our colleagues - and their families - and we look forward to providing you with further information about these in due course.