Job Details

Our North Star vision and the Time Is Now Strategy involve working across the system to shape a better future for children and young people with cancer, and their families. 

This post – Junior Systems Thinking Practitioner – will support our systems change work across and beyond Young Lives vs Cancer. It will support us to deepen our understanding of the system, to translate research and learning into action, and shape a better system for young cancer patients.    

Being led by impact, curiosity and embracing complexity is crucial to this role. You will work within a dynamic team, supporting systems thinking, convening and listening. Together, we will explore what is happening within our system, and design programmes of work to shape a better future for children and young people with cancer, and their families. 

This role is subject to a criminal record check. In the event of a successful application a basic check will be carried out.

No two days are the same at Young Lives vs Cancer. So, summarising your ‘day to day’ isn’t easy. Here are some of the main things you’ll be doing, but you’ll find more details in the job description and job pack.

• You will support the use of systems thinking to drive change across organisations and communities.   
• You will work with people from across the system to: 
  • explore what is happening in our system 
  • use insight to reframe system problems as opportunities to create change 
  • centre equity, and lived experience, to work towards a more equitable future.  
• You will support the development of a programme of learning events, guided by what matters most to children, young people and families.    
• You will be part of a team that brings people together, to make sense of complex information, explore what is happening within our system, and generate learning.
• Working in collaboration with people from across the system, including children, young people and family members, you will support real world experimentation and testing to understand how the system could be different—continuously testing hypotheses, gathering data, and learning from the results.
• You will support the design of new projects and programmes, starting small and seeking opportunities to adapt and scale based on research, learning and feedback.
• You will support Young Lives vs Cancer – and the wider system - to explore how we can collect the information we need to learn, for example via regular surveys, testing, experimentation, embedded feedback mechanisms.
• You will support wider research and learning activity, including desk research, user research, co-design, managing and conducting data analysis and creating and disseminating outputs in varied, accessible form.

Diverse perspectives and unique skillsets are at the heart of Young Lives vs Cancer. If you're passionate about making a positive impact and eager to learn, we encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet the criteria and person specification fully. Your potential is what matters most to us, and we’re committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment to help you develop.

The key skills we’re looking for in this role are:

• Some experience of using systems thinking and systemic change approaches.
• Some experience of working collaboratively across organisations or communities to enable change.  
• Knowledge of the ideas and practices of systems thinking, systems change or systemic design – potentially including data analysis, feedback loops, systems analysis, critical thinking, complexity, interconnectedness. 
• Some experience in supporting bringing people together or event facilitation.
• Organisation skills or knowledge of project management or support.
• Agility and flexibility - being comfortable with changing circumstances and learning through doing, able to adjust as new information emerges. 
• Able to work at fast pace, able to manage own time and prioritise work effectively.
• Strong IT skills in all MS Office packages, including Excel, software such as Visio/Miro and Microsoft Teams or Zoom. 
• Pro-active with an ambition to learn 
• Inclusive with a dedication to welcoming diversity of experience, opinion and backgrounds and actively challenging injustice and inequality (as per Young Lives vs Cancer's Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Inclusion strategy).
• Demonstrate that Young Lives vs Cancer’s values are at the heart of everything you