We are looking for a youth worker who has a solid track record of supporting young people into employment and/or training. With the ability to work independently, in an organised manner, and is passionate about supporting vulnerable young people.

We are eager to encourage entrepreneurship amongst our cohort, so expertise in this area will prove beneficial.

Benefits

In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance and staff pension scheme.

If you like the sound of working for ignite and are interested to find out more, please take a look at the job description and send your CV to office@igniteyouth.org.uk by Sunday 10^th October 2021.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Employment and Support Youth Worker

Responsible to: Senior Youth Worker	Salary: £24,500 (pro rata) per annum
Location: Ignite offices and other local venues	Hours: 24 hours per week. This may include some evenings.
Contract: 6 months (extension subject to funding)
The Role: To engage with Ignite’s target group of young people, offering bespoke, holistic support to address a range of complex needs and increase their employability skills, establishing pathways for them into education/training/employment.

1 Duties and key responsibilities

Youth Work - Employability

Develop relationships with ‘hard-to-reach’ young people, primarily through detached youth work and Ignite projects, informal contact, and mentoring projects in and outside of schools/colleges, during the day and in the evenings.
Undertake one-to-one work supporting young people, providing information, advice, and guidance, and supporting them to engage/re-engage in education, training, and employment
Develop referral pathways and accept referrals from other organisations
Assist young people to develop an Individual Action Plan that summarises personal needs and goals and support them to achieve these with steppingstones
Provide or source a range of interventions to develop employability skills including practical workshops and group activities
Provide continued post education / employment support through mentoring
Develop an internal Ignite graduation scheme which recognises and celebrates young people who complete the training opportunities and retain a job including an official Ignite Youth certificate that they can reference on their CV and present to future employers.
Develop volunteering and work placement opportunities within Ignite or with partners as part of the scheme.
Build relationships with recruitment agencies who will support the young people into training and employment,
Work closely with education and work organisations and businesses to ensure that opportunities for sustained education and employment for young people are maximised

Monitoring and Evaluation, Admin & data collection -

Administer projects that you lead and enter all data onto Ignite’s electronic Management Information system as required to monitor the impact and effectiveness of the projects and outcomes achieved.
Provide monthly a record of case studies that will prove the impact of work and achievements of young people.
Assist data analyst in preparing reports and gathering evidence for fundraising bids
Work in line with GDPR, maintaining confidential service-user records of interventions and contact details in line with Ignite’s case management policy

Research and Development

Research the barriers and successful pathways into employment and pass on this learning in training sessions for in house staff and other professionals
Develop new ways of encouraging engagement with education and employment
Develop outreach opportunities to enable community engagement and project development
Develop a network of agencies and providers who will contribute to and support the positive progression of our young people
Research and development for new and ongoing projects and activities
It is expected that the youth worker will keep up to date with trends within youth work in general, legal changes, policy initiatives and good practice

Personal/Professional Development and Teamwork

Attend and prepare for regular line management meetings, including annual appraisals
Attend regular clinical supervision
Attend team meetings and contribute to Ignite projects as required
Take responsibility for self-care and managing vicarious trauma, promoting the importance of self-care both internally and externally
Maintain up-to-date knowledge and awareness of developments in relevant policy and legislation by attending relevant training courses, meetings, and conferences

2 General Responsibilities

Be flexible and carry out other associated duties as may arise, develop, or be assigned in line with the broad remit of the position.
Maintain and improve competencies through continuous professional development.
Abide by all organisational policies, codes of conduct and practices.
Support and promote inclusion, diversity, and equality of opportunity in the workplace.
Treat with confidentiality any personal, private, or sensitive information about individual organisations and or clients or staff and project data.

Person Specification –

1 Experience

Delivering services for young people preferably in a multi-cultural inner city setting
Building effective and transformational relationships with young people
Creating and developing opportunities and programmes with hard-to-reach young people (those facing social exclusion, disadvantage, and disaffection) from deprived communities including those involved in risk taking behaviour or gangs.
Dealing with and responding to Child Protection concerns

2 Skills and Abilities

Skilled in engaging and motivating young people and working with a strengths-based approach
Ability to work in an empathetic young person-centred way
Ability to articulately and confidently communicate with others to convey key message
Ability to problem-solve difficult situations and deal with them calmly and effectively
Self-motivated with confidence to work alone but can also work co-operatively and flexibly as part of a team.
Effective communication skills both verbally and in writing with people of many different backgrounds and within a range of settings
Meticulous case recording including accurate note taking and ability to summarise information to identify key themes
Ability to manage multiple demands while ensuring timely completion of case reports
Ability to contribute to the development of the project and think innovatively
IT skills at a level that supports report writing, email, internet and use of a database

3 Knowledge

Up to date understanding of safeguarding practice, policy, and procedures
Good knowledge and understanding of equalities issues and the issues affecting young people

4 Education/Training/Qualifications

Safeguarding Level 1 or higher
No specific education/training/qualification but evidence of recent continuing professional development in Youth work provision and support is required

5 Personal Attributes & Other Requirements

Commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and equal opportunities and an ability to apply awareness of diversity issues to all areas of work.
Undertake training as required.
Commitment to the core values and ethos of Ignite: Model Christian values such as love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control, both to the team and all those we work with.
Travel across Harrow to outreach appointments and partnership offices
Interested and motivated to further own skills and knowledge