Role overview

The Youth Worker (Youth Voice) is part of the NHYC Youth Work Team. NHYC provides a range of youth work opportunities for young people experiencing homelessness. One stream of work is our youth voice programme.

This role specialises in ensuring a diverse range of young people’s voices are heard in our service, facilitating inclusive activities which increase youth participation across all our teams and leading on the facilitation of our Youth Advisory Board. We have an ambitious plan to improve and accelerate our youth voice strategy, and this role will be at the heart of this delivery.

New Horizon Youth Centre also runs a busy day centre from Monday to Friday. Open from 10.00am – 4:15pm every day to young people, we provide basic needs to young people experiencing homelessness, such as breakfast and lunch, clothes, toiletries, showers, laundry facilities and Wi-Fi.

Your role will primarily be based in the day centre working with young people face-to-face. While most of your time will be focussed on specialist youth voice delivery, you will spend approximately 2 days per week in our day centre helping us to deliver our core day-centre service as well. This role is a frontline role and as such you will be primarily based at our service (at least 4 days a week).

Key details

• Contract type and hours: permanent, full-time - 35 hours per week, Monday-Friday, some out of hours work will be required to fit programming into young people’s schedules.

• Starting salary: £32,136.00. Salary scale is AP26: £32,136 to AP30: £35,778

• Location: New Horizon Youth Centre, 68 Chalton Street, London, NW1 1JR

• Application deadline: 9am, Monday 21 September

• How to apply: complete our application form below, submit your CV and write a 2 page cover letter/supporting statement. Please don't include your name or address in your CV or cover letter.

Key objectives:

• Leading our youth voice programme to ensure meaningful and inclusive youth participation within the Youth Work Team and the wider organisation.

• Leading and coordinating our Youth Advisory Board, wider youth voice sessions and youth recruitment panels.

• Collaborating with our Campaigns, Impact and Partnerships Team to ensure young people’s voices are at the heart of our external policy and campaigns strategy.

• Creating and maintaining a network of relationships and partnerships with external relevant agencies to provide new and appropriate opportunities for young people.

• Contributing to the daily running of the day centre, delivering a holistic service to young people who are unsafe and/or facing homelessness, and enabling them to move on to independence.

Reporting to: Head of Services and Services Manager (Youth Work)

Main tasks and responsibilities

Young people's services

Developing and delivering our Youth Voice programme, engaging with young people in face-to-face groups and 1-1 sessions to motivate, inspire and encourage potential and ensure their opinions and voices are heard. This will include:

1. Leading an innovative and appropriate programme of youth participation, co-production and youth voice activity that responds to young people’s changing needs, ideas, diversity, skills and interests.

2. Coordinating and leading on our Youth Advisory Board, wider youth voice sessions and youth recruitment panels.

3. Referring young people to other internal New Horizon Youth Centre teams to support their overall progression, including housing, health, life-skills and youth safety.

4. Leading on engagement of youth voice within the wider organisation, ensuring young people are participating consistently in service design, delivery and feedback across all teams.

5. Working closely with our internal Campaigns, Impact and Partnerships Team to ensure young people inform and shape our youth homelessness policies, campaigns and external media content.

6. Establishing and maintaining partnerships with other relevant youth-led organisations and partners, community groups to foster shared learning and knowledge exchange.

7. Continued use of feedback and showing a commitment to a service that is sensitive and responsive to young people’s needs, involving: · Completing registrations, assessments, and action plans with young people.

   · Regular reviewing of cases and following up with young people or partners.

   · Ensuring risk management and assessment procedures are followed.

   Providing advocacy and making referrals to appropriate services.

8. Contributing to the daily running of the drop-in centre, including attending daily briefing and debriefing and ensuring that health and safety issues are always addressed.

9. Attending reflective practice, staff meetings and team meetings.

Sharing best practice

To proactively share best practice with internal and external stakeholders in order to maximise the impact of the work of NHYC. This will include:

1. Working in partnership with other youth or co-production organisations to learn from others, share knowledge and develop best practice.

2. Identifying and responding to opportunities with specialists and agencies who might offer resources, funding, or individual services relevant to the needs of young people and youth participation e.g., Local Authorities, Social Services, the DWP, youth organisations, health services, and other voluntary sector agencies.

3. Contributing to cross-team research and innovation projects that ensure NHYC remains a leading organisation within the sector.

Information management

To produce and maintain accurate and useful information in a range of formats in order to promote effective service delivery and evaluation. This will include:

1. Recording all contacts with clients appropriately and maintaining all relevant files and recording systems.

2. Inputting and extracting information from monitoring systems other accounting and database systems. Utilising other relevant software for the production of correspondence and reports.

3. Being self-servicing in day-to-day administration and following team and NHYC’s administrative procedures.

Reviewing personal and professional development needs

To be proactive in reviewing and evaluating own performance and identifying and acting upon areas for improvement. This will include:

1. Continuously reviewing own working practices in line with client feedback and current best practice.

2. Reviewing and evaluating own performance to identify strengths and areas for development. Identifying own learning and development needs and opportunities.

3. Undertaking development and training opportunities and being responsible for obtaining maximum benefit through review, reflection, and practice.

Other

To contribute positively and constructively to the development of the teams, service and NHYC. This will include:

1. Covering for other members of the team where necessary.

2. Following NHYC’s policies, procedures and performance expectations in all functions of the post.

3. Undertaking as required any other duties compatible with the level and nature of the post and/or reasonably required by the Service Manager, Head of Services, Director of Services or Leadership Team.

Person specification

We are looking for an exceptional individual who can demonstrate the following competencies and want to use these to the full in their work.

Essential skills, knowledge and experience

Here are the essential skills and experience which we’re looking for in a Youth Worker (Youth Voice).

1. Experience delivering engaging and innovative youth work programmes, which meet the needs of young people with multiple complex issues.

2. In-depth knowledge of youth work principles and practices or knowledge of homelessness, and an understanding of how these interact together.

3. Experience of planning and facilitating engaging 1-1 and groupwork sessions with young people, considering support needs, language levels and diversity.

4. Experience delivering inclusive youth voice, youth engagement, co-production sessions or programmes which enable young people from diverse communities to meaningfully participate and share their voice.

5. Proven track record creating and maintain external partnerships and networks to achieve organisational aims and objectives, including working in partnership to deliver life-skills sessions to young people.

6. An understanding of the kinds of behaviour young people might demonstrate, an ability to understand this behaviour in a trauma-informed way and developing strategies for managing behaviour.

7. The ability to multitask, make decisions, and manage multiple priorities effectively in a pressured, fast-paced environment.

8. Confidence using IT systems such as Microsoft Office and databases to support the achievement of personal and collective team goals.

9. An understanding of and a commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as it applies to a supportive service and in the workplace.

10. A thorough understanding of safeguarding policies including raising concerns, reporting information, and implementing procedures.

Desirable experience, skills and knowledge

We’d love to hear from you if you also have these desirable skills and experiences, but don’t worry if you don’t. These are the extras we’d really like!

1. Experience leading on or implementing a youth voice or youth engagement strategy within a service or organisation.

2. Experience working with young people on campaigns and media content.

3. Experience working to performance indicators, including monitoring and reporting on service outputs/outcomes, client tracking, analysing performance information, and identifying corrective action.

4. Up-to date working knowledge of local and national government policies relating to employment, education, benefits, housing, healthcare, sexual health, and young people.

Additional job requirements

1. Willingness and ability to work outside of normal hours on occasion (within New Horizon’s flexible working arrangements), including work over the Christmas period when required.

2. Willingness to work flexibly in response to changing organisational requirements.

3. Willingness to work from different sites including our day centre in Camden.

Timescales and how to apply

Dates

• Closing date for applications: 9am, Monday 21 September

• Shortlisted candidates will be informed: Friday 25 September

• Interviews: Thursday 1 October

Application process

1. Complete the application form below

2. Upload your CV setting out your career history, education or qualifications, and other key responsibilities or achievements. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME OR INITIALS IN THE DOCUMENT FILE NAME

3. Write a cover letter / supporting statement (no more than 1500 words) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the ESSENTIAL criteria listed on the Person Specification, and any additional relevant desirable points you wish to share. Do not include your name, address or any personal details. This is an important part of your application so must be completed. We recommend you work on this in another text file (such as Word) and copy and paste it into the box below when you are ready to submit.

We do not consider incomplete applications.

You will be notified if you have not been shortlisted. However, we are unfortunately unable to provide each individual application with feedback.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a call to discuss the role, please feel free to email us at recruitment@nhyouthcentre.org.uk or call 0207 388 5560.

Click here to see the job pack in PDF format or the job pack in Word format.