Senior Young People Support Worker (Islington) in London

Join us to lead meaningful change, empower young people to thrive, and shape a service where your leadership, compassion and creativity make a real and lasting impact every day.

Location: Islington

Salary: £31,203 per annum

Closing Date: 22 March, 2026

Employment Type: Permanent

Hours per week: 37.5

About the Role

Step into a key leadership role as a Senior Young People Support Worker, where you’ll drive high-impact, psychologically informed support for young people at risk of homelessness. You’ll lead a team of professionals, guide high-quality assessments and support plans, and create safe, empowering environments that build confidence, resilience and independence. Every day, you’ll use an asset-based approach to help clients develop skills and move positively towards sustainable futures.

You’ll take ownership of day-to-day service delivery—managing risk, maintaining high safety standards, strengthening partnerships with local agencies and ensuring the accommodation remains welcoming and well maintained. With your inclusive leadership and creative problem-solving, you’ll connect clients to education, training, employment and volunteering opportunities, while also supporting staff development, supervising volunteers and contributing to the smooth running of the wider Islington pathway. This role is ideal for someone who leads with integrity, collaborates confidently and is motivated by achieving meaningful outcomes.

In this role, you will:

• Lead high-quality, psychologically informed support for young people, delivering tailored one-to-one and group interventions that build resilience and independence.
• Oversee day-to-day service delivery, ensuring strong safeguarding practice, effective risk management and a safe, well-maintained environment.
• Supervise and develop Progression Coaches, volunteers and placements, providing guidance, performance oversight and positive role modelling.
• Build effective partnerships with local agencies and internal teams to strengthen client support pathways and meet contractual outcomes.
• Support clients to access education, training, employment and volunteering opportunities aligned to their goals and strengths.
• Manage key operational tasks including casework quality, financial recording, health and safety checks and participation in the on-call rota.

About You (What we are looking for from you – Person Specification)

• Experience of supervising the work of others.
• An understanding and commitment to working in an assets-based way.
• Experience of working with people who have experienced homelessness, poor mental health, substance use or have a history of living in care.
• Experience of using Risk Assessments and Support Planning.
• Good literacy, numeracy and IT skills.
• Experience of operating safeguarding requirements and procedures.
• Commitment to working in a manner which promotes diversity and equality, ensuring that everyone is treated with respect and dignity and no one suffers from discrimination.
• Commitment to promoting an environment which has the highest regard for the Health and Safety of others.
• Personal and professional integrity.
• High level understanding of professional boundaries and ability to maintain boundaries.
• Effective collaborative working.
• Ability to effectively reflect on own practices for ongoing learning and development.
• Respect for the values and ethos of Depaul and its founding partners.

What You’ll Receive

• Tailored training and development.
• Flexible working options where suitable.
• 26 days annual leave, rising with service.
• Family-friendly leave policies.
• Pension scheme with employer contributions up to 7%.
• Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 GP access.
• Discounts across retail, travel, food, fitness and more.
• Cash health plan for you and your family.
• Death-in-service benefit.
• Access to legal and practical support.

Safer Recruitment

Depaul UK is committed to fair and inclusive recruitment, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If a role requires it under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, we will carry out the appropriate Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. We only look at information that is relevant to the role, and a criminal record will never be treated as an automatic barrier to employment. All DBS information is handled sensitively, confidentially and in line with the DBS Code of Practice, and we encourage applicants to discuss any concerns with us openly.

About Depaul UK

In the 1980s, high unemployment and steep inflation was contributing to a shocking rise in youth homelessness across London. Thousands of young people were sleeping rough every night, with many areas notoriously dubbed “cardboard cities” due to the visible rise in street homelessness. Appalled by the scenes playing out across the capital, a group of people came together to tackle the challenge head on. Led by Cardinal Basil Hume and Mark McGreevy OBE, in 1989 Depaul UK was born.

What began as a single housing project in North London soon expanded across London, Greater Manchester and the North East of England. Today, Depaul UK provides accommodation, prevention and support services to thousands of marginalised young people across the UK each year.

As our name suggests, the work of Depaul UK has been inspired by St. Vincent de Paul – a man who devoted his life to helping vast numbers of people throughout the 17th century. St. Vincent de Paul’s belief in the intrinsic worth of all people and his commitment to taking bold action remain central to our values today. Depaul UK now forms part of a family of Depaul charities around the world. We each focus on the specific challenges in our own countries, but we’re united by our shared values and mission to end homelessness.