Youth and Community Worker Horizons in Neath

Contract: Fixed Term Grant Funded until 31/03/2027.

Location of post: Port Talbot Civic Centre SA13 1PJ

Secondment: We will accept secondment applicants due to the short funding window. We hope that the LGF funding will be extended in April for a further 2 years, but for the moment we only have contracts available until March 2027. If you intend to apply via a secondment opportunity, you must seek approval from your current manager before submitting an application form.

Work style: This is a mobile hybrid role, allowing flexibility to work from home and from a variety of council workplaces.

About the role: We are seeking a motivated, enthusiastic, and well‐organised individual to join our Horizons team as a Youth and Community Worker. The successful candidate will be responsible for the operational delivery of the LGF provision, which focuses on providing young‐person‐centred support for individuals aged 16+ identified as NEET. They will provide interventions, activities, and opportunities that challenge and support these young people to make genuine progress into appropriate and sustainable education, training, and/or employment.

As a Youth & Community Worker, you will work with NEET young people aged 16+ to enter education, training and/or employment. You will provide a variety of projects, courses, and one‐to‐one support to remove individual barriers and improve well‐being so they can successfully access and maintain employment, education or training. This will be achieved using a range of youth‐work interventions and sign‐posting to specialist agencies and organisations. You should also be able to develop and maintain key relationships with other agencies, possess excellent communication and organisational skills, be proactive, and work independently as well as part of a team.

You will support and engage with a caseload of young people aged 16+, many of whom are the furthest from the labour market, to tackle barriers that prevent them from engaging, accessing, or sustaining employment, education, or training. The work will help reduce these barriers, explore opportunities, and decrease the number of NEET young people within NPT.

About you:

• Experience of working with and supporting young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET.
• Knowledge of youth‐work practice and methods and ability to apply these to work with young people.
• Ability to identify and remove barriers to education, training and employment through direct intervention, support mechanisms and when necessary referral to specialists.
• Facilitate young people's participation by identifying and responding to their needs and ensuring an appropriate flow of accurate and useful information to all relevant stakeholders (young person, co‐workers, parent/carer, school, training provider, other agencies, line manager).
• Experience in devising and delivering sessions to young people and small groups.
• Ability to work independently with young people and manage a caseload.
• A minimum of 4 GCSEs (Grades A‐C) or equivalent, including English Language.
• Nationally recognised qualification in youth and community work or equivalent.
• EWC membership.

Experience you may have:

• School/education roles such as teacher, teaching assistant, or education support worker, and youth work experience.

Commitment to safeguarding: Neath Port Talbot Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will take action to safeguard their well‐being. The recruitment process for this post will be underpinned by rigorous safer recruitment assessment to ensure that children and young people are protected.

Applications language: Welsh language skills are not required. Applications may be submitted in Welsh; applications in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than applications submitted in English.

DBS requirements: This post is subject to an enhanced with child barred list DBS disclosure.

Guaranteed interview scheme: We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates who have a disability and armed forces veterans. In support of employees of Tata Steel who are at risk of redundancy, or have been made redundant in 2024, Neath Port Talbot Council is offering a guaranteed interview for jobs across the Council. Applicants must meet all the essential criteria, as shown in the person specification, to qualify for a guaranteed interview.

Benefits:

• Hybrid working (in some roles) and flexible working schemes to improve your work‐life balance.
• Benefit from a competitive employee package with a remarkable 15.3% employer pension contribution.
• Enjoy a holiday entitlement of 25 days, increasing to 32 days after 5 years' service (not forgetting the additional 8 bank holidays).
• Access discounted gym membership with Celtic Leisure.
• Utilise the cycle to work scheme with up to 40% off bikes and cycling equipment.
• Purchase a new car through Tusker salary sacrifice scheme.
• Enjoy exclusive discounts at local and national retailers with the Smart Spend app through our staff wellbeing group.