Senior Youth Support Worker (Violence Prevention Specialist) in Plymouth

Please note, this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship and we can only consider applicants with existing right to work in the UK.

Hours - 18.50 per week

Fixed term contract - until 31/03/2027

Plymouth City Council’s Cosmo Community Youth Team is looking for a dynamic and experienced Senior Youth Worker to join us as a Violence Prevention Specialist. This role is a vital part of our Serious Violence Reduction Programme (SVRP) plan for 2026/27, focusing on early intervention, education, and awareness around knife crime and offensive weapons across the city.

This is a frontline, face-to-face role delivering relationship-based, informal social education to young people aged 13 to 21—including those supported by the Youth Justice Service or individuals who have been involved with weapons offenses. As a highly flexible, detached worker, you won't be stuck in one centre. Instead, you will hot-desk, touchdown, and use local data to spot emerging youth violence trends and hotspots, allowing you to move quickly from club-based sessions out onto the streets to deliver targeted detached outreach where it is needed most.

This senior post plays a critical dual role: you will bring the council’s safety plans to life through visible delivery on the ground, and you will act as a practice lead. This means you will coordinate joint work with key partners like the Youth Justice Service (YJS) and the Critical Care Policing Team (CCPT), while also providing essential practice supervision, coaching, and de-escalation training to upskill local youth workers.

This vacancy is open to both internal and external applicants. We are looking for an exceptional practitioner who can lead innovative frontline youth work and help us protect our communities.

In This Role, You Will

• Manage youth work delivery in single projects, specifically leading educational weapon-harm initiatives integrating StreetDoctors (“The Fatal Question”), the #NotTheOne campaign, and practical stabbing-injury first aid (allocated at 50% of project time).
• Identify the shifting needs of local young people through direct field engagement, focus groups, and risk mapping across localized hotspot communities (allocated at 15% of project time alongside strategic mapping).
• Provide first-line coaching, practice supervision, and de-escalation updates to local youth workers and volunteers to maintain service quality (allocated at 25% of project time).
• Work flexibly within an emerging multi-agency framework alongside partners like the Youth Justice Service (YJS) and Critical Care Policing Team (CCPT) to develop joint intervention paths (allocated at 10% of project time).
• Perform and ensure the robust discharge of sessional administrative duties, budget control of the resource fund, and health and safety compliance (allocated at 15% of project time alongside strategic mapping).
• Utilize Management Information Systems (MIS) to enter and track performance indicators through toolsets like the Service Experience Questionnaire (SEQ), Goal-Based Outcomes (GBOs), and YP CORE.
• Formulate curriculum areas following the National Youth Work Curriculum across seven core violence prevention themes, establishing sports and physical activities as behavioural hooks.

Essential Criteria

• Qualifications: Qualified in youth work or a related professional area to NVQ Level 2 or 3, alongside GCSE English and Maths (grades A–C or equivalent).
• Experience: Successful youth work experience producing measurable achievements for young people in the context of National Standards, alongside a proven track record of leading small project groups and developing youth participation.
• Core Skills: Written, IT, and oral communication skills sufficient to contribute effectively to Management Information Systems (MIS) and evaluate/develop reflective youth work practice.
• Leadership & Management: Ability to coach staff members using one-to-one supervision, handle financial recording/cash handling systems, and take the initiative to organize short-term projects efficiently.
• Practice Standards: Comprehensive understanding of delivering active anti-discriminatory practice, maintaining ethical standards, and operating within corporate information governance guidelines.

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of youth policy frameworks and multi-agency systems in external settings.
• Direct experience working in street-based, outreach, or detached youth delivery settings.
• Knowledge of multi-agency youth justice frameworks and critical care policing environments.
• Experience integrating sports or physical activities into youth delivery as behavioural engagement hooks.
• Prior training or experience in trauma-informed or trauma-responsive youth work practices.
• Possession of a valid UK Driving Licence and the ability to travel to different delivery sites flexibly in response to real-time spikes in demand.

Strategic Alignment: The post holder will report directly to the Senior Professional Youth Worker (SPYW) to ensure delivery remains aligned to corporate quality standards and Home Office grant conditions.

Work Style: Agile touchdown/hot-desk setup. No separate hardware or laptop purchases are included; the post holder will utilize existing infrastructure.

Safeguarding: This role requires an Enhanced Childrens and Adults DBS check.

For Further Information

Contact Name: Caroline Storer

Job Title: Senior Professional Youth Worker

Closing date: Monday 03 August 2026

Plymouth City Council is an equal opportunities employer. All applicants will be considered for employment regardless of age, care experience, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion/belief, sex or sexual orientation.

As part of our commitment to promoting equality we offer guaranteed interviews to those who meet the essential criteria and are considered disabled, care experienced or are an Armed Forces Service Leaver within the last two years.

Plymouth City Council is proud to be an Age Friendly Employer. We encourage applications from talented people at every stage of their career.