Portsmouth Youth Justice Service is looking for an enthusiastic, creative and knowledgeable Restorative Justice Practitioner to join its supportive, multidisciplinary team. This is an opportunity to play an important role in improving outcomes for children who have offended, supporting victims of youth crime and helping to repair the harm caused by offending.
This role is Part time working 18.50 hours per week
The Service Portsmouth Youth Justice Service works with children and young people aged 10 to 17 to prevent offending and reoffending. The service provides early intervention and crime prevention work, supervises children who have offended within the community, supports the courts and helps reduce the use of custody. It also supports children returning to their communities following a period in custody.
Reporting to a Youth Justice Service Team Leader, you will work alongside other Restorative Justice Practitioners to coordinate and deliver restorative justice processes. Your work will include contacting and supporting victims, arranging reparation activities, facilitating mediation and restorative conferences, and providing individual support and interventions. You will ensure that contact is timely, sensitive and responsive to individual needs, helping to inform effective intervention planning for children and the people or organisations affected by their offences. You will also coordinate suitable community venues and placements for restorative justice, reparation and unpaid work, including opportunities that take place during evenings and weekends.
Working with the Community Engagement Co-ordinator, you will support the recruitment, selection, training and ongoing support of volunteers who contribute to the service’s restorative justice work. You will also help promote volunteering opportunities through appropriate media, community venues and local events, responding to enquiries and providing prospective volunteers with the information they need.
As a member of the wider team, you may also undertake office duty and provide support to colleagues across other areas of youth justice practice. Throughout your work, you will maintain high standards of child and adult safeguarding, public protection and data protection.
Hybrid working arrangements:
Attendance requirements to the designated workplace will be 2 days required in the office.
About Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals.Learn more about our values and behaviours.
Application process
We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. We strongly encourage candidates to add all Career and Education History to their application, as CVs are not reviewed as part of the shortlisting process. As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience. We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under one of our commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however for roles that receive a large number of applications, this is not always possible, and we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.
Interview date: 9th December 2026
Restorative Justice Practitioner employer: Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth City Council is an exceptional employer, dedicated to fostering a positive and inclusive work culture that prioritises respect, integrity, and collaboration. As a SEN Team Leader, you will have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children and young people with special educational needs, while benefiting from professional development opportunities and a supportive team environment. Located in the vibrant city of Portsmouth, this role offers a unique chance to contribute to strategic SEND developments and be part of a forward-thinking organisation committed to service improvement and community well-being.
