Waking Nights Support Worker

Real Life Options is a registered charity currently expanding our services. We are seeking enthusiastic and adaptable Support Workers to join our brand-new Day Service in Inverurie, where every day offers something new.
This is a highly rewarding and varied role, supporting a mix of adults with additional support needs in a community-focused environment. You\’ll help individuals gain confidence, independence, and new experiences through meaningful activity and tailored support.
About the Role
You will work directly with adults who have a range of support needs, including:

• Learning disabilities
• Autism
• Mental health conditions
• Epilepsy
• Down syndrome
• Cerebral palsy

Many of the people we support (PWS) may lack motivation or confidence to engage in activities they have previously shown interest in. As such, we\’re looking for someone with a positive, encouraging personality who can support individuals to stay engaged and empowered.
Your duties will include:

• Planning, leading and taking part in a variety of activities, both in-house and out in the community
• Supporting physical activities that promote health and well-being
• Encouraging and enabling individuals to meet their own personal goals
• Providing personal care, medication support, meal preparation, and assistance with domestic tasks
• General housekeeping tasks, in line with infection prevention and control
• Communicating with members of the public, families, and professionals as our day service is open to the wider community
• Supporting individuals who may present with challenging behaviours-experience in this area is highly desirable

What We\’re Looking For
This role requires someone who is:

• Adaptable and resilient – every day brings something different
• Able to remain calm and supportive under pressure
• Experienced in working with individuals with complex needs (preferred)
• Confident in managing behaviours using Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) techniques (training provided)
• Skilled in engaging with a wide range of people, from families to professionals to members of the public
• Enthusiastic, reliable, and a good communicator

Shift Patterns

• The day service operates between 9:00am – 8:00pm, 5 days out of 7 (including alternate weekends)
• Due to the variety of individual needs, flexibility around shift patterns is essential

Driving Requirements

• Drivers are preferred, especially for applicants living outside Inverurie
• You must have a current valid UK driving licence and access to your own car
• Please note: stating you are a driver without access to a vehicle will not meet the requirements for this role due to limited public transport during shift times

Skills & Attributes
If you can confidently tick six or more of the following, we\’d like to hear from you:
Honest – Reliable – Caring – Flexible – Inclusive – Strong Communicator – Passionate – Self-Motivated – Strong Values
What We Offer

• 28 days paid holiday (pro-rata for part-time staff)
• Accredited training and development opportunities
• Employer-contributed pension scheme
• Health Cash Plan (for contracted roles)
• £10,000 life cover
• Employee Assistance Programme (medical helpline, counselling, financial/legal support)
• Reward Gateway – discounts on retail, travel and services
• Cycle to Work scheme and financial wellbeing support
• Refer a Friend bonus (terms apply)
• Recognition initiatives
• Mileage paid at 35p per mile (first 10,000 miles per year)

Additional Information

• An Enhanced Adult PVG is required (we will support you through the process)
• As this is a new service, there will be no traditional shadow shifts-so previous experience is a strong advantage
• Applicants must be comfortable with varied demands and working under pressure
• Please ensure your email is checked regularly, including junk/spam folders, as this will be the primary method of contact

Real Life Options is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and will make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process for anyone with a disability, health condition or other need that may affect their performance
Supporting individuals overnight in their homes, you will be responsible for the safety and security of the property and the people we support during the hours of 9pm or 10pm until 8am the next morning. There is some personal care required, this ranges from prompting to being hands on and providing full support, including moving and assisting (full training will be provided).
There can be medication support which is a very important part of this role and the successful applicant would be expected to undertake annual competencies or training as required.
Some of the People we support (PWS) have epilepsy and require close supervision during the night the successful candidate will be given full training,
As a person centred support provider we would always encourage individuals to be as independent as possible and to do as much for themselves as they can in Inverurie this varies greatly person to person.
Some of the people we support (PWS) have learning disabilities, mental health conditions, Autism (Fragile-x), Epilepsy, Down syndrome and Cerebral palsy, they can lack motivation to do tasks which they had expressed an interest in doing, as such the candidate should have experience and an upbeat personality that can encourage the PWS.
There can be challenging behaviour in some of our services and any candidate that applies should have experience with challenging behaviour and how to manage this, we have some PWS who can display challenging behaviour, that can be challenging towards the staff or self-injurious behaviour. Preferred candidates would have some experience with this. (candidates with this experience will be at the front of the queue), this can range from verbal to physical challenges. There will be extensive challenging behaviour training in place for successful candidates.
As we are close to Aberdeen we find it difficult to recruit local staff. Also non driving staff find it difficult to commute or to be available for the required shift patterns. As a result this is a post is Drivers preferred (If outside Inverurie), must have current valid driving licence and car as previously applicants have said they are drivers but do not have a car.
NOTE: The public transport does not work with the shifts we have so we would not accept candidates assurances that they can get here on public transport, as this has been and is currently an issue