Specialist Mentor (Children and Young People)

Are you a proactive, collaborative and compassionate individual with a proven record of working with children and young people affected by criminal exploitation, gang involvement, county lines, grooming, or serious youth violence? Do you have experience of working within a multi-agency safeguarding environment, collaborating effectively with services such as social care, youth justice, police, education, and community organisations? If so, St Giles is looking for a Specialist Mentor to form part of a newly established team to support Children and Young People (CYP) under 18 at risk of or experiencing significant harm, including involvement in criminality, the justice system, gang affiliation, exploitation, and grooming in partnership with the Children’s Services Child Abused Through Exploitation (CATE) Team.

About St Giles Trust: An ambitious, well-established charity that helps people facing adversity to find jobs, homes and the right support they need. Central to our ethos is our belief that people with first-hand experience of successfully overcoming issues such as an offending background, homelessness, addictions and gang involvement, hold the key to positive change in others.

About this key role: Our successful candidate will deliver intensive one-to-one mentoring and casework support to up to 25 CYPs annually who are affected by criminality, exploitation, gang involvement, or the justice system, improving their safety, wellbeing, and life outcomes. You will be expected to build positive relationships with CYP and their families and work directly with them to promote positive change, build resilience, reduce risks, and prevent continued significant harm, plus work collaboratively with the Children’s Services CATE Team, Community Safety, Youth Justice, Police, and other stakeholders. We will also count on you to support the development of professional knowledge within the CATE team and wider network on criminal exploitation and to produce risk management plans based on assessments, while promoting inter-agency collaboration in the assessment and planning process, and including appropriate agencies in the delivery of the service.

What we are looking for:

• Experience of conducting risk assessments and developing intervention/support plans, with a clear understanding of safeguarding frameworks and thresholds.
• Experience delivering community-based outreach, including working in non-traditional settings and building relationships with local stakeholders.
• Knowledge of child criminal exploitation, county lines, gang involvement, and grooming.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed practice and its application when working with vulnerable or high-risk young people.
• An understanding of risk assessment and risk management processes in relation to exploitation and serious youth violence.
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship-building and communication skills, verbal and written.
• A flexible, collaborative and professional approach to your work.

In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, access to clinical supervision, season ticket loan and much more. We are an equity and inclusion-confident employer. We welcome all applications, and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi-heritage) and those who identify as disabled, neuroexpansive, or neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation. Please note St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy. An enhanced Children’s Barred List DBS check is required for this role.

PERSON SPECIFICATION: In your application form, please provide a written statement (maximum 1,000 words) showing how you meet the criteria outlined in the Person specification.

Closing date: 4 May 2026 at 9 a.m. Interviews: 11 May 2026 in Coventry.