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Closing date: Monday 17 July 2023
Location: London/Hybrid
Hours: 37 hours per week
Salary: £28,350
Contract: Permanent, Full time
Interview date: 25 July

Job Title:                    Employment and Community Support Worker

Reports to:               Community Services Delivery Manager

FTE:                           37 hours per week. Full time, permanent

Location:                  London/Hybrid

Salary:                      £28,250 per annum

Are you interested in working for an organisation making a real difference to the lives of young blind and partially sighted people?

Here at the Royal Society for Blind Children we believe that every blind young person should have the chance to live life without limits. Our values of Trust, Energy, Ambition, and Motivation underpin everything we do, and by giving young people the essential skills to take control of their life, they can unleash their true potential.

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Employment and Community Support Worker to sit at the heart of our Community Services Team supporting blind and partially sighted young people’s futures. You’ll be working with directly with young people and their families to ensure that they have every opportunity to live their life without limits and achieve their ambitions. You’ll be creating opportunities for them within the world of employment, as well as developing and facilitating innovative services that will build their confidence and increase their independence. You’ll be experienced at showing the impact of your work and understand the importance of doing so.

The main purpose of this role is to:

• Plan and deliver employment and futures support workshops and individual bespoke sessions for blind and partially sighted young people, sharing with them the strategies they’ll need to achieve their goals.
• Developing opportunities and building relationships with external organisations that can support opportunities for blind and partially sighted young people to get into work placements, apprenticeships, internships, volunteering roles and paid employment.
• Planning and delivering a variety of activities for children and young people and their families that will support the rest of the community services team and wider services departments key objectives.

The ideal candidate will come from a background of having worked in Employment Support, potentially working with young people; disabled people or people from minoritised backgrounds.  Having an Employability qualification, Youth Work qualification, an education background, or demonstrable experience in a relevant job role would be an advantage.  We are looking for someone who can build strong relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and really drive forward RSBC’s employment and community services work. We’d like you to have excellent interpersonal skills, and a strong teamwork ethic.

In return we offer a competitive range of benefits including a generous annual leave allowance of 27 days (rising to 28 days after 3 years’ service) + bank holidays, Employee Assistance Programme, Perkbox, flexible working opportunities, 3% contribution towards pension, and season ticket loan. We are a welcoming, diverse and inclusive workforce and are a Disability Confident Employer. We also hold the Investors in People Silver Award.

For further details on the role, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification.

https://www.rsbc.org.uk/work-for-us/

Please apply by emailing your CV and a supporting statement which details how you meet the requirements of the role and person spec to recruitment@rsbc.org.uk

Closing date: Monday 17^th July at 9am

Interview: Tuesday 25^th July

There may be a 2^nd interview if required

To apply you will need to have the right to work in the UK

The Society is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Therefore, all posts are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure check from the Disclosure and Barring Service and 2 satisfactory professional references. Registered Charity No.307892

Job Description

Primary Objectives

To support blind and partially sighted young people with a range of employment/futures support and services that will ensure they improve their life chances. You’ll also be part of a wider team and responsible for developing and delivering a range of community activities for blind and partially sighted impaired children and young people to achieve independence and resilience and reduce social isolation. This will include (but is not restricted to) the following responsibilities:

• Working with blind and partially sighted young people supporting them to set their goals and achieve their outcomes for their future. This will include training, guidance, and pastoral support, tailored to each young person’s needs.
• Design, plan and deliver activities for groups of blind and partially sighted children, young people and their families, including online and in person activities and groups, as well as residential and holiday programmes.
• Be instrumental to the recruitment of children and young people that will benefit from RSBC’s range of services.
• Support young people to be signposted into other services that will support their futures.
• Promote the independence of blind and partially sighted children and young people by promoting the development of social skills, encouraging choice and decision making and supporting them to develop skills for independent living

These activities can be arranged at different times to suit children and young people’s needs so may include some work outside of standard office hours, including weekends and evenings.

Key tasks and duties:

• Plan, organise and facilitate employment and futures support for blind and partially sighted young people that is bespoke to their individual needs
• Support the delivery of employment focused projects that will ensure young people have opportunities to build skills and resilience for the future.
• Support the development and delivery of community activities for children and young people and their families alongside the rest of the Community Services Delivery Team. Lead on specific projects and areas of work as directed by the Community Services Delivery Manager.
• Recruit for all activities working closely with RSBC’s engagement team and externally with a range of bodies including statutory services, other disability organisations, schools, and colleges to foster partnerships and recruitment opportunities.
• Ensure all delivery is quality assured

• Ensure that effective impact measurement is used to assess the impact of the services on children and young people through goal setting, assessments of their wellbeing and collating feedback and case studies; track their progress towards achievement of their goals and their futures.

• Complete and maintain appropriate plans and records including session plans, risk assessments, evaluation forms and sessional records using our reporting database.
• Ensure that children, young people and family’s safeguarding is always a priority.
• Be responsible for using allocated budgets effectively for projects and plans made.

• Provide regular monitoring information for management reports ensuring that outcome measurements are a priority.
• Ensure that equality and diversity is embedded in all work with children, young people and families.
• Develop opportunities that will help blind and partially sighted young people access work placements, volunteering, apprenticeships and job opportunities as appropriate, ensuring that each placement is appropriate to the individual, properly risk assessed, and clear objectives are agreed with all parties involved.
• Work closely with the Community services team to ensure effective service delivery against departmental targets, aims and objectives.
• Work collaboratively with the wider Services, Dorton College and other teams to support young people and ensure the sustainability of the Employment and Community Services.
• Manage workloads to ensure that contractual requirements in relation to project outcomes are met within the agreed timescales.
• Produce case studies and evidence of the positive impact you and/or the service is having on children and young people’s lives.
• Ensure that knowledge of all employment sector changes and statutory requirements are up to date, and knowledge is appropriately shared with colleagues and young people.

Additional requirements of the role

• Weekend and evening work to support sessions and activities with children and young people
• Travel regularly across London and occasionally to other parts of the country to meetings and for service delivery

Person Specification

Professional qualifications:

The ideal candidate will come from a background of having worked in Employment Support, potentially working with young people; disabled people or people from minoritised backgrounds. Having an Employability qualification, Youth Work qualification, an education background, or demonstrable experience in a relevant job role would be an advantage.

Essential knowledge, skills and experience:

Knowledge

• Knowledge of inclusion for disabled children and young people in a variety of community settings
• Knowledge of disability rights in relation to employment and education settings for disabled people
• An understanding of the challenges that confront disabled children and young people
• Knowledge of statutory and community services available to disabled young people
• Knowledge of the principles of equality and diversity, health and safety and safeguarding in relation to working with young disabled people
• Understanding of the principles of effective monitoring and evaluation to support effective reporting using a range of methodology.
• Knowldege of the employment market in relation to disabled people

Skills

• Ability to engage positively with children and young people to support their personal development
• Excellent inter-personal skills: ability to communicate at all levels and with impact; ability to build positive relationships quickly and easily with a diverse group of young people; able to exercise diplomacy at all levels whilst working across the team
• Ability to facilitate participation in both individual session with young people, and community based activities with groups of young people with a range of abilities and interests
• Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team, in a busy environment with competing demands.
• Innovative and pro-active approach to challenges and problem solving
• Excellent time management with an ability to manage workloads, set priorities and meet strict deadlines
• Excellent administration and ICT skills; able to use a range of IT systems such as Microsoft Office and databases.
• Ability to liaise with a wide range of stakeholders, including young people, families, partner organisations, community organisations, employers and statutory agencies

Experience

• Experience in facilitating employment services for beneficiaries
• Experience of delivering community programmes for disabled children, disabled people or other minoritised communities
• Experience of developing and supporting people getting back into work, education, volunteering or training you will also work with service users to break down the barriers they could have to find sustainable employment or future opportunities
• Experience of goal setting with children and young people, recording and monitoring progress to prescribed deadlines
• Experience of working in partnership with other organisations to deliver agreed outcomes
• Successful track record of managing volunteers to support service delivery

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience of working in the charity sector or in a community-based organisation
• Experience or an understanding of the challenges faced by blind and partially sighted people