Pathways Coordinator – East Ayrshire

MCR Pathways; Scotland; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Assistance Programme

Life Assurance – 4 x salary

Generous annual leave + birthday day

Job summary

MCR Pathways is seeking a mentor support role to help build strong relationships with young people across East Ayrshire. You will match pupils with adult mentors, provide tailored guidance, and support mentor induction and training to sustain engagement.

Based in a hybrid setting, you will travel between community sites and schools, coordinating with partners to expand mentoring opportunities and support young people’s growth and confidence.

Qualifications

• Experience in building positive, trusted relationships with disengaged young people, particularly within alternative provision or wellbeing settings.
• Excellent communication and active listening skills with groups and individuals.
• Ability to facilitate groups and sessions with sensitivity and adaptability.
• Well-organised with strong administrative, database, and reporting capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Building exceptional individual and group relationships with young people to prepare them for mentoring.
• Matching young people in S2 and above with adult volunteer mentors and providing ongoing personalised support, advice, and guidance.
• Delivering effective mentor inductions and Core Mentor Training, facilitating continuous engagement and support for both mentors and mentees.
• Partnering with schools, local organisations, and the employability sector to explore and expand community-based mentoring pathways.

Skills

Relationship building

Communication

Active listening

Group facilitation

Trauma-informed

Job description

Contract:
Hours: 37.5 per week. Contract: 1 year fixed term

Salary:
£29,098 (Grade 3, PA8 to PA11)

Location:
Hybrid: based between participating community settings across East Ayrshire, with some home working as required.

Travel:
Travel around East Ayrshire. A driving license and car are essential for the role and travel expenses will be reimbursed.

We are excited to be delivering our mentoring programme across community settings in East Ayrshire, supporting young people identified for the MCR Pathways programme, helping to develop community-based mentoring across the region.

About the role

Using your knowledge of young people, you will be focusing on supporting them through small group and individual sessions to build their capacity for getting the most out of mentoring, matching them with a mentor and building the mentoring relationship. You’ll be there to provide young people with personalised support, information, advice and guidance as needed. Working with pupils from S2 and above, you’ll collaborate closely with local schools and community partners to expand community-based mentoring opportunities.

Key responsibilities:

• Building exceptional individual and group relationships with young people to prepare them for mentoring.
• Matching young people in S2 and above with adult volunteer mentors and providing ongoing personalised support, advice, and guidance.
• Delivering effective mentor inductions and Core Mentor Training, facilitating continuous engagement and support for both mentors and mentees.
• Partnering with schools, local organisations, and the employability sector to explore and expand community-based mentoring pathways.

About you

• Experience in building positive, trusted relationships with disengaged young people, particularly within alternative provision or wellbeing settings.
• Ability to work across locations in East Ayrshire, managing time between school bases and community settings.
• Excellent communication, active listening, and group facilitation skills.Solution-focused, empathetic, and trauma-informed approach to youth engagement.
• Well-organised with strong administrative, database, and reporting capabilities.

About us

MCR Pathways is an award-winning charity established in Glasgow in 2007. Our mentoring programme is now delivered in schools across the whole of Scotland as well as North East and South East England. We are committed to helping the country’s most vulnerable young people gain self-confidence, identify their skills and recognise and fulfil their potential.

Our mission:

To connect every young person with a trusted adult mentor, someone who sparks confidence, fuels ambition, and walks beside them as they find their way.

Our vision:

MCR Pathways will work until every young person has someone to help them find their way.

You will be joining a friendly and supportive team who love what they do and enjoy working with each other. MCR Pathways’ values are Respect, Communication, Trust and Growth and they inform everything we do.

Benefits of working for MCR Pathways include:

30 days annual leave in first year rising to 35 days from 2nd year of employment, 3 further days of annual leave between the December and January public holidays, additional day off for your birthday, Employee Assistance Programme, Life Assurance – 4 x salary.

MCR Pathways operates targeted interview schemes for applicants who have a disability or are care-experienced (defined as having spent time in foster, residential or kinship care).
Please note: Identifying under these schemes does not automatically guarantee an interview. To be invited to an interview, you must meet the following conditions:
Evidence All Essential Criteria: Your application must clearly demonstrate that you meet all essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.
Competitive Shortlisting: If a high volume of qualified candidates apply, the highest-scoring applicants will be invited to interview.