Senior Youth Practitioner

Dorset Council; Willesden; Remote; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Dorset Council is seeking a Senior Youth Practitioner to join our Wimborne-based short breaks service. You will care for children and young people in a safe, nurturing environment, lead a small team, and contribute to management duties.

The role includes evenings, weekends and bank holidays, with potential outreach work in the future. Applicants should have a Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare or equivalent and a passion for enabling disabled children to reach their full potential within

Qualifications

• Experience supporting young people with disabilities.
• Ability to form positive relationships with children, families and allocated social workers.
• Willingness to work flexible hours including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day care of children and young people in a short break setting as part of a small team.
• Lead and supervise staff, ensuring individually planned breaks and a safe, nurturing environment.
• Contribute to management responsibilities within the short breaks service and support outreach work in the future.

Skills

Team leadership

Disability support

Childcare

Communication

Education

Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare

Job description

About the role

Dorset is committed to creating environments for our children and young people to thrive. This is an exciting opportunity to join our new service as a Senior Youth Practitioner, based in the Wimborne area, providing care and support to children and young people initially in a short break setting, working within a small staff team and in the future, additionally providing much needed outreach support to children and families in their own homes.

The Senior Youth Practitioner role is part of the management structure within the short breaks setting. You will be responsible for the day-to-day care of young people, as part of the team, working on a rota basis, as well has having additional management responsibilities. You will play a key role in the running of the home and ensuring that we provide an exceptional short break service to children who are disabled, in a safe and nurturing environment so that children and young people are supported to reach their full potential.

The priorities for our Dorset children are; that they stay in Dorset, which is the best place for them to live, that they are given the best start in life through good care provision and the best education and training opportunities, which enable them to thrive and be the best they can be.

What you can expect to be doing

You will be an experienced practitioner who is passionate and aspirational in supporting young people, share our core values and celebrate differences. You will have experience of supporting young people with disabilities with their day to day lives, activities and promote community participation and social inclusion, as well as helping children develop life skills.

You will be a naturally caring person who can form and maintain positive relationships with our children, young people and families, as well as partner agencies and allocated social workers who form a team around the child.

You will be ambitious for our children, creative and passion to ensure children and young people who are disabled are supported to achieve the best outcomes and provide them with the opportunities to flourish.

You will be experienced in leading a team, undertaking supervision of others, creative in your approach so that children and young people receive individually planned breaks and be solution focused.

Skills and qualities we appreciate

You will be a kind and caring person with a passion for improving lives, be ambitious for our children and flexible and creative in approach.

We are aspirational for our staff team as well as our children and you will be joining a supportive and inclusive council who will provide nurture and invest in you to enable you to thrive in your job. Dorset has a comprehensive training programme which supports your professional growth and development.

Further Information

You must be able to work evenings, weekends and bank holidays. As a 24hr service we are a flexible employer and would welcome a discussion around a variety of hours to be mutually agreeable, be it weekend only, part-time, full time etc. You must also hold the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare or equivalent.

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.

About Us

At Dorset Council, it's not just about the work we do, it's about how we do it. Hear directly from our employees about what makes Dorset Council special in this short video.

At Dorset Council, we are working together to create a fairer, more prosperous, and more sustainable Dorset for everyone, now and in the future.

We:

• provide essential services that support over 300,000 residents
• work in partnership to make a real difference
• value every role and the impact it has on our communities
• support our employees to grow, develop, and thrive

You will:

• be part of a team that works together for a better Dorset
• have access to a range of benefits and support
• receive training and development opportunities to help your career progress

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where different skills, perspectives, and backgrounds strengthen both our council and the communities we serve.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible, if you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application.

This role is UK-based, and we will need to confirm your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications, so the job title in any attachments may differ from the advert. If needed, we will provide additional details in a context statement.