Specialist Support Worker

Look Ahead Care and Support; City Of London; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave up to 30 days

Pension up to 8% + life assurance 3x

Reward Gateway discounts

Blue Light Card

Fully paid induction

ILM courses

Cycle to work

Employee Assistance Programme

Online wellbeing resources

Staff Awards

Free DBS

Job summary

Look Ahead Care and Support invites applications for Specialist Support Worker in London. The role involves working within our Mental Health Service in Southwark, providing recovery‑oriented support without requiring personal care experience.

A salary of £31,993.56 per annum is offered for a 40‑hour week, with a comprehensive benefits package and induction. The post focuses on harm reduction, trauma‑informed care and peer support, delivering tailored plans for up to four complex service users

Qualifications

• Essential: NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in a relevant area (e.g. substance misuse, addiction, psychology, Health and Social Care).
• Experience building and developing strong professional partnerships with external providers. Good written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Build supportive, trusting relationships with customers and create a positive atmosphere.
• Carry out holistic assessments of new customers with relevant referral information.
• Conduct regular key work sessions to achieve Support Plan goals.
• Lead groups and activities with therapeutic and recovery focus.

Skills

Empathy

Resilience

Communication

Teamwork

Problem‑solving

Education

NVQ Level 3 or equivalent

Job description

Specialist Support Worker

We're looking for a compassionate and resilient Specialist Support Worker to join our Mental Health Service located in Southwark. No personal care or experience required, just the right values.

£ 31,993.56 per annum, working 40 hours per week.

Want to feel in control of your career? You'll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our benefits include:

• Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
• A generous pension - we will contribute up to 8% and life assurance cover up to 3x Pensionable Salary (T&Cs apply)
• Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
• Fully paid induction programme and further training
• ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
• Online wellbeing resources
• Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff's commitment and contribution
• Free DBS

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

The successful applicant will have experience working closely with a range of services to support individuals to address and/or recover from their dependence on drugs and or alcohol. Or have expertise in supporting customers with complex mental health needs, including dual diagnosis, forensic histories, and personality disorders.

Specialist Support Workers within Look Ahead are required to have either an extra dimension of experience or a higher qualification level as determined relevant for the post. Specialist Support Workers provide information, social inclusion and vocational opportunities to support people to recover and stay well; exercise choice and control in their care and lives; and participate on an equal footing in the community. Support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support. Working with individuals with complex needs, who may display challenging, chaotic behaviours, regularly test boundaries and have experienced multiple traumas as a result of abuse, neglect and substance misuse and addictions it is integral that the post holder is motivated to support individuals to progress. They should continually hold aspirations for individuals despite multiple setbacks, and display emotional resilience, able to process challenging incidents and remain motivated to deliver excellent support.

You will have excellent knowledge of harm reduction techniques and various treatment approaches for addiction and be confident in the use of these approaches. These should include but are not limited to medication treatment, behavioural counselling and relapse prevention. You will also provide information, social inclusion and vocational opportunities to support people to recover and stay well; exercise choice and control in their care and lives; and participate on an equal footing in the community. Provision of care and support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support. Post holders will deliver trauma informed and asset-based support to a caseload of up to 4 complex service users with substance misuse support needs. - The caseload is subject to change depending on the service needs. Shifts are - Early 8-4pm late 2pm-10pm Monday to Friday and double or 8am-3pm/3pm-10pm Saturday and Sunday. With some mid shifts. Working days also includes bank holidays.

What you'll do:

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead.

• Building supportive, trusting relationships with customers and creating a positive atmosphere
• Carrying out holistic assessments of new customers which incorporate relevant statutory referral information
• Conducting regular key work sessions that are innovative and engaging in order to achieve Support Plan goals
• Key-working the most complex service-users with needs aligned with Drug and Alcohol dependency
• Creating support plans for providing appropriate services based on on-going assessment and reflecting the services and resources available to enable customers to progress in their recovery
• Ensuring ongoing assessment and management of risks associated with customers within an attitude of 'positive risk taking'
• Providing support and access to relevant services to enable customers to continue their recovery and empower customers to self-manage their medication regimes through individual re-enablement programmes and informed decision making
• Undertaking support work in partnership with external stakeholders to complement their interventions, leading on partnering with specialist stakeholders;
• Upskilling staff team in particular area of expertise - Drug and Alcohol dependency.
• Developing productive relationships with partner organisations to improve service outcomes
• Demonstrate strong commitment to the functioning of the staff team and to support colleagues in providing a high level of service and safety to customers
• Involving customers in the design, development and delivery of the service
• Adhering to lone working protocols and maintaining high levels of awareness in relation to the health and safety of yourself and colleagues
• Ensuring Look Ahead Health and Safety policies and local protocols are adhered to at all times e.g. fire risk assessments, fire alarm checks etc.
• Being responsible for the handover of key information between shifts
• Providing structured support and guidance to other front-line staff in their area of expertise
• To lead groups and activities - offering a range of appropriate therapeutic and recovery focused interactions and activities
• Undertaking any other duties consistent with the grade and nature of the post as assigned by the Deputy manager and service manager
• To uphold all health and safety responsibilities within relevant policies and local protocols
• Adhere to all the policies and procedures of Look Ahead Care & Support plus those specific to the project including any statutory requirements

About you:

• Enjoys social interaction and the company of others, joins in local activities to encourage customer involvement
• Exudes a warm friendly presence and open behaviour
• Prefers working as part of a group or team
• Is fundamentally calm and resilient, does not let emotion adversely affect them or obscure their judgement
• Has a practical and logical mind and is naturally well organised
• Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments
• Is confident with high levels of self-esteem
• Is respectful, articulate and sensitive in style of communication
• Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a can-do attitude
• Ability to cope positively with challenging and diverse behaviour

What you'll bring:

Essential:

• NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in a relevant area (e.g. substance misuse, addiction, psychology, Health and Social Care).
• Experience building and developing strong professional partnerships with external providers. Good written and oral communication skills

Desirable:

• Knowledgeable in "Recovery" with an excellent understanding of addiction,
• Capable of completing comprehensive assessments, managing a high caseload of complex cases, creating care plans and risk assessments
• Experience of working closely with substance misuse clients, and delivering harm reduction advice for substance use and knowledgeable on recovery interventions
• Experience of working closely with Forensic clients, criminal background
• Knowledgeable in grooming behaviours, mental health disorders, personality disorder and associated challenging behaviour
• MAPPA Training, and Anthony Bainbridge Training.

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive.We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

• We focus on Excellence and innovation.
• We are Caring and Compassionate.
• We are Inclusive and Trusted.
• We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.