Support Worker – HOTH Intervention Team

South Gloucestershire Council; West of England; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous annual leave

Employee wellbeing support

Staff discounts

Job summary

South Gloucestershire Council is seeking a dedicated Support Worker for the HOTH Intervention team. You will deliver trauma-informed, one-to-one interventions for 11-18-year-olds at risk of exploitation and harm, supported by established safeguarding procedures and collaborative partners.

DBS checks and driving are required. Role involves time-limited plans, Return Home Interviews, and contributing to assessments with schools, police and voluntary agencies.

Qualifications

• Essential: NVQ Level 4 or equivalent in services for children and young people.
• Experience with vulnerable children, young people or families and evidence-based intervention.
• Ability to follow plans, use sound judgement, undertake basic risk assessments and escalate safeguarding concerns.
• Good understanding of legislation, safeguarding procedures, adolescent risk, contextual safeguarding and trauma-informed practice.
• Knowledge of exploitation-focused work, group interventions or community-based responses is valuable.
• Strong communication, partnership working, report writing and IT skills; ability to manage competing priorities and maintain records.

Responsibilities

• Deliver planned one-to-one interventions, including safety planning and trusted relationship-building.
• Undertake time-limited bespoke intervention plans and Return Home Interviews.
• Support contextual assessments, mapping and planning relating to peers, locations and emerging themes.
• Contribute to group work and collaborate with schools, police, voluntary agencies and other partners to reduce risk.
• Maintain accurate records and escalate safeguarding concerns promptly.

Skills

Communication

Partnership working

Report writing

IT skills

Risk assessment

Trauma-informed practice

Contextual safeguarding

Group interventions

Exploitation knowledge

Time management

Education

NVQ Level 4 or equivalent related to services for children and young people

Tools

Driving licence

Job description

How you'll make a difference

Join a specialist service focused on helping children and young people stay safe from harm outside the home. As a Support Worker within the HOTH Intervention team, you will deliver targeted, trauma-informed interventions for children and young people aged 11-18 who are at risk of, or experiencing, criminal and sexual exploitation, peer-on-peer harm, serious youth violence and online harm.

Working within a centralised, non-case-holding team, you will undertake planned, time-limited work with children already allocated to Family Help or Children in Care services. Through trusted relationships, safety planning, healthy relationships work and targeted one-to-one support, you will help young people understand risk and work towards safer outcomes.

What you will be doing

The work is shaped around each child's assessed needs and agreed outcomes, with interventions planned in consultation with the Senior Support Worker or Team Manager. Alongside direct support, you will contribute observations and feedback to wider assessment, planning and review activity, helping professionals understand changes in risk, barriers to engagement and progress.

Day-to-day guidance and reflective supervision will support you to respond confidently within established procedures and contextual safeguarding approaches. More complex or higher-risk situations will be escalated promptly, while accurate recording and thoughtful workload management will help ensure intervention remains safe, focused and effective.

• It will be your responsibility to deliver planned one-to-one interventions, including safety planning, trusted relationship-building and healthy relationships work.
• You will undertake time-limited bespoke intervention plans and Return Home Interviews in line with assessed needs and agreed outcomes.
• Utilising your engagement skills, you will support contextual assessments, mapping and planning relating to peers, locations and emerging themes.
• A key aspect of the role is contributing to group work and working alongside schools, police, voluntary agencies and other partners to reduce risk.
• You will bring an organised and reflective approach to meetings, accurate recording, progress feedback and the timely escalation of safeguarding concerns.

What we need from you

• It is essential that you hold, or are working towards, a relevant professional qualification such as NVQ Level 4 or equivalent related to services for children and young people.
• We are looking for someone who has relevant experience of working with vulnerable children, young people or families, including evidence-based intervention and relationship-building.
• You must be able to follow agreed plans, use sound judgement, undertake basic risk assessments and escalat e safeguarding concerns appropriately.
• You will have a good understanding of relevant legislation, safeguarding procedures, adolescent risk, contextual safeguarding and trauma-informed practice.
• Having knowledge of exploitation-focused work, group interventions or community-based responses would be particularly valuable.
• Strong communication, partnership working, report writing and IT skills are essential, alongside the ability to manage competing priorities and maintain accurate records.

What you need to know

• Please note that due to the nature of this role, it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained.
• Travel throughout the authority and surrounding area is expected, so a full driving licence with access to a vehicle, or an alternative suitable means of travel, is needed.
• Evening and weekend work will form part of the service requirement.

Interviews will be held on 30th October 2026.

How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different

• As part of our benefits package, you will receivegenerous annual leave(pro rata), employeewellbeing supportand you will have access to a range ofstaff discounts,including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities.
• We recognise that ourdiverse teamof skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.
• We invest in the careers of our people, and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of ourtraining and developmentoffer, which helps our people make the greatest long-term difference in their work.
• What's special here is the strength of theteam ethos. We are a relatively small local authority, so managers know staff well. They can plan their services to ensure teams havemanageable caseloadsand have effective supervision sofeel supportedto make decisions which are right for the children and young people they work with.
• We arecommitted to safeguardingand promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.

Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.

• We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of.
• We're providing essential services across our communities to ensure they are safe and well maintained.

We've achieved a great deal