Support Worker Substance Misuse

Manchester City Council; Greater Manchester; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Essential Car User Allowance

Annual leave 26 days (rising to 31)

Volunteering leave

Pension scheme

Employee discounts

Defined benefit pension

Parental and carers leave

Job summary

Manchester City Council is seeking a dedicated Support Worker to join the Substance Misuse Team in Greater Manchester. You'll work directly with citizens in their homes and community settings, helping them achieve stable tenancy, manage debts, and access treatment where needed.

The role emphasizes trauma-informed practice and collaborative work with social workers and partners. The position is permanent, 35 hours per week, on-site, with essential car user allowance and comprehensive

Responsibilities

• Work directly with citizens in their homes and community settings.
• Support individuals to achieve and maintain tenancy and address debt, benefits and daily life challenges.
• Assist with tasks from social work assessments, including accessing treatment where barriers exist.
• Collaborate with Social Workers, citizens and partner organisations.
• Support citizens through their recovery journey and related services.
• Report to Team Manager and escalate issues requiring social work input.

Skills

Communication skills

Planning, Organisation and Time Mgmt

Problem Solving and Decision Making

ICT Skills

Job description

About The Role

Working Hours: 35 Hours Per Week

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Style: On Site

Additional Payments: Essential Car User Allowance

Closing Date: 11.59pm, 4 November 2026

Interview Method: Face to Face

You must already have valid right to work in the UK documentation, as we cannot offer visa sponsorship for this role.

If you are successful, your appointment will be subject to completing the relevant pre-employment checks. These checks will be carried out as part of our recruitment process and include:

As a Support Worker on the Substance Misuse Team, you will work directly with citizens and Substance Misuse Social Workers.

The team provide a specialist social work role forming part of the response to substance misuse in the city. The citizens who you will be working with can often be chaotic in presentation and often face stigma and multiple disadvantage.

The team work in a trauma-informed and non-judgemental way, supporting people on their recovery journey. This support spans detoxification, rehabilitation and aftercare, providing continuous support throughout recovery.

In this role you will:

• Work directly with citizens in their homes and other community settings.
• Support individuals with achieving and maintaining a tenancy, addressing issues of debt, benefit uptake and other everyday life challenges.
• Support citizens with tasks identified in social work assessments, including accessing alcohol and drug treatment where barriers prevent independent attendance.
• Work collaboratively with Social Workers, citizens and wider partner organisations.
• Support citizens affected by addiction throughout their recovery journey.
• Work directly with the Team Manager, reporting on completed work and escalating issues requiring a social work response where appropriate.

For queries about the role, please contact the hiring manager, Sarah Durkin, at [email protected] to arrange a convenient time to discuss the role. This route is for vacancy-related enquiries only and should not be used to submit applications.

Pre-Employment Checks

• Essential Car User: This post is designated as an Essential Car User role. Therefore, you must hold a full valid driving licence and provide your own car for use at work.
• Medical Clearance: Pre-placement Health Assessment (PPHA).
• DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance: The post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (amended in 2013). Appointable candidates will be required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Information provided by you or the DBS will be dealt with in a confidential manner and in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice . We have a policy on the secure handling, storage and use of DBS information, as well as a policy on the recruitment and employment of ex-offenders. Both policies are available on request.
• Satisfactory references and other pre-employment checks where applicable.

For more information on these checks, please visit: Pre-employment checks information .

About the Candidate

We are looking for someone who is able to manage competing priorities under pressure and who is committed to supporting the most vulnerable residents in our city to achieve their full potential. Someone who is non-judgemental and has an understanding of trauma informed practice who can support and empower the people they are working with.

We are looking for someone who is confident in communicating with colleagues and wider external partners and who is able to build effective and therapeutic relationships with citizens and their families/carers.

We'll use the following essential criteria to decide which candidates to invite to assessment. Use your personal statement to provide evidence of how you meet each one, supported by relevant examples:

• Communication skills - Ability to communicate clearly and effectively taking account of individual need including consideration of accessibility issues.
• Planning, Organisation and Time Management - Demonstrate excellent judgement skills under competing priorities and pressure.
• Problem Solving and Decision Making - Ability to react to immediate problems of a highly complex nature with associated risk factors and deliver pragmatic solutions sometimes under extreme pressure
• ICT Skills - Able to use basic applications and software to keep accurate records

If you're invited to assessment, we'll look at a wider range of the role requirements. For more detail, please see the role profile.

Use of AI

You may use AI to support your application, but all examples must be your own and based on real experience. Applications may be withdrawn if content is misleading or presents someone else's experience as your own. Internal candidates may also face disciplinary action.

Guaranteed Assessment Scheme

We guarantee progression to the assessment stage for applicants who meet the essential criteria used for shortlisting and are eligible under the scheme.

Support and Adjustments

If you're successful in securing a role, we'll make every effort to provide the support, equipment and reasonable adjustments you need to carry out your duties. Where needed, we'll consider adapting aspects of the role.

About Us

Working for Manchester City Council is a chance to make a real difference in a diverse city. You'll help improve lives and support our local communities. Working together, we can create better public services for everyone.

Benefits we offer

• Up to 26 days' annual leave, rising to 31 days after five years' service
• Buy up to two extra weeks' leave
• Up to 3 days' volunteering leave
• A 35-hour work week for full-time roles
• We review pay each year and recognise three trade unions
• A defined benefit pension scheme
• Enhanced parental and carers leave
• Employee discounts and perks

Learn more at Careers - Manchester City Council

Our commitment to inclusion

At Manchester City Council, we're dedicated to creating a workplace that fully reflects the diversity of our local communities. We actively encourage applications from people of all ages and backgrounds and are particularly keen to hear from applicants from ethnic minority communities and disabled people, who remain underrepresented in parts of our workforce.

GM Elevate Programme

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the 'Personal Statement' section or 'Supporting Statement' section of your application.

Accessible Formats

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