Youth and Community Lead

Suffolk Jobs Direct; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

A youth charity based in the UK seeks a Youth and Community Lead in Ipswich to lead and deliver youth services across multiple locations. The role involves managing a team, overseeing the delivery of high-quality youth programmes, and ensuring compliance with safeguarding standards. Candidates should have strong people management skills and a strategic mindset. This is a permanent role offering a competitive salary and various benefits aimed at enhancing personal well-being and work-life balance.

Benefits

An extra day of annual leave for each year of service

Competitive salary

Free spaces at holiday clubs for dependents

Free car parking at centres

Opportunity to make a difference in young people's lives

Qualifications

• Strong experience in people management is required.
• Must be proactive with a strategic mindset.
• Ability to manage budgets and financial resources effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Project Coordinators and Practitioners.
• Ensure high-quality delivery of youth services.
• Embed the new youth work framework across delivery sites.

Skills

People management

Strategic thinking

Effective communication

Job description

• Inspire
• Address: Lindbergh Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 9QX
• Salary: £26,369 - £32,238 per annum pro rata
• Hours: 30 – 37.5 hours per week
• Permanent: Permanent, required as soon as possible
• Reference: 0527

Inspireare looking for Youth and Community Lead responsible for leading, coordinating and delivering Inspire’s work across its key delivery locations (currently Ipswich, Hadleigh, and Lowestoft). You must be proactive, a strategic thinker, and have strong experience in people management.

You will be responsible for the management of the team and is accountable for ensuring that youth services are delivered to a consistently high standard, safeguarding-compliant, and aligned with the charity’s strategic objectives.

You will play a pivotal role in embedding a newly developed youth work framework, ensuring programmes are co-designed, delivered and evaluated consistently and collaboratively across all sites.

You will work closely with the Head of Services (who retains responsibility for strategic leadership that shapes and develops a range of programmes to achieve the best possible outcomes for service users) in effectively managing budgets and allocated financial resources to achieve the best possible programme outcomes.

You will be required to work some evenings and, when necessary, weekends.

Your responsibilities will include

• providing effective line management to Project Coordinators and Youth and Community Practitioners, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery, individual and team development, and an aligned, values‑led team culture
• carrying out structured one to one meetings, leadership, performance oversight, managing attendance, absence and annual leave.
• overall responsibility for recruitment, retention and development of staff and volunteers within the team.
• supporting the induction, training and development of staff and volunteers, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to fulfil the requirement of the role
• leading and developing the staff and volunteer team to encourage effective communication, setting objectives, initiating work plans and helping to create a positive team spirit through regular team meetings
• overseeing project budgets and reporting processes, ensuring accurate monitoring, financial accountability and clear demonstration of impact to funders and stakeholders
• signing off on project-level spend and resource allocation within agreed budgets
• overseeing and leading the design and oversight of inclusive, co‑produced youth programmes that are consistently planned, delivered, and evaluated in line with Inspire’s Youth Work Framework, this includes our open access sessions (including sport), school-based activities, holiday club programmes, targeted one to one support and outreach/detached youth work
• building strong partnerships with young people, community stakeholders and networks to champion youth voice and collaborative service design
• ensuring all youth engagement activities uphold the highest safeguarding standards
• taking personal responsibility for the understanding and application of the Inspire Safeguarding Practice and Values of the organisation.

About us

Inspire is a dedicated youth charity, empowering under 25’s to achieve a better future. Working closely with young people, we support their personal development and wellbeing, as well as helping them overcome obstacles and progress onto professional pathways. With over ten years behind us, we are looking forward to a future where we can have an ever-greater impact on young lives and their communities. More opportunities, more friendships, more understanding, more services and more happiness.

We will offer you

Join our fantastic Team and enjoy a range of benefits to enhance your own well‑being, improve your work‑life balance and most importantly make a difference to the lives of the young people we work with.

Our benefits include

• An extra day of annual leave for each year of dedicated service.
• A competitive salary that recognises your skills and dedication.
• Free spaces for your dependents at our holiday clubs, providing peace of mind for working parents.
• Free car parking at our centres for easy access to the workplace.
• And most importantly you’ll be making a real difference every day.

For more information

Please read the Recruitment Information Pack (pdf) for more details about this role.

How to apply

Please submit your CV and covering letter to Jackie Partridge, Head of Services by email at [e-mail].

Closing date: 1pm, 2 January 2026.

We review every application carefully and, if we consider your profile a good match, we will contact you to invite you to take part in the interview process. The first part of the interview process will be a telephone interview, and the second part of the process will be in the form of a formal interview.

Shortlisting and interviews will take place while the advertisement is live, which may mean the position is closed early if suitable candidates are found.

We believe in equality, diversity and inclusion. We are committed to welcoming, respecting and valuing people for who they are as individuals, learning from their differences, embracing their uniqueness, and providing a positive workplace for all.

Inspire is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to pre‑employment checks including an enhanced DBS check.