Youth & Community Manager

YMCA South Midlands; Manor Park; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

YMCA South Midlands is seeking a Youth & Community Manager to lead our youth and community services in Milton Keynes. You will oversee mentoring, engagement and community programmes, ensuring safety, inclusivity and tangible outcomes.

You will manage a small team of staff and volunteers, build strong partnerships with schools, local authorities and charities, and monitor impact to demonstrate progress against objectives.

Qualifications

• Experience working in youth services, community development, mentoring or a similar environment.
• Experience managing people, volunteers, projects or community programmes.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• The confidence to build positive relationships with partners and stakeholders.
• An understanding of safeguarding and the importance of creating safe, inclusive environments.
• Experience monitoring performance, demonstrating outcomes and delivering against agreed objectives.

Responsibilities

• Leading our services: Overseeing the delivery of youth mentoring, youth engagement and community programmes, ensuring they are safe, inclusive and impactful.
• Managing projects: Taking ownership of funded programmes, including our Youth Mentoring project, ensuring activities, budgets and outcomes are delivered successfully.
• Supporting your team: Managing, coaching and developing a small team of employees and volunteers, creating a positive and accountable team culture.
• Building partnerships: Developing strong relationships with schools, local authorities, charities and community organisations to create more opportunities for young people.
• Demonstrating impact: Monitoring performance, measuring outcomes and ensuring we can clearly demonstrate the difference our work is making.
• Championing safeguarding: Ensuring the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of young people remain at the heart of everything we do.

Skills

Youth services

Community development

Mentoring

Education

Degree-level qualification

Job description

We're delighted to be partnering with the National Lottery Community Fund as part of our Youth Mentoring MK project. Their funding and support means we're able to expand our mentoring support for children and young people across Milton Keynes, helping those experiencing poverty, disadvantage and discrimination to build confidence, improve their wellbeing and achieve their goals.

We're looking for a passionate and proactive Youth & Community Manager to lead the day-to-day delivery of our youth and community services, making a real and lasting difference to young people across Milton Keynes.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who loves working with people, enjoys leading a small team and has the drive to turn great ideas into meaningful outcomes.

What you'll be doing

As our Youth & Community Manager, you'll play a key role in ensuring our programmes deliver the best possible support and opportunities for young people.

You'll be responsible for:

• Leading our services: Overseeing the delivery of youth mentoring, youth engagement and community programmes, ensuring they are safe, inclusive and impactful.
• Managing projects: Taking ownership of funded programmes, including our Youth Mentoring project, ensuring activities, budgets and outcomes are delivered successfully.
• Supporting your team: Managing, coaching and developing a small team of employees and volunteers, creating a positive and accountable team culture.
• Building partnerships: Developing strong relationships with schools, local authorities, charities and community organisations to create more opportunities for young people.
• Demonstrating impact: Monitoring performance, measuring outcomes and ensuring we can clearly demonstrate the difference our work is making.
• Championing safeguarding: Ensuring the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of young people remain at the heart of everything we do.

We're looking for someone who combines a genuine passion for supporting young people with the confidence and organisational skills to manage services and deliver results.

You’ll bring:

• Experience working in youth services, community development, mentoring or a similar environment.
• Experience managing people, volunteers, projects or community programmes.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• The confidence to build positive relationships with partners and stakeholders.
• An understanding of safeguarding and the importance of creating safe, inclusive environments.
• Experience monitoring performance, demonstrating outcomes and delivering against agreed objectives.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach and a genuine commitment to making things better.

Above all, we're looking for someone who takes ownership, brings out the best in others and is motivated by seeing young people succeed.

A degree-level qualification in social work, youth work, a social science, education or another relevant field is highly desirable, but not essential.

Why join YMCA South Midlands?

We're more than a charity. We’re a community of people who believe in the potential of every young person.

You’ll be joining an organisation where your ideas matter, your contribution makes a difference and you’ll have the opportunity to shape and develop services that genuinely change lives.

If you’re ready to combine your passion for young people with your leadership and project management skills, we’d love to hear from you.

Safeguarding

YMCA South Midlands is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The successful candidate will be required to complete appropriate safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check and a children’s barred list check where the role is eligible.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want every candidate to have the opportunity to perform at their best throughout our recruitment process.

If you have a disability, long-term health condition or are neurodivergent and would benefit from any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know when you apply or contact us at any stage. We’ll be happy to discuss how we can support you.