Youth Support Worker

Essex County Council; Bishop's Stortford; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid working

26 days annual leave

Local Authority Pension Scheme

Travel/Business mileage paid

Job summary

Essex County Council is seeking a Targeted Youth Advisor to support young people at risk of disengagement from education, employment or training. The role is based in Harlow with hybrid working and a 37-hour week, offering strong progression and training opportunities.

You will provide intensive mentoring, groupwork, and bespoke careers guidance while collaborating with schools, local authorities and partner agencies to deliver positive outcomes.

Qualifications

• Educated to a Level 6 CIAG qualification or working towards it.
• Flexible and creative with excellent time management and experience supporting young people.
• Broad understanding of issues affecting young people and services provided by partners.
• Excellent communication with young people in a purposeful, responsive manner.

Responsibilities

• Provide one-to-one intensive mentoring and bespoke groupwork.
• Deliver career advice and guidance to help young people access opportunities.
• Support young people to overcome barriers and stay engaged.
• Collaborate with schools, families and partner agencies to improve outcomes.

Skills

Youth mentoring

Time management

Communication

Education

Level 6 CIAG qualification

Job description

Targeted Youth Advisor

Permanent, Full Time

£29,512 to £34,720 Per Annum

Location: Harlow

Closing Date: Wednesday 18th November 2026 at 11.59pm

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

As a Targeted Youth Advisor, you'll support young people who are at risk of disengaging from education, employment, or training. Through mentoring, guidance, and targeted interventions, you'll help them build confidence, access opportunities, and achieve positive outcomes. If you're passionate about making a lasting difference to young people's lives, we'd love to hear from you.

We would welcome applications from candidates with experience in youth work, careers guidance, teaching (secondary school and higher education), employability support, education welfare, alternative provision, SEND services, early help, mentoring, social care, youth justice, or other services supporting young people.

Interview Date: Monday 30th November 2026

Why work with us?

• Enjoy flexible hybrid working, autonomy in managing your diary and an excellent work-life balance.
• Manage a meaningful caseload where you can see the difference your support makes while collaborating with schools, families, and partner agencies.
• Happy to consider public and private sector backgrounds.
• Work for a supportive, high performing team with wonderful team morale and friendly, helpful, and supportive colleagues.
• Paid Business Mileage for all journeys from your contractual location.
• Great training pathways. Encouragement to all staff for their continual professional development with full support and guidance.
• 26 days annual leave, plus bank holidays.
• 37 hour working week.
• Local Authority Defined Contribution Pension Scheme.
• Continuous Service - Joining us from another local authority? Then you could benefit from bringing your time served and benefits with you.

The Opportunity

Working as a Community Based Worker, this role will be filled on a hybrid basis. This means you can work remotely for part of the working week with an expectation to attend a work location 3 or 4 days per week. More specific details about this can be discussed at the interview stage should you be invited to interview.

The role is typically Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm (with a 30-minute lunch break). However, there may occasionally be a requirement for evening work, depending on business needs.

While primarily supporting young people within West Essex, travel across the county may be required to meet service needs and support programmes.

The Targeted Youth Advisor will play a key role in developing the Youth Service offer by working with identified young people who are at risk of not engaging in employment, education, and training. Targeted Youth Advisor's provide one to one intensive mentoring, bespoke groupwork packages, careers advice and guidance, and positive activities to empower young people to overcome barriers.

You will be contributing to the development of a high-quality targeted service for young people, the role will work with colleagues across the Council and key partners such as Education, Health, Social Services and Youth Offending Service, to ensure the best possible outcomes for young people.

The Experience You Will Bring

Essential:

• Educated to a Level 6 CIAG qualification or willing to work towards.
• Flexible and creative, with excellent time management skills and substantial experience supporting young people in both one-to-one and group settings.
• A broad understanding of the issues affecting young people, barriers to education, opportunities for learning and the services provided by partner agencies.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to relate to young people in a purposeful but responsive manner and demonstrable knowledge and understanding of their needs.

Desirable:

• Proven experience of successfully progressing young people into employment, education, and training opportunities.
• 'Knowledge and understanding of Gatsby Benchmarks'
• Advocating on behalf of young people with services and partner organisations with an ability to negotiate with schools, colleges, employers, and other agencies.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Deep knowledge and understanding of the current local offers of support to young people that may facilitate their reintegration.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.