Casual Residential Peer Support Worker

Ember Group; Orewa; On-site; NZD 35,000 - 42,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Recreation days

Study leave

Health & wellbeing programme

Training & development

Job summary

Ember Group is seeking a Residential Peer Support Worker to provide compassionate, peer-led support in a 6-bed residential setting in Silverdale. You will engage with individuals experiencing distress, support recovery goals, and collaborate with nurses and staff to foster a supportive, respectful environment.

The role emphasizes lived experience, resilience, and strong boundaries, with opportunities for training, leave, and career progression within Ember’s health and wellbeing services.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated resilience and ability to relate to people in distress.
• Ability to work in a team and across bicultural contexts.
• Maintain professional boundaries and ethics in practice.
• Experience or interest in mental health and/or addictions is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build trusting relationships with participants and support their goals.
• Work within a peer-led model to support recovery and independence.
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to provide holistic care.

Skills

Resilience

Relationship-building

Teamwork

Boundaries & ethics

Empathy

Recovery-focused

Education

National Certificate in Health & Wellbeing L4

Equivalent qualification/working towards

Job description

Residential Peer Support Worker

• Casual Shifts
• Service operates 24 hours, 7days a week on a rotating roster (AM/PM/Awake Shifts)
• Services is located in Silverdale
• Ember Support Worker Pay Rates: $25.63 - $30.70ph (depending on qualification held and its equivalence to the NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing L4, with stepped increases based on tenure).

Ember Korowai Takitini | Nga Matapono

Ember Korowai Takitini blends professional expertise and lived experience to offer a range of services and supports for anyone with mental health, addiction or intellectual disability needs

At Ember we support people to live the lives they choose and we challenge the systems that hold them back.

We desire a society that better understands and responds to mental distress, addiction and intellectual disability

Ember:

• Offers additional leave – Recreation days, study leave
• Provides a comprehensive Health & Wellbeing programme, including health checks, flu vaccinations and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and more
• Provides training opportunities for upskilling, personal & professional development, and career progression.

The Service | Ko Te Whare O Piri Pono

Piri Pono is a 6-bed residential, acute alternative to hospitalisation. Peer led, it is staffed with both nurses and support workers, making it a rare and special combination. Piri Pono in English means to be loyal, faithful and devoted — an allegiance. The name reflect our practice — a respite home that encourages people to pull together with a focus on independent living and building relationships.

Piri Pono is available to those experiencing extreme mental distress who have been assessed by the Rodney Adult Mental Health Services. Guests are able to stay for up to 10 days in a homelike, personalised environment with a holistic approach to wellness.

Role | Nga mahi

Peer support is a challenging role requiring resilience and the ability to relate to the people you work with. It is also a rewarding role where you can use your own lived experience of mental distress to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

As a Peer Support Worker, you will be creating relationships with the people you work with and together learn to use those relationships to see things from new angle. You will also develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and support and challenge each other in trying new things.

You will | Nga Pukenga

• Have experienced your own mental distress and recovery
• Have/Working towards a National Certificate in Health and Wellbeing L4 or equivalent
• Have the ability to work in a team environment and from a bicultural perspective.
• Be professional and have good boundaries and ethics.
• Have experience working in the area of mental health and/or addictions (alcohol and other drugs)
• Full NZ Drivers Licence
• Valid/Current work visa, residency, or citizenship
• Have a passion for walking along side those in need, supporting on-going goals on the pathway to recovery.

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maku e ki atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata”

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

Ember is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and embrace diversity and inclusion in the workplace and are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all. We particularly welcome applications from our Māori, Pacific and Rainbow communities.

We will interview candidates as applications come through rather than waiting until the advertisement closes. The vacancy may be filled earlier if a suitable candidate is identified.