Young Start Officer

Job Description

CCP leads on the pioneering Whole Family Equality Project (WFEP), which is built and expanded on the already established Maximise! service in Edinburgh, ensuring that the offer is extended to those in *BAME communities affected by poverty and disadvantage.

* We acknowledge that the BAME term has been recommended to be phased out and replaced going forward by Commission of Race and Ethnic Disparities and intend to use recommended alternatives when these are clarified.

The post of Young Start Officer is funded by National Lottery to improve the life opportunities of 80 young people from BAME communities. Delivering a bespoke service for BAME communities, we are seeking someone who has a good level of insight into and is empathetic to the needs of BAME young people, who are facing a multitude of barriers to fulfilling their potential. The successful candidate will directly and intensively engage with 80 of the most disadvantaged BAME young people over a period of 21 months in Edinburgh. Participants will be at high risk of not getting a better and fairer start in life and face long-term unemployment, poorer skills (including life skills) and outcomes as a direct result of social, economic and systematic disadvantages and lack of equity of opportunity.

Working in an integrated service, the Young Start Officer will engage with key stakeholders, a citizen’s panel, and delivery partners (Children1st and CHAI) who are working with the older members of families to tackle poverty and income maximization. The focus will be on supporting BAME young people to access services and linking them with employability providers to ensure that successful outcomes and positive destinations are achieved. The post holder will ensure that the young people’s voices are heard and placed at the heart of the service delivery, development and improvement.

The Young Start Officer will be led and supported by the Strategy and Development Manager, working as part of an integrated team with other officers and partners, each with a specific focus on achieving positive outcomes for BAME communities including job outcomes, work experience/ internships, vocational training, volunteering and further and higher education. The post holder will deliver mentoring and advocacy support that is tailored to the needs of each individual young person to link them with employability providers, to ensure sustainable social and economic outcomes for young people. The post holder will work with the team to develop appropriate targets and measures of success.

The main duties are as follows:

• Working with the Strategy and Development Manager and delivery partners to deliver person-centred, rights-focused, one-to-one intensive support to 80 BAME young people over the period of 21 months.
• Provide one-to-one mentoring and advocacy support, develop referral pathways with employability service providers, and support service accessibility and engagement.
• Signpost young people to appropriate service providers to promote young people’s rights, welfare, and wellbeing.
• Work with the Citizen’s Panel to amplify the voices and lived experience of young people, to shape and inform the development of the Whole Family Equality Project.
• Develop materials for promotion of the service to BAME young people, including engagement with key stakeholders, schools and families.
• In line with the Joined Up for Young People Strategy, working in partnership with Young Person’s Guarantee Engagement Officers, to increase the volume of young people from BAME population engaging in the Joined Up for Young People network programmes to secure employment, training, education and education outcomes.
• Maintain data recording and data management.
• Comply with child protection guidance and policy.
• Engage with training and development opportunities provided, maintaining continuous professional development.
• Report progress and delivery outcomes to the Whole Family Equality Project Steering Group and other network platforms as required.

Resources

A company laptop will be provided for business use and either a company mobile phone or a contribution to personal mobile phone bills will be offered.

Training will be offered in appropriate areas; likely to be safeguarding, child protection and fair work.

Person Specification

Experience, Skills, and Knowledge

Essential:

• Two years’ minimum experience in one of the following areas: employability, youth work, community work, welfare rights, diversity and inclusion, housing, substance abuse, family support or poverty prevention with a focus on supporting vulnerable groups.
• Understanding of the issues and challenges facing people in poverty and the trauma around this.
• Understanding of national and local policy drivers around poverty and employability and their impact on young people, their rights, welfare and well-being.
• Understanding of the complexities faced by the BAME community in moving out of poverty and achieving better outcomes.
• Understanding of community empowerment and facilitating communities to have an active role in their journey and for under-represented voices to be heard.
• Experience of working with young people or marginalised groups to achieve positive outcomes and understanding the challenges they often face.
• Ability to demonstrate an appropriate level of relationship building and networking to facilitate opportunities for young people to access.
• Ability to work effectively within a small team of officers as well as independently.
• Excellent presentation, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Understanding of website and/or MIS systems development.
• A meticulous approach to record-keeping and recording of information including keeping young people’s files.
• Numeracy and excellent communication skills.
• Confident in the use of a wide range of software packages, including MS Office.
• Confident in working in a COVID virtual setting if required, including the use of Microsoft Teams and webinars and other software options.
• This role may require a PVG.

Desirable:

• Direct experience or qualifications in youth or community work.
• Experience of Participatory Budgeting.
• Geographical knowledge of Edinburgh and particularly areas of high deprivation.
• Experience of engaging with schools.
• Experience of racialization.
• Data analysis and reporting skills.

Application Process

Completed application forms are to be sent to kate.kelman@capitalcitypartnership.org in word format by noon, Wednesday 25^th May 2022.

Capital City Partnership will contact all applicants by email. If invited to interview you will be expected to give a presentation on a specific topic and to answer several competency-based interview questions. Interviews will be held via Teams. If you require help with your application or interview support please contact one of our funded organisations via this link.

Interviews are expected to take place on Thursday 2^nd June 2022.

If you would like an informal chat about this position, please call Ying Zhang, Strategy and Development Manager on 07739 932 039 or Kate Kelman, Deputy CEO on 07939 156 468.

Employee Benefits

• Hybrid working
• Flexible working (flexitime)
• 25 days annual leave
• 6 floating public holidays and 4 fixed public holidays
• Employer pension contribution
• Employee assistance programme
• Personal development opportunities.