Young People's Practitioner

Young Person’s Practitioner – Engagement & Participation (Non-Case-Holding Role)

Are you passionate about making a real difference in the lives of young people?
Do you have the creativity, resilience, and commitment to engage those who are hardest to reach?

We’re looking for a Young Person’s Practitioner to join our dynamic Children’s Services team in a non-case-holding role, focusing on direct engagement, participation, and relational work with young people who are:

• At risk of or experiencing exploitation

• At the edge of care

• Involved in or affected by serious youth violence

About the Role:

This is a relationship-based role where you’ll work alongside social workers and youth justice professionals to build trusted, trauma-informed relationships with young people. You will:

• Develop and deliver creative, youth-led interventions to reduce risk and build resilience

• Promote participation and the voice of the young person

• Support young people to access positive activities, peer networks, and specialist support

• Offer a flexible and responsive approach, including community-based work

• Build trusted relationships that reduce barriers to engagement and support long-term change

What We’re Looking For:

We want someone who is:

• Skilled in engaging vulnerable adolescents

• Confident working 1:1 in the community and in informal settings

• Passionate about youth participation and co-production

• Trauma-informed, culturally aware, and emotionally resilient

• A strong communicator and team player

• Committed to safeguarding and promoting the rights of young people

What We Offer:

• An opportunity to work in a 'Good' with 'Outstanding' Management Ofsted rated Children's Services

• Work alongside a Risk Outside the Home Pilot. In July 2025, a Joint Targeted Area Inspection concluded 'Well-established multi-agency approaches to children’s participation enable work to be child centred across the partnership. A strong example is the risk outside the home conferences, which result in co-produced assessments and plans, and which are developed alongside children and families in response to extra-familial risk. It is positive that feedback from children and families is embedded into the agendas of strategic groups, helping strategic discussions and actions retain a focus on the child'

• Work within a dedicated Young People's hub where you can do 1-1 interventions or simply spend time with young people playing pool or watching a film. We run a twice weekly Cafe in the hub alongside our Young People aptly named 'Opportunity Brews', have a weekly Youth Club, have access and connections with the Saints Foundation and other local charities amongst may other innovative projects running.

• Come and spend time in our Music Studio and Skills Room to help Young People have positive diversions

• Work in a supportive, forward-thinking team

• Access regular reflective supervision and professional development

Hear directly from our team—watch the video to find out what they love about the role!

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNHpJ3GnT516p-8NImz/

More on what we can offer you:

Salary: The salary band for this role is £37,280 - £40,778. The starting salary is £37,280 with annual progression through the salary bands.

Here at SCC we have a range of different perks and benefits, a few examples can be found below.

• Excellent local government pension with 16.8% employer contribution, death in service benefit of 3 x’s salary and optional salary sacrifice shared cost AVC.
• Generous holiday 25–31 days, based on role and service
• Flexible working options (role-dependent)
• Family-friendly policies - Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared/Unpaid Parental Leave, Time off for Dependents
• Training and development, including coaching and mentoring
• Health and wellbeing support - Employee Assistance Programme, Menopause Pledge, Mental Health First Aiders and access to a variety of staff networks.
• Veteran-friendly employer with the Armed Forces Covenant
• Retail discounts and savings through the Southampton City Council benefits platform
• Discounted memberships at local sports and fitness centres
• Sustainable travel benefits - low emission car scheme, cycle to work, season ticket loans
• Employee volunteering scheme with 2 paid days leave to volunteer

For further information on our benefits package please visit: Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information and details regarding the YPP post, please contact Georgina Arnold on [email protected].

Recruitment contact details:

Email: [email protected]
Tel: 023 8083 4033

For more information about SCC please visit Southampton City Council
Follow us on social media for regular updates on our featured jobs and latest news.
Facebook YouTube

for this job