Youth Worker (Public Health)

Overview

Are you passionate about making a difference in the lives of young people? Join us as a Youth Worker (Public Health) and lead the charge in promoting healthier lifestyles among young people in Buckinghamshire. This role focuses on coordinating and developing support work around smoking and vaping, ensuring young people are educated and empowered to make informed choices.

This role will also be responsible for developing relationships with key partners to coordinate the support offer and steer development work, providing specialist knowledge and advice to colleagues and implementing an outreach offer to young people in their communities.

This position is being advertised for Buckinghamshire Council internal and agency employees only.

About us

The Community Youth Team currently has 10 members of staff and is responsible for developing relationships with organisations in the voluntary and community sector to promote the early help offer to young people transitioning between targeted and universal provision and support diversionary programmes in communities.

The team also have responsibilities for Participation amongst young people and ensuring young people have a voice is a key outcome for the team. We also have responsibilities around ensuring NEET young people have the opportunities to become EET and also are developing our offer of outreach programmes for young people across the county.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey to improve outcomes for young people across Buckinghamshire.

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious, rapidly growing county, and our economy is one of the strongest in the country. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty and ranks as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK and yet it is incredibly well connected– only an hour from London on the train. The county has a rich history and heritage and is the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About the role

As a Youth Worker (Public Health), you will:

• Coordinate our support offer to young people at risk of smoking and vaping, including community activities and school programs.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key partners to enhance education and support for young people.
• Produce progress reports on the impact of our partnership approach.
• Provide specialist knowledge and advice to colleagues and partner agencies, upskilling staff and developing guidance for young people and their families.
• Undertake individual case work for complex cases and support bids for specific projects or initiatives.
• Work collaboratively to identify opportunities and ensure young people have access to the support they need.
• Represent our service at community meetings with a youth focus and support young people in having their voices heard.

Mobile:

A ‘mobile’ role gives you the flexibility to schedule your own diary, so you can meet with colleagues and clients in a variety of locations. You’ll access digital folders and resources on your laptop and be able to use the network wherever you are based. Working from home will be common, as well as meeting your team in the office where necessary.

About you

We are looking for someone with:

• Relevant professional qualifications and experience in youth work.
• Strong knowledge of the issues affecting young people, particularly around smoking and vaping.
• Experience in engaging with stakeholders and working in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to motivate and negotiate with a wide range of people.
• Proven ability to plan and deliver training, and to provide expert advice and support to community partners.
• A full driving license and the ability to converse at ease with customers, providing accurate spoken English advice.
• Flexibility to work anti-social hours, including some evenings and weekends.

Other information

For further information on this role please see the attached job summary.

Currently the team have an office day at Walton Street Offices on Tuesdays, however the working arrangements are flexible depending on the needs of young people. It is expected that there will be evening work on some occasions.

Number of positions available: 1

Closing date: 23.00 on Thursday 10^th April 2025

Shortlisting date: Friday 11^th April 2025

Interview date: Thursday 17^th April 2025

Interview-type / process: In person, including a professional panel and a young person’s panel.

If you would like to have an informal conversation with the recruiting manager, please contact: Stuart Parker; [email protected]

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Ensuring that children and young people in Buckinghamshire reach their potential is a primary focus within our Education service. It’s essential that we provide inclusive and life-long learning opportunities for all of our young people - so we look to raise standards, attainment and aspirations in a number of ways.

Our key priorities include: improving the quality and timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans and the support families of children with SEND receive; reducing the number of exclusions both permanent and fixed term; and providing the children of Buckinghamshire with the highest quality education possible.

We aim to provide the right support, at the right time for families requiring non-statutory intervention, and provide sufficient, high quality early years and school places for children in Buckinghamshire. Despite Buckinghamshire having a higher percentage of good or outstanding Early Years providers and schools than national averages, we are not complacent.

We are keen to strengthen the services we deliver to provide the children of Buckinghamshire the highest quality education possible.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/