District Youth & Community Worker – Hospital Project
Fixed Term, Full Time
£31,885 to £34,708 per annum
Location: South Essex
Working Style: Community-based worker
Please note this vacancy is available as a fixed term contract or secondment opportunity for up to 12 months.
The Opportunity
The Youth Work in Hospital Project operates within the Mid and South Essex Hospitals (Basildon, Southend, and Broomfield) to support young people in their community. This service is available to those aged 11–19 (up to 25 with SEND) during their hospital visit and after discharge into their communities. This is a regional award winner of the NHS Excellence Awards 2026 for improving health outcomes in the east of England.
Accountabilities
- Work closely with the Senior Youth and community worker and other youth workers, to develop the Youth Work in Hospital Project to ensuring young people’s interests are at the forefront of delivery.
- Have supervisory responsibility for the Youth and Community Workers within a Hospital Project.
- Support the development and delivery of the Hospital Project, including completing assessments, covering 3-4 hospital shifts a week in the A&E department, hospital clinics, school clinics and home visits.
- Make contact and establish relationships with professionals, young people, and their communities.
- Ensuring the ‘voice’ of young people is heard in the design and delivery of effective youth work provision.
- Encouraging and enabling young people to participate in a range of educational and personal development activities.
- Ensuring access to information and personal support, which enables young people to develop the confidence and skills to become creative, active members of their communities.
- Manage employees in working flexibly and collaboratively across the service and wider children and families service to support the organisations key outcomes.
- Work to the organisational capability standards through good people management, including the training and development, mentoring and coaching of team members to challenge the norms and constructive challenge professionals to achieve the best outcomes for young people.
- Manage a complex caseload of young people with complex health needs.
Key Responsibilities
- Ensure the proper implementation of risk management, including Health and Safety and Business Continuity.
- Develop and deliver a programme for a youth group session of imaginative activities, encouraging participation and involvement of young people in developing their skills, understanding of others and the world around them. Ensuring that young people coauthor the program and shape the delivery. Though 1:1 session, and group sessions.
- Facilitate young people’s learning and understanding of their personal and social development in accordance with the core values of youth work and to meet their own health targets.
- To manage your own working hours and those who you line manage (Flexible working) in accordance to the needs of the project and young people
- Keep accurate and efficient administrative systems and record keeping on Youth service systems. Provide information and data as required.
- Take part in the Service supervision scheme and performance management scheme to identify priorities and learning needs.
- Ensure Child Protection/ Safeguarding Guidelines (SET) are followed and that all concerns are reported promptly
The Experience You Will Bring
- Qualified at degree level in a JNC recognised Professional Youth Work Qualification or level 6 relevant qualification (or in training), including social work, Mental health etc.
- Ability to work in partnership and to influence partners across a range of sectors to support the identification of desired outcomes for young people.
- Excellent level of numeracy, literacy (GCSE A – C or equivalent or demonstrable experience) and ICT.
- Experience of managing resources.
- Experience of working with young people, partners and community groups.
- Ability to build relationships and relate well to young people, partners, volunteers and commissioners.
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.
Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.
Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.
At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.
As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service
If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk.
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