Project:Talent Match - Norwich

Job Description

Title: Youth Advocate

Reporting to: Employment & Skills Manager; Senior Youth Advocate

Main Relationships:Employment & Skills Manager; Youth Advocates; Youth Forum Coordinator; Participants; Local Employers; Voluntary Norfolk; The Prince’s Trust; Community Action Suffolk.

Main Purpose of the Job: To encourage and enable participants in Norwich to gain employment, access and participate in volunteering, training and career development opportunities.

To provide pre-employment support, sources of information and advice necessary to achieve their goal of entering the labour market and improving their skills and confidence.

Main Tasks:

Support

To support participants in Norwich to make the most of the provision and opportunities available to them through the Talent Match programme.

To support participantsin Norwich to access employment (including self-employment), volunteering, training, learning and development opportunities.

To deliver a personalised and flexible service to participants recognising differing needs and developing individualised pathways into employment.

To develop, manage and review a caseload of participantsensuring that each individual makes relevant progress towards employment.

To provide specific and appropriate employment support to participants both individually and in groups, such as assisting with job applications, covering letters, CVs and interview techniques.

To assess need and allocate appropriate funding and grants to participantsin order to support them with training and/or employment needs.

To provide appropriate support to residents who gain work placements and positions as volunteers to encourage and support them to maintain the position.

Partnerships

To work closely with employers to identify appropriate opportunities for participants and to promote involvement in Talent Match.

To work closely with other partners in the local area to ensure that residents are able to access and receive the most appropriate support.

To work with voluntary and statutory partners to develop effective support arrangements and ensure that relevant services and information are accessible.

To establish effective working relationships with private, statutory and voluntary providers, enabling participants to be referred to appropriate opportunities.

Knowledge

To develop an understanding of the local labour market and to use this to offer relevant advice and support to participants seeking employment.

To develop knowledge of local provision offered by statutory and voluntary providers that can be used to help participants progress into employment.

Internal

To supply performance management data as required by the funding body, lead partner, and/or the Employment Support Manager.

To provide regular updates on progress and project development to partners and strategic bodies as required.

To attend meetings and deliver other services as required by the line manager and relevant to the delivery of the aims and objectives of Talent Match.

To support the delivery of high quality services from “The Hive”, Voluntary Norfolk’s employability support hub.

Other

To act as an ambassador to Charity Backroom; promoting services on offer and ensuring the strategic importance of Charity Backroom to the sector is embraced by all Voluntary Service employees.

To undertake additional duties as requested by the Employment Service Manager for which additional training and support will be provided.

All Voluntary Norfolk post holders are responsible for:

Working to the policies of Voluntary Norfolk.

Promoting equal opportunities and diversity within all aspects of their work.

Complying with Health and Safety regulations.

Carrying out additional duties where appropriate which may be allocated from time to time by the Chief Executive.

PERSON SPECIFICATION: Talent Match - Youth Advocate

The person appointed to this post would normally be expected to meet the following criteria:

(Essential and Desirable)

Experience and Qualifications
The ability to start up and shape projects and new initiatives. / E
Experience of support work with young people or disadvantaged groups. / E
Experience of multi-agency and partnership working. / E
Experience of community outreach or engagement work. / D
Experience supporting clients to access employment and learning. / D
A degree/relevant professional qualification. / D
Skills Knowledge
Possesses exceptional motivation skills and is able to inspire others. / E
Excellent communicator with strong interpersonal skills. / E
Able to work flexibly to meet the need of the young people. / E
The ability to manage pressure and competing demands. / E
Excellent computer skills. / E
Understanding of employability skills and ability to create persuasive CVs, application forms and cover letters. / E
Effective and methodical record-keeper, competent at producing reports and evidencing progress toward targets. / E
The ability to manage a flexible fund and allocate funding to young people. / D
Good knowledge of services and provision in Norwich. / D
Attributes
Positive ‘can do’ approach. / E
Self-motivated and enthusiastic with the ability to work on own initiative. / E
Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate others and confidence to approach professional organisations. / E
A creative thinker with a flexible approach to problem solving. / E
A good team player with a willingness to be flexible and adaptable / E
Highly organised and able to prioritise workloads. / E
An understanding of confidentiality and impartiality issues. / E
Other requirements
Ability to work unsocial hours / E
Car owner/driver / D