Youth Team Lead - Darwen Youth Zone

Accountable to: Youth, Play and Sports Manager

About Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone:

Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone is a 21st century youth hub located at the heart of Blackburn and a dedicated site in Darwen, open to young people aged 5 to 25 years old, aiming to change the prospects offered to young people in the area. Our vision is to be at the heart of the community, collaborating to create a more cohesive and prosperous Blackburn and Darwen.

We are one of the leading youth organisations in Blackburn, with a membership of over 2,500 young people. We are open 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year and offer over 40 different activities and opportunities in our open access youth club.

Context of Role:

The Youth Club Coordinator role is a crucial role within our mission of making sure B&DYZ is “the Number One Service for young people”. You will be responsible for the coordination, leadership, planning and delivery of Darwen Youth Zone Youth Club provision for young people aged 13 to 19 years (21 with a disability). Working positively, collaboratively and at pace with an enthusiastic and energetic youth work team, you will ensure our programme and offer for young people is of high quality, meets the needs of every young person in Blackburn with Darwen and ensures our offer reflects and exceeds on the wishes, needs and views of young people.

You will hold line management responsibility seeking to ensure that there is strong evidence of effective performance in line with our vision, mission, values and strategic objectives. The role will require you to have previous experience within a youth work setting and strong evidence of excellent safeguarding knowledge and practice.

Responsibilities:

Service:

• To ensure that the offer for young people is the best possible service, ensuring there is a diverse range of activities that create opportunities and encourage young people to participate and have a go at new things.
• To work towards agreed targets including attendance, participation, progression, impact and evaluation and key performance indicators.
• Ensure the programmes meet the needs of existing and new members, engages a diverse range of young people from across BwD and support their active participation and promote their retention
• Maintain a good understanding of the young people we work with, their issues and challenges and the complexities of delivering in a large open access setting through direct work with young people during sessions and through good communication with the team.
• To ensure that the youth work delivery is carried out in a planned, systematic coordinated way and evaluated.
• To deal with any problems during the sessions and to provide appropriate intervention while advocating for all young people and ensure young people receive appropriate support
• Ensure participation is meaningful for young people and that their ideas contribute fully in the planning, delivery and evaluation of sessions, projects and activities.
• To be target driven and quality assure and provide reports and information as required in order to ensure a consistently high-quality youth work provision and demonstrate the impact of our work with young people.
• To work effectively with the club’s project leads, in order to identify young people and ensure the project performance is collectively achieved against the funding requirements.
• To monitor and evaluate sessions to ensure the best possible service for our members and to gather and report any required data or information required by funders.
• To work a minimum of 3 evenings a week and weekend work will be required. Working patterns may change to service demand,

Leadership and management skills:

To promote a positive image of Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone through professional operation and conduct with all our stakeholders and the general public.

• To manage, support and motivate a team of part time, sessional youth workers and volunteers to contribute to the development of activities, understand the session plan and effectively carry out their role, working with the youth work manager to support their continuous professional development.
• Deliver a strong performance management culture that emcompases our values
• Manage resources associated with the area of responsibility
• Effectively manage people, drive and improve performance and ensure our staff team are able to deliver to their full potential for the interest of our service users
• Work collaboratively with partners to maximise outcomes for young people

Safeguarding and compliance;

• To have responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people at all times, including recording and documenting all concerns and liaising with the Safeguarding Officer.
• Ensure the charity has a robust approach to risk management, including person centred risk assessment and risk management processes
• To understand and adhere to B&DYZ policies and procedures and ensure all staff and volunteers are responsible for doing likewise.
• To be a Principal Key Holder, with responsibility for the building and health and safety during sessions and securing of the building at the end of a session.
• To promote social integration and inclusion, and proactively challenge any prejudice and discrimination.

General Requirements

• Always seek to continuously improve so that the highest quality standards are achieved
• Participate positively in internal/external meetings and training as required
• Positively participate in one to ones and appraisals
• Ensure that all relevant policies, procedures and working practices are adhered to at all times
• Work in accordance with Blackburn Youth Zone’s culture, values, aims and objectives
• Act as a positive ambassador for BYZ at all times
• Positively contribute to Blackburn Youth Zone’s team working environment, taking ownership of issues and supporting colleagues where appropriate
• Be flexible and willing to undertake any other duties that may be reasonably be required

Measurable Outputs:

• Membership including session attendance, retention and membership growth for young people 13 to 19
• Outcomes and achievements for young people.
• Employee performance as per the supervision and agreed objectives you set as their line manager.
• Ability to meet and exceed relative grant and trust conditions.

Person Specification:

Education (desirable):

• Youth Work Level 2 or equivalent
• First Aid

Experience

• Experience with working with young people ages 13-19 both in groups and individually.
• Face to face delivery with young aged 13 to 19 years old
• Experience of working in an outreach or detached setting

*

Desirable

• Experience in the management of services dedicated to young people 13 to 19
• Managing and leading a team

Skills/Abilities

• Strong commitment to young people and ability to engage and build positive relationships with disengaged young people.
• The ability to develop, plan, monitor and evaluate programmes of work appropriate to the different needs, abilities and interests of young people
• Strong evidence of effective leadership and management
• Ability to adhere to and maintain effective relationships with young people, staff, parents, carers and other colleagues within appropriate professional boundaries
• Ability to use initiative in decision making and resolving problems
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Good organisational skills.
• Positive and enthusiastic
• Punctual and reliable
• A genuine passion for making a difference to the lives of children and young people.

*

• Ability to work flexible hours to meet the needs of children (evenings, weekends, residentials)

Knowledge

• Understanding of the principles of good youth work practice
• Ability to identify and challenge discrimination and discriminatory behaviour, taking appropriate action as necessary
• Understanding of issues affecting young people’s lives
• Knowledge and understanding to Safeguard Children & Young People
• Ability to work in accordance with national, local and organisational Child Protection and Safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Ability to identify and appropriately respond to cases of potential or actual child abuse

Working hours

This role is a full time role working 37.5 hours per week which requires a flexible working pattern and you will be expected to work evenings and weekends. You will also be expected to travel to different venues/locations.