Young Person Key Worker/Support Worker

Proactive support. Proven outcomes.

The Ember Project is a new supported accommodation service for young people aged 16–25. We are small, we are just starting, and we are deliberately built around one idea: every young person who comes to us should leave more capable than they arrived — and we should be able to prove it.

That is not a slogan we put on a wall. It is how we plan, how we record, and how we measure whether we are doing a good job. If a young person moves on able to cook, budget, manage a tenancy, hold an appointment and speak up for themselves, we have succeeded. If they move on the same as they came in, we have not.

We are looking for Key Workers who feel the same way about that.

The role

You will be the person a young person actually knows. Not a name on a rota — the person who notices they have gone quiet, who chases the college place, who sits with them the third time the bank card gets lost, and who genuinely celebrates the first meal they cook without help.

Day to day, you will:

• Hold a small caseload and lead the key-work relationship with those young people
• Deliver planned key-work sessions on independence skills — budgeting, cooking, health, housing, education, employment and training, relationships, staying safe
• Build support plans with young people rather than for them. Their voice comes first in everything we write; your professional view supports it, it doesn't replace it
• Record clearly and honestly — progress, setbacks, incidents and outcomes — because good recording is how we evidence a young person's growth
• Support young people to access education, training, employment, health services and their local community
• Recognise and act on safeguarding and risk concerns, and escalate confidently when needed
• Work alongside social workers, personal advisors, health, education and other professionals
• Keep the home somewhere a young person is proud to live — practical support with the property, the routines and the day-to-day

What we are actually looking for

Experience helps. Attitude decides it.

Our staff work independently, often alone in the home with a young person. There is no colleague on the next desk to pick up the slack. That means we need people who:

• Are proactive. You see what needs doing and you do it, rather than logging it for someone else
• Care visibly. Young people can tell within a week who means it. So can we
• Bring solutions, not just problems. When something isn't working, we want you coming to management with an idea. We would rather hear "here's what I think we should try" than "thought you should know"
• Are consistent. Turning up, on time, in the same mood, every time — for a young person who has had a lot of adults who didn't
• Can hold a boundary kindly. Warm and firm at the same time
• Write things down properly. Clear, factual, on time

Essential

• Genuine interest in and empathy for care-experienced and vulnerable young people
• Ability to work on your own initiative and stay calm under pressure
• Good written English and confident basic IT skills (recording is done digitally)
• Willingness to complete an enhanced DBS check and provide full references
• Right to work in the UK
• 18+ (due to the nature of the role and lone working)

Desirable — not essential, we will train you

• Previous experience in supported accommodation, residential childcare, youth work, homelessness, social care, education or a related field
• Level 3 Health and Social Care (Children and Young People) or equivalent, or willingness to work towards it
• Understanding of trauma-informed practice
• Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle (essential)

We welcome applications from people whose experience comes from life rather than a CV, including care-experienced applicants.

What you get from us

We ask a lot of our staff. In return, management's job is to make you good at this — not to leave you to it.

• Proper induction. A full induction day, shadow shifts, and a structured onboarding programme before you are working independently
• Real supervision. Regular, scheduled one-to-ones that are about your development, not just a compliance tick
• Training, paid. Safeguarding, first aid, food hygiene, trauma-informed practice, lone working, de-escalation and more. Support to work towards recognised qualifications
• Management you can actually reach. On-call support whenever you are on shift. You will never be left holding something on your own
• Autonomy that means something. You lead on your young people. Your ideas get heard and, when they are good, they get used — you are helping build how this service works
• Genuine progression. We are growing. Senior and team leader roles will come from within wherever we can, and we would rather promote someone we trained
• Flexible rotas. Shifts are planned in advance and we will work with your availability where we can

The honest practicalities

We would rather you know all of this now than find out in week three.

• This is a lone-working role. Most shifts you will be the only member of staff in the home. Full training, risk assessments, lone-working procedures and on-call backup are in place, but the reality is you working independently
• Sleep-in shifts are part of the service. We can be flexible for the right person, so tell us in your application what you can and can't commit to — we would rather build a rota around good people
• Shifts include evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Young people don't need support only on weekdays
• Zero-hours contract, with regular shifts available and hours increasing as the service grows
• Enhanced DBS, full employment history and references required. We follow safer recruitment fully — some questions will be direct
• Emotionally demanding work. It is also, on the good days, the most rewarding job you will ever have
• 0 Hour Contract - During this phase we will only be able to offer 0 hour contracts. Senior positions such as Senior Key Workers, and Team Leads will be salaried positions.

How to apply

Apply through Indeed with your CV and a short note — a few lines is fine — telling us:

• Why young people, and why this
• One example of a time you took the initiative when nobody asked you to

We read every application and reply to everyone, successful or not.

Interviews will be held virtually or in-person in the RCT area, with an informal chat first for anyone who wants to ask questions before applying.

The Ember Project is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people. All appointments are subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds

Pay: £15.41 per hour

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Flexible schedule
• Paid training

Licence/Certification:

• DBS Certificate (preferred)
• Driving License (preferred)
• DBS Certificate on the Update Service (preferred)

Work Location: In person