Transition Team Personal Coach

The starting salary for this position is £31,262 per annum based on a 36-hour working week.

This is a 24-month fixed-term contract or secondment opportunity.

We are excited to be hiring a new Personal Coach to join our fantastic Transition - Post 16 Team. This is a hybrid role with the assigned office base near the centre of Surrey at the Mansion in Leatherhead.

Rewards and benefits

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Annual leave allowance
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave.
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing.
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave.
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more.
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the team

Working as part of the Year 11/13 Transition Service you will support young people at risk of becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training) to identify progress to an appropriate post-16 destination. This will involve liaising with parents/carers, schools, further education and training providers, employers and other relevant professionals. You will be responsible for managing a caseload of young people, recording interventions and reporting on progress.

The role will contribute to the local authority's statutory duty to enable, assist and encourage young people to participate in education and training up to the age of 18. This will be achieved through supporting personal development, including helping young people through challenging issues related to relationships, home life and academic stress.

About the role

In this role you will work with young people looked after by Surrey County Council and their guardians to secure a sustained post-16 education or training destination.

The role will involve building positive and professional relationship with young people to support with careers education, information, advice and guidance and work-related learning, using action plans to progress towards goals. Engagement will involve meeting young people at their homes or in the community to offer support through one-to-one or small group sessions, using appropriate aptitude tests, skills assessment tools, psychometric testing and personal inventories.

By liaising with schools, further education and training providers, employers and wider services including social care, virtual school and SEND, you will support young people to identify and progress towards a suitable education or training destination. This will involve researching careers, options and support and keeping up-to-date with the labour market, legislation and professional and academic developments. Where relevant this will include visiting employers, further education and training providers and attending events run by educational and professional bodies. This extends to accompanying young people where they require support to engage and attend essential activities and being present and/or available on exam results day.

You will have a good understanding of the potential challenges faced by young people who are looked after in respect of progression to a post-16 destination. You will be confident in applying overarching knowledge of the education and training landscape to support young people to progress irrespective of the location they are based, with an ability to acquire and apply local knowledge where necessary.

Shortlisting criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• A good standard of education and excellent communication skills, both verbal and written as you will need to be comfortable and confident communicating with parents and carers, young people and professionals
• Relevant experience in this area and evidence of recent career development
• Experience of delivering careers information, advice and guidance, with a good knowledge of Raising Participation Age legislation
• Experience of working with parents and carers, young people and families
• You will be required to visit schools, further education and training settings and homes, therefore you must be willing and able to travel extensively around the county

Contact us

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 26/05/2024 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Our commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.