Job Title: YPSA Manager

Salary: £34,000 – £37,000 subject to experience

Benefits include:

• Generous annual leave allowance
• Paid sick leave
• Enhanced family-friendly leave
• Compassionate and emergency leave
• Pension scheme
• Life insurance policy
• Employment Assistance Program
• Access to vouchers and discounts
• Monthly wellbeing allowance

Reports to: YPSA Operations Manager

Location: Oxfordshire

Some flexible and home working is possible, subject to agreement. Travel throughout Oxfordshire will be required.

Hours of work: 37.5 hours per week

Please read our accompanying recruitment pack for more information about working at Oxfordshire Youth, including our approach to diversity and inclusion through recruitment.

To apply, please send a copy of your CV accompanied by a completed application form to our recruitment team. Alternatively, visit our website or email us for more information.

Pleasenotethat unfortunately, Oxfordshire Youth is not a sponsorship providing organisation. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Young people’s supported accommodation

We are proud to have joined forces with mental health and housing charity Response to provide an innovative new model of supported accommodation in Oxfordshire for young people aged 18-21. Our partnership approach ensures that:

• young people receive the best possible opportunities available
• staff receive the highest quality training to be the best coaches they can be

The new YPSA model has an aspirational vision. We want to see young people transform their lives through engaging with life-changing opportunities in education, employment and training.

Our young people are being equipped with new tools and techniques to help them manage their mental health, develop financial autonomy and learn how to nurture, repair and sustain healthy relationships with the people that matter to them.

Job purpose

The young people’s supported accommodation (YPSA) Manager is responsible for ensuring that progression coaches provide an exceptional standard of coaching and youth work support to young people - within both their homes and community settings.

We have ambitious targets for young people’s outcomes and the YPSA Manager will be driven to make our vision of YPSA residents growing to see themselves, and be seen as, future change makers a reality.

Managing relationships expertly, with a wide range of stakeholders (in particular housing partner Response) the manager will seek out the best opportunities for young people and ensure they are taken up.

YPSA stakeholders include the Virtual School for Looked After Children, a range of charities and social enterprises, Oxford City Council’s education, employment and training (EET) specialist team, Oxfordshire’s child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) and Oxfordshire County Council.

The YPSA Manager works with the Head of Youth Services to ensure all progression coaches attend and implement learning from the wide range of training they receive. They will oversee inspirational activities promoting self-development and enabling young people to overcome the adversity they have experienced, and transform it into strengths and assets.

Oxfordshire Youth and Response have a bold new vision for this service: to provide aspirational coaching support alongside high quality temporary housing where young people feel safe, and are supported to develop healthy and positive bonds with their housemates.

The YPSA Manager will ensure all progression coaches receive high quality training enabling them to feel confident and motivated when working with young people and helping to improve their; emotional literacy skills, life skills, emotional regulation, physical wellbeing, financial empowerment, creativity and group skills.

Managers work closely with partners; Aspire, SOFEA and BYHP to ensure that positive activities and education, employment and training opportunities are integrated into every young person's support plan. Building and maintaining excellent working relationships with the teams within these organisations is of paramount importance.

Youth work principles of reflective practice, active listening and co-design will drive your work ethic. The Oxfordshire Youth YPSA team takes a youth work approach. This means you will ensure:

1. listen to, and are led by, the needs, ambitions and assets of the young person
2. support young people as they acquire the skills needed to design their roadmap to personal growth
3. are reliable, consistent and aspirational role models who clearly define and adhere to professional boundaries.

All YPSA team members receive high quality training ensuring they are upskilled to take their part in building an excellent service. YPSA managers attend up-to-date training in emotional literacy, emotional regulation, physical wellbeing, financial empowerment, creativity and group skills.

The full job description is available here, https://oxfordshireyouth.org/job/ypsa-manager/

General

• To attend team meetings and regular supervision with line manager.
• To ensure all DBS procedures are carried out in accordance with Oxfordshire Youth’s guidelines, policies and procedures.
• To undergo training enabling personal and professional development.
• To undertake other relevant duties related to the further development, promotion and sustainability of the charity.

Safeguarding

• Understanding that safeguarding children, young people and adults is everyone’s business and accessing training and supervision appropriate to the role.
• To ensure concerns are responded to appropriately in line with the OY's Safeguarding Adults Policy and the Child Protection Policy and interagency safeguarding procedures.
• To comply with recruitment and other checks as requested by the organisation including undertaking a DBS check.

This job description is subject to amendment following discussion with the post holder.

Person specification

Expertise and qualifications

Essential

• Similar experience in a managerial/coordinator role or qualification in management
• Experience of managing/coordinating teams
• An understanding of mental health issues affecting Young People
• Overview of Services Provision for CYP
• Proven track record in managing/coordinating similar services
• Full UK driving license and car owner

Desirable

• Management qualification(s)
• Vocational qualification(s) in related fields including mental health, children’s and young people’s social care, youth and community development
• Training in Trauma Informed Approaches (TIC) and Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE)
• Not for profit sector experience

Knowledge, skills and abilities

Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including being able to positively engage and motivate others
• A flexible approach to work including a willingness to take on tasks outside the normal remit and to work irregular hours, travel
• Work well under pressure and prioritise effectively, working to tight deadlines and targets
• Strong planning and organisational skills
• Excellent people management skills
• Ability to work well as part of a team
• Be able to demonstrate an ability to work with colleagues from external agencies both voluntary and statutory
• Ability to assess and manage risk
• Able to solve problems and think creatively
• Able to motivate and support staff on an ongoing basis and through periods of change
• IT skills including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and CRM systems
• A flexible approach to work, including a willingness to take on tasks outside the usual remit and to work irregular hours
• The ability to solve problems and think creatively

Desirable

• Proficiency in a range of online digital tools for project management such as monday.com, Slack and others
• Previous experience working in the not-for-profit sector

Personal qualities

Essential

• An unwavering commitment to Oxfordshire Youth’s vision, mission and values
• The ability to relate to and empathise with young people
• Integrity and discretion when dealing with sensitive information
• A commitment to treating people equally, being aware of unconscious bias and working proactively and openly to challenge it within your own and within others practice
• Respecting differences and challenging prejudice and discrimination
• A positive, enthusiastic and can-do approach that demonstrates the attributes of a growth mindset
• Commitment to your own learning and development
• Accountability for the quality of your work and responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills