Youth Development Practitioner - REQ003097

Job title: Youth Development Practitioner

Salary: C1 SCP 12 – 17 £28,598 - £31,022

Hours: 2 x 18.5 or 1 x 37.00 hours per week

Contract: Temporary to 31st March 2026

Location: Hybrid office (Leeds/York)/home

Are you passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of adopted children and young people? One Adoption West Yorkshire, hosted by Leeds City Council, is seeking a dedicated and motivated individual to join our team as a Youth Development Practitioner.

As a Youth Development Practitioner your role will involve leading the delivery of youth groups and peer group offers across the Yorkshire and Humber region. You will also be responsible for creating opportunities for adopted children and young people to meet, developing mechanisms for consistent feedback, and ensuring their voices are heard in service development and delivery. If you are committed to safeguarding, promoting diversity, and making a difference in the community, we want to hear from you.

As a Youth Development Practitioner, you’ll thrive on making a meaningful difference in the lives of young people. You are driven by the desire to empower and support adopted children and young people, helping them to realise their full potential. Your passion for fostering a positive and inclusive environment motivates you to create engaging and impactful youth programs. You are committed to promoting diversity, safeguarding, and advocating for the needs and aspirations of the youth you work with. Your dedication to professional practice and raising service standards ensures that you are always striving to improve and innovate in your role. If you are ready to take on this rewarding challenge and make a lasting impact, we want to hear from you.

It’s not about the challenges you might face, but about the incredible opportunities to make a lasting impact on the lives of adopted children and young people. As a Youth Development Practitioner, you will have the chance to empower and support these individuals and contribute to service design. Your dedication and passion will drive positive change, making this role both rewarding and fulfilling.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As a Youth Development Practitioner, you will bring to the role:

Experience Working with Adopted Children and Young People
Ability to Plan and Deliver Youth Work Programs
Strong Communication Skills
Commitment to Safeguarding and Promoting Welfare

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further.

Interviews will take place on Tuesday 14th October 2025.

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Charlotte Barnes, Team Manager on 07712216967 or via email charlotte.barnes@oneadoptionwy.leeds.gov.uk.

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBTQ+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Leeds City Council Job Profile

Special conditions this post is subject to a higher level check with the Disclosure & Barring Service. Please note that a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining employment; this will depend on the circumstances and background to any offence.

Job purpose To lead on the delivery of youth work/youth work projects, focusing on leadership of professional practice and on developing and raising standards of services. To ensure that the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of Youth Work programmes are responsive to the needs of young people and are in line with One Adoption West Yorkshire’s priorities.

Responsibilities

Work directly with adopted children and young people to develop and maintain relationships to help identify their starting points, needs and aspirations
To deliver youth groups alongside other One Adoption staff
To develop and co-deliver the peer group offer to adopted children and young people across the region
Make a contribution to the improvement of the services’ offer to adopted young people and create opportunities for innovation
To work in partnership to assess needs, provide and evaluate, a well-planned and resourced programme of activities and services for adopted children and young people using youth work methodology
To ensure adopted children and young people participate in designing, delivering and reviewing their programmes and their involvement at governance level where possible
To undertake research with adopted children and young people and other stakeholders to develop the Service’s ability to effectively respond to the changing environment and key priorities
To contribute to the service’s staff development programme through facilitating appropriate training opportunities, forums and/or the dissemination of good practice in youth provision
To explore partnerships and develop them to improve outcomes for adopted children and young people
Act as a mentor, coach and role model for other practitioners in order to help develop and broaden their professional practice
To work with other community provision to ensure appropriate facilities for group work
To provide written updates and plans for service delivery to the management team where needed
To use a Restorative Practice approach as an overarching ethos
To ensure compliance with safeguarding procedures and make clear that the safeguarding of children and the promotion of their welfare is given absolute priority in all activities.
To be aware of and adhere to Leeds City Council Health and Safety Policy being responsible for your own health and safety whilst at work and that of your colleagues and service users.
To work within all relevant policies, procedures and systems established corporately or locally and to support the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policies
To carry out duties in accordance with the Council Values and culture
To undertake other duties as may be requested of the post holder that is commensurate with their level of responsibility and skills.
The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications: Minimum JNC endorsed Level 3 NVQ / VRQ Initial qualification in Youth Work is essential.

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Able to work effectively with adopted children and young people in groups and secure their commitment to achieving learning outcomes
Ability to audit young people’s needs and plan and deliver a corresponding youth work curriculum
Ability to communicate effectively with the voluntary sector, other agencies and the local community in order to develop initiatives and services for young people
Able to work with young people to safeguard their welfare
Ability to effectively deploy available resources to ensure optimum benefit to young people
Ability to effectively manage conflict
Ability to plan and organise own workload with minimal supervision
Able to lead on responding to immediate health & safety issues
Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels including written and verbal skills
Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
Ability to disseminate Youth Work knowledge and develop skills of social work team
Reliable, flexible and dependable
An in depth understanding of the issues which concern adopted children and young people today
A knowledge of the voluntary sector, other agencies and the local community
A basic awareness of child care legislation including The Adoption Services National Minimum Standards.
Understanding of the work of other key agencies and links to social work practice.
Knowledge of child protection and welfare issues
Knowledge of local and national policies and their relationship to Youth Work
Knowledge of Health & Safety issues affecting all activities within the posts remit
Good working knowledge and understanding of Outcome Based Accountability (OBA), Restorative practice and Child Friendly City priorities

Experience Required

Of working within a range of diverse communities, including with adopted children/young people
Of strategic development of face-to-face practice and initiatives within young people’s Services
Of substantial experience of working with young people in a diverse range of youth work environments
Of enabling young people to work effectively in groups
Of effectively planning youth work sessions with young people linked to Children’s Services priorities and targets
Of effectively recording and evaluating youth work sessions, produce reports within specific timescales

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Willingness to actively participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

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