Support Worker

Job title: Support Worker (Edinburgh Young Persons’ Service)

Location: This post is based at LinkLiving’s Edinburgh office.

Hours of Work: 37.5 per week (Working flexibly to meet the needs of the service, mainly Monday to Friday 9-5 with occasional evening and weekend working)

Are you passionate about helping people to live a better life? Do you want to work for a charity where your health and wellbeing matter just as much as the people you support? Do you want to be part of a trauma-informed team where you will be supported to develop creative and flexible ways of working?

You don’t need to have previous experience or qualifications in this field. If you share our values, this could be the role for you!

At LinkLiving, our values and people are at the heart of everything we do including how we recruit our staff. It is important for us to find people who share our values, which are:

• Empathy (listen to and understand an individual’s needs and circumstances)
• Respect (treat others the way they wish to be treated)
• Integrity (be honest and have strong moral principles)
• Caring (show kindness and concern for others)

LinkLiving is a Scottish health and wellbeing charity that supports people to manage or overcome the effects of negative life experiences (including trauma, mental health challenges, poverty and inequality) so that they can build on their strengths and aspirations in order to live their best possible lives. We support people through a range of models including: 

• Personal development and employability programmes 
• Self-help coaching
• Supported accommodation
• Care at home
• Housing support
• Befriending
• Social cafes

The Service

Our Edinburgh Young Persons’ Service provides visiting housing support and supported accommodation to people between 16 and 25 years old who live in Edinburgh.

We support young people, who have been in care, experienced homelessness, trauma or any disadvantage to overcome the challenges they may face whilst helping them to achieve their own individual goals and shape their lives for a more positive future.

This can involve finding a suitable home, learning the skills to manage it as well as possible, working through life challenges, trying new things, and learning to see the best in themselves and fulfil their unique potential. We also have supported flats which vary in the level of support offered to suit the needs of the people who live there.

The Job

We have an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and motivated Support Worker to join our team and improve the lives of people supported by our Edinburgh Young Persons’ Service.

In this role, you will be supported to work using a person centred and trauma informed approach and develop effective relationships with young people affected by a range of problems, supporting them to cope in difficult times and working towards a good life. You will provide emotional, practical and social support to enable people to live as independently as possible and make informed choices in all aspects of their lives.

In this role you will be responsible to manage your caseload independently and work flexibly around people's individual needs.

For a comprehensive list of the essential and desirable criteria required for this post, please refer to the Job Specification in the Job information Pack above.

What’s in it for you?

The benefits of being a LinkLiving employee (subject to the policies and benefit terms and conditions) include:

• Competitive salary, reviewed annually, and opportunity for annual performance related salary increases and discretionary non-consolidated pay awards, subject to terms of the scheme
• 35 days’ holiday per year (inclusive of public holidays) pro rata plus additional 3 days pro rata after 3 years’ service, with an opportunity to buy and sell holiday
• access to paid SVQ qualifications and a wide range of learning and development opportunities and funded Disclosure Scotland and Scottish Social Services Council memberships
• defined contribution pension scheme with generous employer contributions plus salary exchange and additional voluntary contribution options
• life assurance scheme providing death in service benefits to named beneficiaries
• healthcare cash plan for employees (and dependents) to support health and wellbeing plus discounts on shopping, restaurants, and other services
• employee assistance programme for employees and their immediate household dependants to support health, mental and financial well-being
• discounted travel schemes including cycle to work scheme, monthly bus pass scheme and travel ticket loan and much more!

For a full list of benefits available to employees, please see the following link - https://www.linkliving.org.uk/work-with-us

Successful applicants will be required to register with SSSC within 6 months of their start date.

This post is subject to Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme registration. Link will meet the cost of any new PVG scheme membership or scheme record update.

Further Information

Interested? If you have any questions about the role, please email jobs@linkhaltd.co.uk and we can arrange for someone from the service to call you for an informal chat.

To find out more about what LinkLiving do and to view the generous pay and benefits package, please visit our website at https://www.linkliving.org.uk

If you’re thinking about working in adult social care, download the Guide to adult social care jobs in Scotland for in-depth information on everything you need to know to get started. In addition, you can enrol on a free, online 6 week part-time tutor-supported ‘Introduction to a Career in Social Care’ course. The course introduces the area of social care and can be a stepping-stone to employment or further training.

Applications will be evaluated as they are received, with candidates meeting the specifications being invited for interview

How to Apply

To complete an application form, please click on the “Apply online” button below. Instructions on how to complete the form are at the top of the page.

We can offer suitable alternative methods to apply if requested including although not exclusively; hard copy, Braille and audio. You can request these by emailing our Resourcing Team at jobs@linkhaltd.co.uk and detailing which format you would require.

Please note should an internal applicant be successful in applying for this position on either a seconded or permanent basis, they will move to the terms and conditions associated with the role for the duration of the time they are in post. The terms and conditions are outlined in the job information pack.

We aim at all times to recruit the person who is most suited to the job and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusion. Our offices are fully accessible to wheelchair users and, as a Disability Confident Leader, we will interview all disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria.