Senior Targeted Youth Adviser

Senior Targeted Youth Adviser

Permanent, Full Time

£37,649 to £44,292 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Community-based worker

Closing Date:23rd August 2026

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Make a real difference to the lives of young people across Essex. Join a service that supports young people to overcome barriers, realise their potential, and achieve positive outcomes in education, employment and training. This is an exciting opportunity to lead a skilled team, influence strategic partnerships, and help shape the future of targeted youth support across one of the UK's most diverse counties.

Essex is a diverse county, encompassing some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country alongside highly affluent communities. This creates significant variation in life expectancy, life chances and quality of life for our residents.

The Senior Targeted Youth Adviser leads a team of Targeted Youth Advisers, delivering the Targeted Youth Offer through in-depth, planned one-to-one and group support. The service helps young people address specific issues and barriers to education, training and employment, providing impartial advice and guidance to support re-engagement in education and progression into post-16 opportunities.

This role is pivotal in positioning the Targeted Youth Service in Essex as a valued and relevant offer to key partners. The postholder will support the development of targeted youth work provision within a cost-recoverable model, including working with the Youth Service Business Development team to develop project proposals and secure income-generating opportunities.

The postholder will provide line management and leadership to the Targeted Youth delivery team through an established management structure. You will play a key role in driving high-quality service delivery, supporting staff development, and ensuring positive outcomes for young people across the county.

You will hold a Level 6 IAG Qualification, DipCG, QCG, NVQ Level 6 LDDS, or an equivalent professional qualification, alongside a proven track record of managing staff and delivering externally funded contracts. A broad understanding of the issues affecting young people, barriers to education, opportunities for learning, and the services provided by partner agencies is essential.

The role includes evening, weekend and occasional residential work, as required to meet service needs. It also requires mobility across a wide operational area, with regular travel throughout Essex. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means, is essential.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Education

Accountabilities

• Accountable for the operational delivery of high quality impartial, independent support for young people to overcome barriers to access universal services, education or employment
• Responsible for developing delivery plans that provide information, advice and guidance, supportive of the young people’s needs, views and aspirations.
• Responsible for the achievement of defined contractual targets in relation to enabling the development of skills in young people, ensuring outcomes are recorded and reporting activities are met
• Provide supervision and practical support to staff. Create, maintain and review accuracy of records in conjunction with DfE IAG guidance and that of external funders, ensuring compliance with Information Sharing Protocols
• Responsible for the effective management of staff to facilitate the process of meeting the needs of young people, reflecting on professional practice to achieve continuous improvement in performance through specific individual and shared targets and objectives defined annually within performance management reviews
• Leading the team to deliver against strategic objectives, continually developing potential new cost recoverable support projects of targeted work.
• Work collaboratively with senior school-based staff, social care, SEND, Youth Offending Service, Housing commercial bodies and stakeholders, to influence the type of interventions delivered to provide wider support to young people, remove barriers to learning, training and employment including promotion of the eight Gatsby benchmarks as set out in the government’s careers strategy
• Influencing and negotiating with stakeholders, the level and type of provision, to meet economic and young people’s needs and identify and inform gaps in education and training provision
• Responsible for, advocating with parents/carers and other professionals, to achieve the best outcomes for young people
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to degree level and/or possess IAG L6 Qualification, Dip CG, QCG or NVQ 6 LDDS, or equivalent by experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area including management and leadership
• Builds strong partnerships at senior level, which are influential and collaborative in their nature and engender delivery of joint innovative strategies
• Strong leadership and management skills, which drive a highly performing and motivated team from diverse backgrounds, to achieve strategic objectives
• A broad understanding of the issues affecting young people, opportunities for learning and the services provided by partner organisations. Deep knowledge and understanding of the current local offers of support to young people that may facilitate their reintegration. Proven experience of supporting, motivating and aspiring young people on a one to one or group basis into EET opportunities or positive activities
• Experience of the implementation of external funded contracts
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to relate to staff, partner agencies and young people in a purposeful responsive manner and demonstrable knowledge and understanding of their needs. Experience of advocating on behalf of young people with an ability to negotiate with schools, colleges, employers and other agencies
• Flexible approach with excellent time management skills and ability to work creatively in order to respond to staff and young people’s needs

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you. 

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle,or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Further details can be found on our careers page.

Links / Downloads

Pay and Reward | Our Ways of Working  | About Us  | Organisation Behaviours