Engagement Lead

Who we are Off the Record Bath & North East Somerset (OTR) is a mental health and wellbeing charity that gives local young people a safe space to be heard and be themselves. We provide a range of free services for young people, including counselling, listening support, youth participation, advocacy, support for care leavers and a LGBTQ+ focused youth group.

You'll be joining an established team, bringing your knowledge and experience to help shape our Wellbeing Services to best meet the needs of the young people we serve.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are at the heart of what we value as an organisation. OTR is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability or any other status protected by law .

Purpose of the role

As our Engagement Lead, you will work with the Head of Wellbeing to review, evolve and drive forward the way we bring young people into our services at OTR.

Alongside your team you will proactively engage young people with the work we do. You will have a particular focus on young people who are underserved by support organisations and, in line with our strategy, will be tasked with finding ways to reduce the barriers some young people face to accessing our support.

You will manage and inspire a team of Listening Support Workers, Youth Workers and our Wellbeing Co-ordinator to deliver quality, timely and relevant work for the young people we serve. Under your management the team will forge excellent working relationships with partner organisations across the BaNES area, working in joined-up ways that ensure young people are supported to access the right support for them when they need it.

Working alongside our Lead Counsellors, you will develop OTR's assessment processes, ensuring that young people are being offered appropriate services for their needs and that staff are well prepared to work with the people they support.

Your attributes

We are looking for a creative and dynamic leader with strong management experience, a proven background in working directly with young people, and the ability to lead and develop both teams and projects effectively.

You will bring a deep commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, with a proven track record of working with young people from underserved communities.

Your understanding of the barriers that can prevent young people from accessing support will be coupled with a strong drive to help them overcome these challenges.

As a leader, you will excel in recruiting, developing, and inspiring staff and volunteers, empowering them to deliver high-quality, impactful work that meets the needs of the young people we serve.

You will thrive on the opportunity to develop our existing services and evolve our model of working to ensure we are serving those who need our support the most but who might not always find their way to us.

Your enthusiasm and personality are as important to us as your experience to date. If you can't tick off every point in the job description below but feel you have the right transferable skills to succeed in the post, please do still apply.

Role description

This role will occasionally work with young people to cover colleagues but will primarily manage and support colleagues to deliver work with young people.

Team leadership

• Take responsibility for the day to day running of OTR's Engagement work.
• Line manage our Wellbeing Service Co-ordinator, Listening Support Workers and Hospital Youth Workers.
• Participate in OTR's regular Line Manager meetings.
• Be part of OTR's safeguarding on-call rota (this will be remunerated).

Service management

• Have oversight of the Listening Support model, evolving it as needed to meet OTR's strategic goals.
• Work with the Wellbeing Service Coordinators to develop, deliver and plan recruitment, training and onboarding of volunteers.
• Work with our Hospital Youth Workers to develop their referral processes and deliver excellent work with young people living with long-term health conditions.
• Onboard and support new Listening Support Workers in schools, considering best practice in preparing colleagues to deliver this work in schools.
• Work with clinical supervisors to ensure all Listening Support Workers, Youth Workers and volunteers are engaged in monthly group supervision and are in an appropriate group.
• Work with the OTR Resources team to ensure volunteers and staff in your team are properly onboarded and able to use our database.
• Support our Wellbeing Co-ordinator and colleagues to ensure we have strong referral and assessment processes across our wellbeing services.
• Work with Lead Counsellors to ensure the Engagement Team and Counselling teams are working collaboratively, with effective communication and systems in place.

Referral and Engagement Support

• With the Head of Wellbeing, regularly review the referral, assessment and engagement processes across our Community Services.
• Develop systems and processes that support the Wellbeing Co-ordinator to manage referrals effectively and appropriately.
• When needed, support your team in making referrals/ escalations to other services like social care or CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

Outreach and Establishing Links

• Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with a range of statutory and third sector partners.
• Establish links across BaNES with services that work with young people and ensure we are well placed to introduce and refer young people to them.
• Where appropriate, collaborate with partners to develop accessible and meaningful opportunities for young people to engage with wellbeing support.
• Externally promote OTR across BaNES.
• Work with other OTR staff, and Wellbeing Service Leads to promote and share best practice, and seek out collaborative opportunities, particularly those that align with OTR's strategic priorities.

General duties

• Participate in the day-to-day work of OTR - such as reporting, attending team and other meetings as required.
• Be an ambassador for OTR, actively promoting our vision and work.
• Ensure the effective implementation of OTR's policies and overall organisational objectives, including Health & Safety policies and procedures, taking responsibility for their own personal health, safety, and welfare in the workplace.
• Follow safeguarding policies and procedures in all aspects of the work with children and young people.
• Actively promoting good equal opportunities practices across all aspects of work and taking positive steps to counter discrimination however and wherever it occurs.
• Participate constructively in supervision and staff development opportunities including training and team building initiatives.
• Contribute to co-operative working across all the services within OTR.
• Promote and enable active involvement of young people in planning, improving and making decisions about OTR services.
• Ensure effective and accessible communication with staff, service users and the public.
• Contribute to maintaining and developing effective professional relationships both internally and with outside agencies. Undertake any other reasonable duties consistent with the skills and duties needed for this role, as required.

Working pattern and location

This role is based at OTR's Bath office on Manvers Street.

The job will require working outside of core office hours, some evenings and the occasional weekend. Most of the work will be within 9am - 5pm office hours. A typical working week will involve working one or occasionally two evenings a week (for example to cover for colleagues working in an evening, or perhaps to deliver some training).

Terms and Conditions

• Paid leave entitlement: 25 days plus 2 discretionary days and all English public holidays, plus up to 5 extra days to recognise continuous service (FTE)
• Two days' paid volunteering leave to enable you to support causes that matter to you (FTE)
• Death-in-service benefit
• Training and development opportunities for all our staff

Appointments will be subject to satisfactory references and an Enhanced level DBS check.

The job description is a general outline of the job duties and responsibilities and may be amended as OTR develops. The post holder may be required to undertake other additional duties as may be reasonably required from time to time.