Job Description

Life Skills and Employability Advisor

OVERVIEW

COMPANY:

Wigan Youth Zone

LOCATION:

Wigan Youth Zone and Outreach

SALARY:

25,000 per annum (pro rata)

BENEFITS:

33 days annual leave (including bank holidays) pro rata. Plus additional leave for length of service.

Hybrid work,

Birthdays off,

Gym access,

Training and CPD including first aid, safeguarding and health and safety,

Career development opportunities,

Employee Assistance Programme,

Cycle to work scheme,

Strong team culture,

Workplace pension,

Free eye tests,

Discounted to 2 access to holiday club for WYZ staff.

Access to Virtual Medical care

Access to Work Well programme

POSTED:

27th July 2025

CLOSING:

11th July 2025

First interviews:

TBA

Second interviews:

TBA

SPECIALISM:

Employability/Life Skills/Community/Youth Work

REPORTS TO:

Enterprise and Employability Coordinator

CONTRACT TYPE:

Fixed term - 7 months JULY 2025 - January 2026

HOURS:

Full time 40 hours per week

WORK PATTERN:

Tuesday - 10:00 - 18:00

Wednesday- 10:00 - 19:00

Thursday - 10:00 - 19:00

Friday - 11:00 - 20:00

Saturday - 10:00 - 15:00

ORGANISATION TYPE:

Charity

Who we are looking for:

Wigan Youth Zone is proud to continue its partnership with GMCA, the UK Government and WEA to deliver Life Skills and Employability initiatives across the Wigan Borough.

As a Life Skills Advisor you will support the delivery of this targeted programme working with young people aged 16 to 25 who are NEET (not currently in education, employment or training) focusing on developing their key life skills and empowering them to move towards a positive destination.

We are looking for someone who would be confident delivering weekly 1 to 1 sessions and small group workshops. Our sessions inspire young people to take the first steps on their journey towards achieving their personal goals such as Volunteering, gaining work experience, going into Further Training or Education or going into Employment.

You will be responsible for completing initial assessments, creating personalised learning plans and supporting each learner in breaking down whatever barriers have been preventing them from achieving their goals alongside building on their confidence, self-esteem and wellbeing

.

As this role involves a mix of solo and collaborative working we are seeking a self-motivated, structured and organised individual who can plan their time effectively to ensure all databases and records are completed daily and in a timely manner in line with contract compliance requirements.

As part of the Team you'll play a key role in supporting your line manager, recruiting and retaining Cohorts of young people, delivering engaging sessions that maintain motivation throughout the programme, and carrying out community outreach to identify new recruitment opportunities.

You will be someone who is passionate about making a difference to young people's lives and can build strong relationships with local employers, training providers, and colleges to ensure the young people we support have access to meaningful and relevant next steps.

As an Enterprise Youth Worker you will be supporting our members to develop valuable entrepreneurial and business skills. Through the 10 challenge they will learn about the different stages of setting up a small business including the original designs/ideas, creating a bespoke Company logo, researching costs, buying products and creating the products ready to sell as part of our Fundraising initiative within the department.

The YECP is a 6 to 9 month competition and you will be responsible for recruiting and retaining a team to create a business or social action project that will be registered at Companies House. Each member of the team will have a formal Role on the Board and will take part in competition stages to win awards for Sales, Marketing, Teamwork, Product idea and design, Customer Service and presentation pitch.

Knowledge and Understanding

Knowledge of the issues affecting young people and an ability to work with challenging behaviour

Understanding of the principles of working with children and young people

Knowledge of health and safety, diversity awareness and safeguarding best practice and how these relate to children and young people

Delivery of activities within an equality framework

Qualifications:

GCSE or equivalent Literacy and Numeracy - Essential

A professional Youth Work or teaching qualification at Level 3 or above (or equivalent) - Essential

What will you need to succeed:

EXPERIENCE

Proven experience of working with young people aged 8 to 19 (25 with disabilities) in a range of settings both in groups and individually - Essential

Proven experience of engaging vulnerable, disengaged or hard to reach young people -Essential

Experience working in a team and with volunteers - Essential

Experience of delivering employability programmes and workshops to with young people -Essential

Experience supporting NEET 16-25 year olds into positive - Destinations - Essential

Experience of monitoring and evaluation processes - Desirable

Experience managing externally funded projects - Desirable

Experience of supporting young people who are disaffected, underachieving and / or have social / emotional barriers to participation - Desirable

Experience of working in a team and alongside volunteers - Desirable

Experience providing information, advice, guidance and support to young people -

Desirable

Experience of dealing with safeguarding issues within a multi-agency setting - Essential

Experience of working with challenging young people - Essential

SKILLS

Excellent written and verbal communication - Essential

Ability to coach, encourage, motivate and provide reliable support to children and young people - Essential

Strong commitment to children and young people and an ability to engage and build positive relationships with all young people, including disengaged and disadvantaged young people - Essential

Ability to develop good professional relationships with children, young people and adults -Essential

Ability to work with young people to develop their social education by providing programmes of activities, services and facilities that are fun and enable young people to develop - Essential

Knowledge or recruitment and selection process - Desirable

Knowledge of Health and Safety, Diversity Awareness and Safeguarding best practice and how these are related to children and young people - Desirable

Ability to deliver high quality activity programmes with children and young people who face social exclusion, disadvantage and disaffection - Desirable

Ability to identify and challenge discrimination and discriminatory behaviour, taking appropriate action as necessary - Essential

What you will be doing

Working within the WYZ Employability Skills team to achieve the contracted SLA targets for :

o Recruitment

o Delivery

o Retention

o Positive Outcomes

Facilitating power point presentations and training workshops on Life and Employability Skills to small groups of Learners in an informal setting.

Providing 1 to 1 Life Skills+ and Employability support to Learners not ready to attend Group sessions.

Developing meaningful relationships with Learners to provide them with the right support and high quality advice and guidance in order to help them realise their own potential and achieve positive outcomes - whilst maintaining professional boundaries at all times.

Motivating, encouraging and engaging Learners to build up their confidence to feel able to fully participate and have a voice in sessions and workshops.

Administration - completing sign-up paperwork, mid review and end paperwork as required by the GMCA as well as internal WYZ forms and Salesforce registers to maintain project and funding compliance and monitoring requirements. Scanning, downloading and transferring documents to the funders within strict guidelines.

Creating Individual Learning Plans based on identifying Learners needs. Then working through each area to overcome personal and practical barriers to upskill the learner.

Capturing the positive impacts the learners achieve by documenting all outcomes on Salesforce, writing case studies and

Celebrating the achievements of young people at end of programme celebration events.

To develop effective joint working practices with job centers, supported housing groups, young carers, training providers and other agencies to ensure a holistic approach in service delivery to young people, including representing WYZ at meetings with partner agencies.

Job Brokering for students, working with local employers and patrons to secure live opportunities for our young people.

To achieve KPI's set by the Board, Chief Executive, Head of Operations and external funders, including for example, progression into Volunteering, Employment and training or the development of employability skills.

To manage the budget and other resources effectively to maximise the benefits to young people.

To work with the Youth Zone staff to identify opportunities and funding for additional experiences and openings for young people relating to enterprise and employability

As an Enterprise YW you will be working a Seniors and a Juniors session each week empowering our members to develop their entrepreneurial skills through the 10 challenge and showcasing their products on stalls at WYZ and local Community events.

You will recruiting a team of young people to take part in the YECP representing WYZ in the Northwest competition.

Developing members Hospitality and Customer Service skills through working on Mocktails and Dreams.

To collaborate with the offer at Leigh and be available at Community Events and special occasions to support the WYZ team.

Carry out any other reasonable duties as requested by management.

Special Requirements

DBS clearance and committed to Safeguarding children

A willingness to work evenings and weekends when required

The ability and willingness to travel to meetings and events both in the region and beyond

The job holder will be required to adhere to the Youth Zone's policies at all times, with particular emphasis on Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding. Attendance at events and conferences will sometimes be required.

In accordance with our Child Protection and Safeguarding procedures, this position requires an enhanced DBS check and business satisfactory references.

Please note that in line with our Safeguarding Policy, you must be age 21 or over to work in our Senior Sessions and 19+ to work on our Junior Sessions and Holiday Clubs. All applicants must also be inactive as members for at least 12 months.

What is Wigan Youth Zone?

Wigan Youth Zone is a purpose built, state-of-the-art youth facility in Wigan town centre which opened in June 2013. It offers young people from across Wigan the opportunity to meet friends, have new experiences, learn new skills and access the support they need to develop and achieve their potential.

The Youth Zone is open to all young people across Wigan aged from 8 to 19 (up to 25 with additional needs), striving to offer something for everyone, regardless of their interests or abilities. With almost 15 dedicated areas to choose from including our four 40-metre floodlit football pitches, art room, music room and climbing wall - there's something for everyone here at Wigan Youth Zone.

Our aim is simple, to provide the town's young people with somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to.

You will benefit from:

Salary: 25,000 per annum

33 days annual leave (including bank holidays) pro-rata,

Additional leave for length of service up to 38 days,

Birthdays off,

Gym access,

Training and CPD including First Aid, Safeguarding and Health and Safety,

Career development opportunities,

Access to our Employee Assistance Programme,

Cycle to work scheme,

Strong team culture,

Access to the Be Well programme

Work place pension,

Free eye tests.

Access to Virtual medical care

Discounted to 2 per day access to holiday club for children of WYZ staff

What do you need to do next

Please email HR@wiganyouthzone.org to receive an application form, once received and completed please return to the HR email address.

88% of our Team would recommend Wigan Youth Zone as an employer to their family and friend

Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 7 months

Pay: 25,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Additional leave Casual dress Company events Cycle to work scheme Health & wellbeing programme On-site gym
Schedule:

Weekend availability
Application question(s):

Are you aged 21 or above?
Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 11/07/2025