Job Description

St Giles Trust seeks a Specialist Caseworker to support young people at risk of violence and exploitation, delivering holistic interventions, conducting risk assessments, and collaborating with agencies. The role involves outreach, case management, and "rescue duty." Applicants require relevant experience, safeguarding expertise, and a UK driving licence. Deadline: 18 August 2025.

Responsible to:

VESS Team Leader/VESS Project Manager

Responsible for:

Hours:

Full Time, 35 hours per week (occasional evenings and weekends will be required) Fixed term until 31st March 2028

Grade:

Band 2

Location:

Camberwell but with frequent travel around London and occasion travel outside of London

Holiday:

30 days + bank and statutory holidays (pro-rated if part time)

Salary:

27,000 per annum
Please note successful candidates should expect to be appointed at the starting point of the salary scale and consideration may be given to a higher salary depending on the experience of the individual.

Application Deadline:

Monday, 1st September 2025 at 9.00am
Interview date: Monday 8th September 2025




Please note this role requires Enhanced Adult and Child Workforce with Child barred list DBS Check
St Giles Trust is a Charity helping people facing severe disadvantage to find jobs, homes, and the right support they need. We help them to become positive contributors to local communities and wider society. We passionately believe everybody is capable of changing their lives. Our mission is we empower people to overcome injustices for themselves, their families and their local communities - we achieve this through offering support from someone who has been there. Our peer-led services form the backbone of our work.


We've formed a groundbreaking pan-London Alliance with Safer London, New Horizon Youth Centre, the Anna Freud Centre, and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime to deliver the Children and Young People's Violence and Exploitation Support Service (VESS). As part of this, St Giles delivers specialist casework to referred children and young people to reduce their risk of experiencing violence or being criminally exploited.


Additionally, St Giles leads the 'rescue' element of the service. Our outreach team provides immediate support to young people following arrest for violent or exploitation-related offences. We meet them at police stations across mainland UK, guiding them to safety. This "reachable moment" is a crucial opportunity to offer vital support.

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The Role

As a Specialist Caseworker, you will be at the forefront of supporting children and young people exposed to or at risk of exploitation and violence. Your primary focus will be to secure positive outcomes and ensure the safety of young Londoners, reducing risk, advocating their perspective to other professionals and equipping them to take their next step on a path away from harm and towards fulfilling their potential.


You will conduct robust risk and needs assessments, considering the full context of harm, and collaborate closely with partner agencies to mitigate risks and access essential services. Working with young Londoners often involves challenging circumstances, so demonstrating effective personal wellbeing management is crucial to delivering the highest quality of service.


This role requires a minimum of three days per week working at or from our Camberwell head office (Monday to Friday, 9 am - 5 pm). Some line managers may decrease/increase this according to project requirements. Outside of this, timings and locations are flexible to maximize face-to-face client support in the community.


You will also participate in our "rescue duty" rota, requiring availability one weekend per month and regular weekday evenings. When on rota, you and a colleague will use a provided rescue car to collect young Londoners from custody suites anywhere in mainland UK and transport them to a place of safety. The rescue service operates daily from 2 pm to 10 pm (with supplementary pay for hours worked outside 9 am - 5 pm). We aim to complete around three rescues per week but this is subject to variation.


A full UK driving license is essential for this role. You will contribute to a comprehensive service across St Giles, actively promoting our Vision, Mission, Values, and strategic aims.


We strongly encourage applications from individuals with personal experience of the criminal justice system or lived experience of the issues faced by our client group.

(1) Key Deliverables

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Direct Work with Young People:

Provide young person-centred holistic support aligned with St Giles' service delivery model. Conduct robust risk and strengths-based needs assessments, prioritizing safeguarding and ensuring appropriate interventions and escalation of risks.

Working with Others:

Develop and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including police, Youth Offending Teams (YOT), probation, children's services, local authorities, and voluntary sector organisations, to ensure effective service delivery. Make appropriate onward referrals and signposting to support services and positive activities, advocating for young people's access to entitled services where necessary. Maintain effective written and verbal communication (virtual or face-to-face) with young people, parents/carers, and other stakeholders. Working closely and collaboratively with other members of the VESS team both within St Giles and within the wider alliance, contributing fully to meetings with a commitment to shared best practice.

Case Management & Compliance:

Accurately record all aspects of work, including action plans, outcomes, and session data, ensuring high-quality case recording. Efficiently closing cases, identifying appropriate referral routes for ongoing support and crisis management. Acting in strict accordance with safeguarding legislation and guidance, alongside St Giles' policies and procedures (including safeguarding, risk management, lone working, GDPR, and diversity & inclusion). Following all workplace safety guidance, including (but not limited to) completion of lone working risk assessments and following associated procedures. Collect information and evidence to support monitoring and service evaluation.

Training and Development:

Attending and positively engaging with all mandatory training. Demonstrate a commitment to ongoing learning and personal development through relevant additional training. Undertake any other duties as required, commensurate with the post level, working flexibly to meet service and wider St Giles Trust demands.

(2) Person specification

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When completing your application form please address the points marked with (A) set out below.####

Experience

Direct Support: Proven experience working with children, young people, and/or vulnerable adults, delivering effective interventions that have resulted in positive outcomes (A) Sector Specific: Experience within health or criminal justice contexts, supporting children, young people, and/or vulnerable adults. Caseload Management: Demonstrable experience managing a caseload of clients with complex needs. Safeguarding Expertise: Experience independently addressing safeguarding issues with children, young people, and adults at risk of violence or exploitation. (A) Risk Assessment: Skilled in conducting thorough risk assessments and identifying the needs of children and young people at risk of significant harm. (A) Multi-agency Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively as part of a multi-agency team, collaborating to achieve positive outcomes for young people and their families/carers. (A) ####

Skills and Abilities

Relationship Building: Exceptional ability to build and maintain trusting relationships with young people and their parents/carers, particularly those who have had previous negative experiences with services. (A) Resilience & Wellbeing: Strong recognition of the importance of resilience in managing the emotional demands of this role, with demonstrable strategies for maintaining personal wellbeing. (A) Communication & Influence: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of communicating and influencing a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, and producing clear reports for diverse audiences (e.g., courts, statutory settings). (A) IT Proficiency: Highly proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, Word) and experienced in using electronic case management systems. (A) Autonomy & Prioritisation: Ability to proactively manage and prioritise your own workload with minimal supervision. (A) ####

Knowledge

Child & Adolescent Development: Thorough knowledge and understanding of the physical, social, emotional, and developmental needs of children and young people, including those transitioning to legal adulthood. (A) Exploitation Issues: Comprehensive understanding of the complex issues facing young people, such as exploitation, victimisation, offending, school exclusion, unemployment, and trauma. (A) Contextual Safeguarding: Clear understanding of contextual safeguarding principles, relevant legislation, and policy regarding the impact of context on children, young people, and adults. (A) Trauma-Informed Practice: Knowledge of trauma-informed practice within the context of supporting children, young people, and parents/carers affected by violence and exploitation. (A) ####

Qualifications and Professional Development

Relevant Qualification: A relevant qualification in youth work, social work, social sciences, education, or another related field, OR demonstrable equivalent professional experience. (A) Accredited Training: Completion of relevant accredited training (e.g., safeguarding, counselling, mental health first aid). ####

Values and Attributes

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: A strong commitment to and understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion, with practical experience applying these principles in your work. (A) Alignment with St Giles: Genuine respect and enthusiasm for the work of St Giles Trust, with the ability to demonstrate, through examples, alignment with St Giles' core values. (A) Driving Licence: Hold a full UK driving licence. (A)

(3) About Us

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In St Giles, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, season ticket loan and much more.


We are an equity and inclusion-confident employer. We welcome all applications and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi-heritage) and those who identify as disabled, nonresponsive, or neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.


St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the for the vacancy.

Ready to Apply?

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1.

Click HERE to download

the application form.
2. Complete the application form, including the personal statement in relation to the job description.
3. Once completed, please return it by email to humanresources@stgilestrust.org.uk. Please include the Job Title and Job Code in your email subject.
4. The deadline for this job application is

Monday, 1st September 2025 at 9.00am.

This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role.