Personal Advisor

Are you a highly motivated and confident person committed to improving outcomes for young people preparing to leave the Council’s care? Do you have the experience and knowledge to know what works when supporting young people through the difficult transition between childhood and adulthood independence?

This is a rewarding, challenging and essential role, in our support of young people Leaving Care.  As a Personal Advisor, you will carry a caseload of young people aged 17-25 years and support them through individual direct work, group-work and activity programmes, which may require some flexible working. You will assess their needs, create and review Pathway Plans and be a consistent support to them into adulthood. You will motivate them to make the very best of the resources available and encourage them to play a part in improving services. You will be part of a Care Leavers’ team and service group which consists of social workers and personal advisors.

Key Requirements

• Knowledge of the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks relating to care leavers and the role of the Personal Advisor
• Knowledge of the areas of education, training, employment and housing in relation to young people and leaving care
• Knowledge of local procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people
• Good knowledge of the challenges facing young people leaving care
• Ability to engage and motivate young people from diverse backgrounds
• Ability to write succinctly and maintain accurate electronic records.

This role requires an Enhanced DBS certificate

When completing your application please include your areas of relevant experience and demonstrate how you meet the requirements for the role.

Closing Date: Tuesday, 5th of October 2021

Interview Date: Mid October, date TBC

Due to the current situation, recruitment to this post may be subject to change.  Should you make an application, there may be a delay on the processing of applications and the arranging of the selection stage. 

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Janet Peel;    janet.peel@royalgreenwich.gov.uk     020 8331 3070  

If you require any assistance in viewing or accessing this opportunity, please contact recruitment@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or call 020-8921-8977  

Safer recruitment: Royal Borough of Greenwich is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Any roles which involve working with children, young people or vulnerable adults, or roles in which the duties will involve access to sensitive information relating to children, young people or vulnerable adults, the Royal Borough will take up references prior to interview. You should provide details of referees including your current and previous employers, covering the last 5 years. Candidates can request for us not to send a reference request to their current employer prior to interview by emailing us at recruitment@royalgreenwich.gov.uk. As part of our Safer Recruitment Policy, a full employment history is also required for this role. Please provide a full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment. Unless otherwise stated, a Basic DBS check will be undertaken as part of the pre-employment checks for successful candidates.

Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

High Volume Applications: Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date should there be a high volume of applications received.

DBS: This role requires an Enhanced DBS. (This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act,1974)

Job Share: This role is suitable for Job Share. Please indicate if you would like a job share arrangement on your supporting statement.

Full Employment History: A full employment history is required for this role. Please provide a full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment.

How Applications are Scored: Each application is scored according to how well the supporting statement addresses each point on the Person Specification for the role. Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the extent to which they meet the specific points within the Person Specification. The Person Specification is supplied with the job advert. When completing your application, please use the supporting statement section to tell us how you meet each of the points on the Person Specification. We need to have this information in order to consider your application. If you have a disability and are unable to meet some of the job requirements specifically because of your disability, please address this in your application. If you meet all the other criteria, you will be shortlisted and we will explore jointly with you if there are ways in which the job can be changed to enable you to meet the requirements.

Interview Arrangements: During this time, our priority for all of our recruitment activity is to make sure our applicants, hiring departments and new starters are informed, safe and supported. Careful and thorough consideration will be given to interview arrangements and for any essential in-person recruitment, we will ensure this is held in a suitable, secure setting with additional arrangements to ensure any current safety requirements are fully adhered to.

Salary: Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator to help you calculate a pro rata salary.