Senior Youth Worker

Salary: £32,000-£38,000 (pro rata, based on agreed hours)

Contract Type: Part time (funding secured for one year, with the intention to extend to a permanent role subject to impact)

Hours: 12 - 18 hours a week

At The Abingdon Bridge, we are dedicated to empowering young people to reach their full potential. Our mission revolves around improving young people's aspirations, decreasing their involvement in risky behaviours, enhancing their overall wellbeing, and fostering a sense of belonging and commitment to their communities. We believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to thrive and contribute positively to society.

We are excited to offer this newly shaped role for a experienced Youth Worker who is passionate about building meaningful relationships with young people and creating spaces where they feel safe, heard, and empowered.

This role is ideal for someone who believes deeply in the power of connection, trust, and empathy. Someone who wants to make a lasting difference in young people's lives.

The Senior Youth Worker will work directly alongside young people, particularly those who are more marginalised or 'harder to reach' offering consistent support, encouragement, and belief in their potential.

The heart of this role is relationship-based youth work. You will hold space for young people, support them to explore their aspirations, and help them navigate challenges safely and confidently, while supporting them to act, belong and commit to their community.

The three core outcomes of this role are to:

• Improve young people's wellbeing and emotional resilience
• Reduce risky behaviours by offering trusted support and positive alternatives
• Increase aspiration and help young people feel valued, connected, and hopeful about their future

• Support and deliver outreach work, community-based drop-ins, and detached youth work
• Facilitate group work across a range of themes including wellbeing, identity, belonging, and aspiration
• Contribute to intergenerational and community-based projects that strengthen connection and understanding
• Support delivery of community events and preventative wellbeing initiatives

• Bring creativity and fresh thinking to develop activities and approaches that resonate with young people
• Shape and adapt programmes in response to young people's voices and lived experiences
• Explore new ways of engaging young people that create lasting, meaningful impact

• Guide and support to junior staff and/or volunteers
• Model excellent youth work practice grounded in empathy, boundaries, and reflective practice
• Contribute to team learning, reflection, and continuous improvement

You are someone who genuinely cares about young people, about fairness, and about creating spaces where people feel safe to be themselves.

You will bring:

• Proven experience working with young people aged 11-25, particularly those who may feel excluded, marginalised, or unheard.
• A strong ability to build authentic, trusting relationships
• High levels of empathy, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness
• Confidence in holding space for young people's emotions without judgement or agenda
• Resilience, warmth, and a calm presence, even in challenging moments
• A belief in young people's potential, even when they struggle to see it themselves
• Be a self-starter who can work independently while being a supportive team member
• Feel comfortable contributing ideas and shaping new ways of working
• Share TAB's values around safeguarding, ethics, and the wellbeing of young people and communities

By joining TAB, you will become part of a passionate, reflective, and supportive team that values creativity, learning, and human connection. We will invest in you through high-quality supervision, training, and the freedom to innovate. This is a role for someone who wants to do youth work with heart-someone who understands that real change starts with trust, time, and being truly present.

Benefits include:

• 5 weeks holiday per year pro rata + public holidays pro rata
• NEST employer pension scheme
• A competitive salary and benefits package.
• Opportunities for professional development and training.
• A supportive and inclusive work environment.
• The chance to make a real difference in the lives of young people and the community.

We warmly encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation.

We won't pretend AI doesn't exist, we've used it ourselves to help spellcheck and shape this job pack. But the people behind it are very real, passionate, and genuinely committed to supporting the young people of Abingdon. Feel free to use AI if it helps, but don't lose your own voice. We'd much rather see a rough around the edges application that shows heart and passion than something perfectly polished but soulless.