Maintenance Worker

37.5 hours per week / permanent / working Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.

YMCA DownsLink Group is the leading charity for children and young people across Sussex and Surrey. We offer safe homes, mental health support and trusted advice.

We believe that every child and young person has the right to be safe, heard and to shape their own future. We work alongside them to make that happen.

We are here for children and young people, many of whom face multiple challenges and need our support.

Our Values - we do what s right, we work with heart, and we build real connections guide us in all our actions.

Do you take pride in creating safe, welcoming homes that make a real difference in young people s lives?

Our Maintenance team works across multiple properties to ensure our residents have safe, good quality homes. We work closely with service staff to identify and complete repairs, carry out ad hoc cleaning and decoration, ensure compliance with health and safety regulations, and prepare empty homes for new residents.

We operate across West Sussex, centred around our Foyers in Horsham and Crawley, which provide 24 hour supported housing for young people aged . We also manage several larger shared houses (typically 4 8 residents) through our Transitional Housing teams, supporting young people on their journey to independence.
In total, the team helps maintain safe homes for approximately 300 residents across the county.

As a Maintenance Worker covering sites across West Sussex, you will take on a hands on role combining practical maintenance tasks with caretaking responsibilities. You will help create and maintain safe, welcoming, and psychologically informed accommodation for the people we support.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide a comprehensive maintenance, caretaking, and cleaning service to ensure safe, welcoming, and psychologically informed accommodation.
• Carry out day to day maintenance across our West Sussex sites, with occasional support to other housing schemes.
• Complete maintenance, cleaning, repair, and redecoration works within agreed timescales, delegating tasks where appropriate.
• Perform or delegate general caretaking and cleaning duties, including cleaning communal areas, litter picking, and waste removal.

If you re excited about this role but your experience doesn t match every single requirement, we still encourage you to apply. We know that skills and potential come in many forms, and your background may offer valuable transferable strengths.

We re looking for a someone with a positive, flexible attitude and a genuine desire to contribute to young people s wellbeing.

Experience and Knowledge

We are searching for someone with:

• Strong maintenance experience across a range of trade or repair tasks, including delivering high quality maintenance and decorating work
• Experience working in supported housing, residential, or community based settings
• Commitment to maintaining high standards of safety, quality, and resident wellbeing
• Good understanding of health & safety requirements and compliance processes
• A proactive, organised approach to workload and prioritisation

Qualifications and Training (Desirable)

It would be beneficial, though not essential, if you have:

• City & Guilds or equivalent qualification in one or more maintenance skill areas
• Manual handling training
• Training in handling bodily fluids
• Boundaries training
• First Aid training