Full-time (37 hours per week) / Permanent / £37,325 per annum

The Brighton Youth Advice Centre (YAC) is a busy, support and advice service that has been delivering excellent services to young people across the city for 30 years. Working to the Youth Information, Advice and Counselling Services (YIACS) model, the Brighton YAC is the single point of access for homelessness advice for 16-15-year-olds. The YAC also hosts other YMCA DLG services such as family mediation and tenancy support, as well as their general advice provision, offering support and advice on a range of topics including sexual health, emotional health and wellbeing, and debt and benefits.

As the Service Manager, you will oversee all services including Housing Advice, Support and Advice, Family Mediation, Tenancy Support, Boys and Young Men’s Project, Multiple and Complex Needs Navigators, Mental Health Support Coordinator and a Food Market which is made of 20 staff. You will be responsible for the day to day running of the YAC and line management of the Team Leaders and specialist workers. In delivering the role, you will

• Manage relationships with services that are co-located in the YAC, including the Brighton & Hove Wellbeing Service and Sussex NightStop ensuring that the YAC is embedded as an access point for young people’s wellbeing.
• Safeguarding lead for the service
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with commissioners, funders, and other stakeholders in the city, providing representation on Local Authority forums including Housing placement and accommodation sustainment panels.
• Lead on Multiple and Complex Needs service implementation liaising closely with adult Treatment Services, Supported Housing Providers and other local mental health services
• Be responsible for budgets, managing contracts, reporting, and evidencing emerging need.

This role is based on site at the YAC in Brighton, working Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am-6pm 

WHO YOU ARE – We know that there are great candidates who will not fit everything we have described below, or who have important skills we have not mentioned. If that is you, please do not hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself

You will be passionate about the rights of young people, adaptable to the needs of individual people, be an experienced manager of youth provision with an expertise in managing and inspiring strong teams. You will thrive in a fast-paced busy service and be a champion for the young people that use the YAC. You will already have an excellent understanding of barriers that young people face as well as client-led approaches that can support to overcome them.

You will also have solid experience of managing budgets, contracts and experience representing an organisation or service externally with commissioners and stakeholders. In addition, you will have experience in managing consistent standards of safeguarding, child protection and/or protection of vulnerable adults, and knowledge of issues affecting vulnerable children, young people, and adults, including housing, mental health and wellbeing and family support.

Job description and job pack are available to download from our website

Closing date is midnight on 2 January 2023. To apply, please ensure you complete an online application form, including your responses to the questions and upload a copy of your CV

If you would like any further information or an informal discussion about this post, please contact ra***********@ym*****.org

Should you require any assistance with our application process, please email us at re*********@ym*****.org

YMCA DownsLink Group welcomes applications from all sections of the community. We value diversity and promote inclusion, which we demonstrate through our activities, as well as in our policies and working practices.

YMCA DLG requires all staff and volunteers to be committed to safeguarding. Successful applicants (dependent on role) are required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)