Youth Employment Mentor - Leicester

Job Role: Youth Employment Mentor
Youth Employability | Careers Support | Employment Coaching
Location: Leicester - Local Office Base with Regular Community & Employer Travel
Salary: £32,000 per annum
Contract: Permanent, Full-Time
Hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday (Occasional flexibility required)

Role Overview
We are recruiting an enthusiastic and motivated Youth Employment Mentor to support young people aged 18-24 on a funded youth employment programme.
This is a highly rewarding role where you will work directly with young people who may face barriers to employment, helping them build confidence, develop employability skills and move into sustainable work, education or training.
As a Youth Employment Mentor, you will manage your own caseload, providing personalised support from initial engagement through to job start and beyond. You'll work closely with employers, Jobcentre Plus, training providers and community organisations to ensure participants receive the guidance, opportunities and encouragement needed to succeed.
This role would suit candidates from employability, recruitment, youth work, education, coaching, training, careers guidance, customer service, housing or community support backgrounds who are passionate about helping people achieve their potential.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to transform young people's lives through employment
• Manage a meaningful caseload and see real outcomes
• Supportive and collaborative team environment
• Ongoing training and professional development
• Career progression opportunities within employability and skills services
• Varied role combining mentoring, employability and employer engagement
• Opportunity to build strong relationships across local communities and employers

Key Responsibilities
Participant Engagement & Mentoring

• Build positive and trusting relationships with young people aged 18-24.
• Manage a caseload of participants from referral through to employment sustainment.
• Conduct initial assessments and identify barriers to employment.
• Create personalised action plans focused on progression and employment outcomes.
• Deliver one-to-one mentoring and support tailored to individual needs.
• Maintain regular contact and provide ongoing motivation and encouragement.

Employability & Employment Support

• Support participants with:
• CV development
• Job searching
• Application forms
• Interview preparation
• Career planning
• Soft skills development
• Help individuals explore career pathways, training opportunities and progression routes.
• Support participants into suitable employment opportunities.
• Encourage confidence, resilience and workplace readiness.

In-Work Support & Sustainment

• Provide post-employment support to both participants and employers.
• Conduct regular in-work reviews and welfare checks.
• Support workplace adjustments and problem-solving where required.
• Re-engage participants who leave employment and support progression into further opportunities.

Employer & Partnership Engagement

• Work collaboratively with employer engagement teams to support job matching.
• Build effective relationships with:
• Employers
• Jobcentre Plus
• Training Providers
• Community Organisations
• Referral Partners
• Promote the programme and support local employer engagement activity.
• Ensure participants access suitable opportunities that align with their aspirations and abilities.

Quality, Compliance & Administration

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date case notes and participant records.
• Ensure compliance with programme requirements and quality standards.
• Work towards participant outcome and engagement targets.
• Adhere to safeguarding, GDPR, equality and health & safety requirements.
• Support continuous improvement and service excellence.

Essential Criteria

• Experience delivering one-to-one mentoring, coaching or support.
• Experience working with young people or individuals facing barriers to employment.
• Background within employability, recruitment, education, training, welfare-to-work, youth work or another target-driven environment.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to engage, motivate and challenge individuals constructively.
• Excellent organisational and time-management skills.
• Experience managing a caseload or workload independently.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office and database systems.
• Understanding of safeguarding, equality, diversity and GDPR requirements.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly within the local area.

Transferable Skills Welcome
We would also welcome applications from candidates with experience in:

• Recruitment
• Customer Service
• Sales
• Youth Work
• Housing Support
• Community Development
• Social Care
• Teaching & Training
• Careers Guidance
• Coaching & Mentoring
• Apprenticeships
• Employability Services

If you're passionate about helping people achieve their goals and have strong people skills, we'd love to hear from you.

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of local labour market opportunities.
• Experience supporting young people into employment, education or training.
• Understanding of apprenticeships and vocational training pathways.
• Experience working alongside employers or external partners.
• Careers Information, Advice & Guidance experience.

How to Apply
For more information or to apply for the Youth Employment Mentor role, please contact:
Tiffany Bennett (phone number removed)