Youth Work Manager – Hospital Youth Service

Job title: Youth Work Manager – Hospital Youth Service

Hours: 21 (0.6 FTE)

Salary: OTR Band D, £32,355 FTE (Pro Rata)

Accountable to: Head of Wellbeing Services, Off the Record B&NES

Based at: Royal United Hospital, Bath, BA1 3NG

Contract type: 23 Month Fixed Term Contract – March 2028 (Possibility to extend subject to future funding)

Who we are

Off the Record Bath & North East Somerset (OTR) is a mental health and wellbeing charity that gives local young people a safe space to be heard and be themselves. We provide a range of free services for young people, including counselling, listening support, youth participation, advocacy, support for care leavers and a LGBTQ+ focused youth group.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are at the heart of what we value as an organisation. OTR is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability or any other status protected by law.

Purpose of the role

As our Hospital Youth Work Manager, you will lead the delivery and development of OTR’s Youth Navigator project based at the Royal United Hospital. You will manage a small team of youth workers while also providing direct support to young people, ensuring the service delivers safe, high-quality support for those presenting at hospital.

You will work closely with hospital teams, including paediatric, emergency department and safeguarding professionals, to ensure young people receive coordinated support during their hospital visit and when returning to the community.

The role combines team leadership, safeguarding oversight, partnership working and frontline youth work practice. You will help strengthen collaboration between hospital teams, community organisations and local services to ensure young people can access appropriate support following discharge.

You will work with young people aged 11–25 who present at the Emergency Department with low to moderate mental health needs, or who are admitted to hospital wards with long term health conditions. Using a holistic and trauma informed approach, you will build trusting relationships and support young people to identify the help they need.

Support may take place face to face or virtually and will focus on helping young people access longer term community support, reduce repeat hospital attendance and improve their overall wellbeing.

You will also contribute to monitoring service activity, reporting outcomes and ensuring strong safeguarding practice across the team.

Key Attributes

We are looking for someone who:

• Has experience leading staff or volunteers.
• Is confident supporting young people with complex needs.
• Can build strong partnerships with local services and professionals.
• Has sound judgement when responding to safeguarding concerns and assessing risk.
• Is confident working in a busy, multi-agency environment.

Your enthusiasm and personal approach are as important to us as your experience. If you do not meet every point in the job description but believe you have the transferable skills to succeed in the role, we would still welcome your application.

Duties & Responsibilities

Specific Duties

• Develop and maintain strong links with local agencies, schools and community organisations to ensure effective signposting and ongoing support for young people.
• Line manage the Youth Workers within the team, including day to day support and regular supervision meetings.
• Participate in OTR line manager meetings and work collaboratively with other project leads across Wellbeing Services.
• Build relationships with colleagues delivering similar roles across BSW hospitals, sharing learning and resources.
• Monitor and report data to key stakeholders regarding impact and delivery of service.
• Participate in OTR’s safeguarding on call rota and oversee safeguarding decision making within the Youth Navigator team, ensuring appropriate risk assessment, documentation and escalation where required.
• Build trusting relationships with young people presenting at the Royal United Hospital and support them to identify their needs and goals for positive change.
• Work with young people to co create assessments and support plans, helping them overcome barriers to accessing support and identifying appropriate next steps.
• Support young people to access community services following discharge from hospital, including connecting them with local organisations, youth services, mentoring opportunities and other relevant support.
• Provide one to one youth work support to young people aged 11–25 presenting with low to moderate mental health concerns or long term health conditions, using a person centred and trauma informed approach.

Specific Duties

• Participate in OTR’s day to day organisational activities, including reporting, meetings and general administrative tasks.
• Act as an ambassador for OTR, promoting our vision, values and services.
• Follow organisational policies and procedures, including safeguarding, health and safety and equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Participate in supervision, training and professional development opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across OTR services and contribute to effective team working.
• Maintain effective communication and professional relationships with colleagues, partners, service users and the wider community.
• Promote the involvement of young people in shaping, improving and informing OTR services.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties appropriate to the role as required.

Working pattern and location

This role is primarily based at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, with travel around B&NES to support the young people you are working with, for example, to visit local schools or youth groups. As part of the OTR team, you will also have access to our office and meeting rooms in central Bath.

Flexibility and out of hours working may be required to meet the client group’s requirements.

Applicants must have the ability to travel within and outside the local authority, including to areas where there is no public transport.

How to apply 

If you’re ready to proceed, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our website to download the application form, and send the completed version, together with our Equal Opportunities monitoring form.

The closing date for applications is 10am Monday 30th March 2026. Interviews will take place at the OTR office on Manvers Street, Bath, w/c 30th March 2026.

Terms and conditions

• Contract: Fixed term to start on or after 1 May 2026. Probationary period of 3 months.
• Paid leave entitlement: 25 days plus 2 discretionary days and all English public holidays. This entitlement is pro-rated for part-time employees.
• Two days’ paid volunteering leave to enable you to support causes that matter to you (FTE)
• Pension scheme
• Death-in-service benefit
• Training and development opportunities for all our staff

Appointments will be subject to satisfactory references and an Enhanced level Criminal Records Bureau check. 

The job description is a general outline of the job duties and responsibilities and may be amended as OTR develops. The post holder maybe required to undertake other additional duties as may be reasonably required from time to time.