Youth Development Officer - RISE UP
Location: Manchester (Hybrid Working)
Contract: Permanent, Full-Time
Reporting to: Head of Charity
Salary: c.£28,500.00 plus benefits per annum.
Closing Date: 9th July 2026
Are you passionate about making a real difference for young people?
About RISE UP
We are a dynamic charity dedicated to empowering young people aged 16-30 who face barriers to employment. Through mentorship, guidance, and meaningful connections to opportunity, we equip young people with the skills, confidence, and support they need to achieve their career aspirations and progress into sustainable employment, education, or training.
We exist to bridge the gap between young people and their next steps, ensuring they are not only supported to identify their potential but provided with the tools and connections to turn their goals into a reality. Our vision is a future where every young person is empowered by their potential and able to build a sustainable career without limitation.
Learn more: Home | Rise Up l Youth Employment Charity | RISE UP: Overview | LinkedIn
Role Overview
The Youth Development Officer role is centred on empowering young people to overcome barriers and move towards positive, sustained progression in employment, education, or training. Through holistic assessment, the Youth Development Officer will develop a deep understanding of each young person’s background, strengths, aspirations, and challenges. This will enable the identification of the most appropriate support pathways, providing tailored guidance, referrals, and signposting to ensure young people receive the right support at the right time.
A key aspect of the role is delivering personalised, strengths-based support through one-to-one coaching and group sessions. This includes building practical employability skills such as CV writing, interview preparation, and job searching, alongside developing confidence, motivation, communication skills, and career awareness. Sessions will be carefully planned and adapted to meet the diverse needs of young people, ensuring an inclusive and engaging learning environment that supports personal growth and aspiration.
The Youth Development Officer plays a vital role in supporting progression and sustaining outcomes, working closely with colleagues and partners to help young people transition into work placements, employment, training, or education.
This includes providing ongoing follow-up and post placement support to address challenges, reinforce progress, and promote long term success. The role requires empathy, resilience, and adaptability when working with young people who may face complex or multiple barriers, always taking a person centred and solution focused approach.
Collaboration is at the heart of the role, essential is the building of strong relationships with a range of external partners such as Job Centres, training providers, employers, and community organisations to ensure a coordinated support offer. Alongside this, the role includes maintaining accurate records, contributing to impact reporting, and upholding safeguarding and organisational policies.
Representing the programme professionally in external settings, the Youth Development Officer acts as both an advocate and facilitator, helping to create opportunities and positive outcomes for young people.
Key Responsibilities
* Assessment: Complete holistic assessments with young people to understand their backgrounds, aspirations, strengths, and barriers to employment, identifying the most appropriate support pathway and making referrals or signposting where required.
* Personalised Support and Guidance: Provide personalised 1-2-1 support sessions covering practical employability skills such as CV writing, interview preparation, job searching, application support, and workplace readiness, alongside coaching and mentoring focused on confidence building, communication skills, motivation, career exploration, and personal development.
* Planning, Preparation and Follow Up: Plan, prepare, and deliver effective individual and group sessions, both virtually and in person, tailoring content and delivery methods to meet the needs of specific individuals and cohorts.
* Working with vulnerable individuals: Demonstrate empathy, understanding, and a strengths-based approach when supporting young people with a range of personal, social, and employment related barriers, adapting support to meet individual needs.
* Support progression: Work closely with the Work Placement Officer to support young people into employment, training, education, volunteering, or other positive progression opportunities.
* Post-Placement Support: Working alongside other team members provide ongoing support and follow up to young people as they transition into employment or training, helping them sustain positive outcomes and overcome challenges.
* Programme Delivery: Design and deliver engaging employability workshops to our groups, creating a supportive and inclusive environment that enables young people to develop their skills, confidence, and aspirations.
* Record Keeping: Maintain accurate records of interactions with young people, using designated tracking systems.
* Collaborative Working: Work closely with community partners including Job Centres, supported housing providers, training organisations, youth services, employers, and other agencies to ensure a coordinated and holistic approach to supporting young people.
* Safeguarding and Policy: Adhere to organisational safeguarding, health and safety, data protection, and confidentiality.
* Impact Reporting: Contribute to the collection of feedback, outcome data, and case studies to support programme evaluation, reporting, and continuous improvement.
* Representation: Represent RISE UP professionally and positively at external meetings, networking events, programme activities, partnership forums, and stakeholder events where required.
About You
Essential Experience:
* Passionate about empowering young people and helping them overcome barriers to employment and progression.
* Excellent communication, interpersonal, and relationship building skills, with the ability to motivate, coach, and inspire individuals from diverse backgrounds.
* Empathetic, approachable, and resilient, with the ability to build trust and maintain positive relationships with young people.
* Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
* Good organisational skills, with the ability to manage a varied caseload, prioritise effectively, and meet deadlines.
* Experience maintaining accurate records and using systems, databases, or other tracking systems.
* Confidence facilitating sessions one on one and for groups of varying ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
* Confident to speak with a range of people including our partners, for example funders, training organisations and education.
* Proactive, adaptable, and solutions focused, with the ability to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities.
* Commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion, and safeguarding
Desirable Experience:
* Good understanding of employability skills, career pathways, and the challenges faced by young people in today's labour market.
* Experience in youth work, mentoring, employability, careers guidance, coaching, education, or a related field.
* Knowledge of local employment, training, and education opportunities.
* Experience in the delivery of workshops, training sessions, or group activities
* Experience supporting young people facing multiple or complex barriers.
* Experience working with employers, community organisations, or other external stakeholders.
* Lived experience of being a young person who has experienced barriers and challenges.
What we offer
* A permanent hybrid role based in Manchester (M1 1JA).
* A modern workspace in a character building at Sevendale House, with gym access.
* 25 days annual leave plus statutory holidays.
* Access to wide-ranging training and development opportunities.
* Plus 10% benefits after probation.
We encourage applications from people with lived experience of youth unemployment to ensure that our services are shaped by those who understand them best. If you share our vision to unlock the potential of young people, we would be delighted to receive your application.
Further Information
* Applications may close early if suitable candidates are identified and the position is filled.
* Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis prior to the closing date.