Residential Youth Support Worker

Vinney Green Secure Children’s Home provides a safe, caring and structured environment where young people receive high-quality care, education and life skills support. As a Residential Youth Support Worker, you will play an important role in helping young people overcome challenges, build confidence and develop the skills they need to achieve positive outcomes. Through consistent support, guidance and positive role modelling, you will help young people develop their independence, self-control and resilience, enabling them to return to their communities in a more positive and purposeful way.

Working as part of a dedicated team, you will build strong professional relationships with young people, supporting their emotional wellbeing, personal development and day-to-day care needs. The role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the lives of young people, helping them to recognise their strengths, achieve their potential and work towards a brighter future.

• You will provide safe and consistent care and supervision to young people living within the home, ensuring their wellbeing while working within the regulations governing secure accommodation.
• Contributing to maintaining a safe and secure environment, you will follow and monitor established procedures, routines and recording requirements, while supporting compliance with health and safety legislation, including fire safety and evacuation procedures.
• It will be your responsibility to help safeguard young people from harm by identifying, assessing and responding to their individual needs, strengths and areas for development.
• A key aspect of your role will be building positive and professional relationships with young people, providing guidance, support and positive role modelling to encourage pro-social behaviour and support periods of change and transition.
• You will organise and participate in a range of activities that enrich the lives of young people, while also supporting their education through involvement in classroom learning, study sessions and homework activities.
• Through consistent boundaries and encouragement, you will help young people develop more positive behavioural responses, improve their decision-making and build the skills needed to achieve successful outcomes both within the home and beyond.

• You will need to undertake training and development activity, including achieving the Level 3 RQF programme within an agreed timescale.
• It is essential that you have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to accurately record and share important information and confidently use basic IT systems, including Microsoft Office.
• We are looking for someone who understands the challenges faced of working with young people with complex needs, alongside the ability to respond in a professional, non-judgemental and supportive manner.
• Ideally, you will have previous experience of working in a secure setting or with young people who present challenging behaviour.

• The salary is plus a secure unit allowance of £2,903.04 per annum and additional rates applicable for rostered Sunday shifts (time and a half) and bank holidays (double time).
• The home works on shift patterns, working an average of 37 hours per week following a designated shift pattern working between the hours of 7:30am – 10:30pm, alternate weekends and some shifts may be on bank holidays. Meals are normally eaten with young people.
• Young people can present physically threatening behaviour and the environment can become tense and anxiety provoking, so for everybody’s safety surveillance cameras are in use in most areas of the building.
• Vinney Green operates a full non-smoking environment, and there is no provision to facilitate smoking anywhere on site. Staff’s personal belongings are required to be left in a provided locker on entry into the building and we may require you to undertake a further physical fitness check.
• Please note that due to the nature of this role it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained for this post.
• This role is demanding and there will be some physical active aspects to the job, but we can assure you that this will be one of the most rewarding jobs that you will ever do!

Interviews will be held 23rd November 2026.

• We value our staff as individuals, investing in their careers and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps make the greatest long-term difference in work.
• What’s special here is the strength of the team ethos, the support and the training.  
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.
• As part of our benefits package you will receive generous annual leave (pro rata), employee wellbeing support and you will have access to a range of staff discounts, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities.
• We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.

Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.

• We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of.
• We're working with the most vulnerable in our community to help them achieve what they want in life.
• We're investing in our schools to ensure every child and young person in South Gloucestershire achieves their full potential.

We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.

We’re making a difference, be part of it!

For more information, please see the attached job description: Residential Youth Support Worker (RCO) - Job Description