Senior Youth Justice Officer

About Us

West Sussex Youth Justice Service (YJS) is a high performing multi-agency statutory partnership which provides services before and after Court to meet the statutory requirements of the youth justice system. Its primary aim is to prevent offending and reduce reoffending by children. The service works in partnership with a variety of agencies to ensure children are offered appropriate intervention to address their risks, meet their needs and build on their strengths. The service also seeks to repair the harm caused to victims and communities by addressing the root causes of offending and reoffending by children.

About the Role

Salary: £39,862 to £42,839 per annum
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
Office Base Location: Based at County Hall North, Horsham or Arun Civic Centre, Littlehampton with countywide travel. Please note the use of Arun Civic Centre is currently initially expected to be in place for three years to April 2029. The substantive hub for your service is Worthing and therefore, there is the potential for services to relocate to Worthing in the future.

Please note your preference for office base location on the application form.

Working as one of four Senior Youth Justice Officers within the YJS, where the roles are based in the Community Supervision and Intensive Interventions teams. You will be passionate about making a difference for high risk, complex and vulnerable children at risk of prosecution, on bail / remand, or subject to Court Orders, and for ensuring children involved in the youth justice system receive the right intervention at the right time to achieve and sustain best outcomes.

You will be a professional who is able to independently manage caseloads with confidence, utilising strong engagement skills and creative intervention practices effectively. You will possess high quality assessment and judgement skills, along with being recognised as a source of reliable knowledge and advice. will support and be an advocate for equality and diversity, respecting anyone working for or in contact with WSCC.

As a Senior Youth Justice Officer you will be part of the YJS leadership team and will support the YJS management in the development and organisation of youth justice services in West Sussex. You will also be accountable for supervising a small number of Youth Justice staff, deputising for the Team Manager, and contributing to discussions regarding the review of service provision.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Some of the key skill, qualifications and/or experience required for the role are as follows:

• Relevant Professional qualification recognised by one of the YJS statutory partner agencies (CSC, Probation, Health and Police), e.g. DipSW / BA in Social Work, Diploma in Probation Studies, a Qualified Youth Worker, Diploma in Counselling/Careers Guidance, PGCE, Registered Nurse qualification, Police Sergeant Level (Social Work qualified staff to have up-to-date membership of the Health & Care Professions Council).

Or

• YJB Professional Certificate in Effective Practice and the Foundation Degree in Youth Justice plus relevant training as above and to have practised at Youth Justice Officer Level 3, or equivalent if coming from another YJS, for at least one year.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills.
• Able to research, assess, analyse and interpret information and data from varying sources, prioritise needs and identify strengths, to effectively formulate collaborative plans for intervention and service provision, including the voice of children, families and victims.
• Excellent literacy, numeracy and sound IT skills to write complex reports to a high standard.
• Able to gain trust and respect, and work in partnership with parents, carers, colleagues and external agencies to deliver an effective service.
• Skilled in working with staff to support and develop practice.
• Post-qualifying experience within a criminal / youth justice field (e.g. Youth Offending Team, Probation).
• Previous experience of working with complex and challenging children and young people (e.g. CSC, police, probation, schools, criminal justice, youth work).

For the full list of key skills, qualifications and experience required, please review our job description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. Just some of the fantastic benefits we offer are:

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, you can find this at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06410.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and application form. In your application form please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.