Youth Employability Mentor job at Derby Full Time NEW

Location: Derby Multicultural Centre

Hours: 37 hours per week
Closing Date: 25th May 2026
Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract (12 months)

Based at Derby Multicultural Centre (DMC), the Youth Employability Mentor will work directly with Derby young people aged 18–24 who are unemployed or economically inactive and may face multiple barriers to employment, education or training.

Who We Are
Here at Derby City Council, we’re dedicated to delivering nearly 250 first-class services to citizens and businesses in the heart of the Midlands. People are at the centre of all that we do, and we have an outstanding track record of recruiting and developing talented individuals by providing them with varied and fulfilling career opportunities. Find out more about what it’s like to work for us.

What We Offer
You too could be part of something brilliant by becoming a colleague at Derby City Council; in addition to making a difference to the lives of people across the city, you’ll also receive:

• Flexible work/life balance scheme (depending on your role)
• Modern office environment (depending on your job location)
• Continued professional development opportunities & career conversations
• 27 days annual leave (rising to 32 days after 5 years’ service), plus bank holidays (depending on contract)
• Local Government Pension Scheme (depending on contract)
• Team Derby Rewards – retail and leisure discounts
• Tusker Car Benefit Scheme
• Cycle2Work Scheme & free cycle training
• Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Calendar and Support
• Access to our Equality Employee Networks – LGBTQ+, Disabled Employee Network & Carers and our Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Employee Support Network and Neurodiversity Network
• Support for colleagues who are carers

The Opportunity
In the role of Youth Employability Mentor, here’s an example of what you’ll be doing to make an impact:

Based at Derby Multicultural Centre (DMC), the Youth Employability Mentor will work directly with Derby young people aged 18–24 who are unemployed or economically inactive and may face multiple barriers to employment, education or training.

Youth Employability Mentors form the core of Flexible Support Fund (Department for Work and Pensions) delivery. Mentors will provide structured, time-limited 1-2-1 and group support with young people to improve engagement, confidence, employability skills and sustained participation in work-related activity, volunteering and training opportunities.

Delivery will take place through a youth-friendly and accessible Youth Employability Hub, supporting young people through mentoring, employability coaching, employer engagement and partnership working.

The role will involve working collaboratively with employers and partner organisations supporting mental health, housing, skills, ESOL and wider progression opportunities.

This is a 12-month fixed-term position, created to support youth employability. The role offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact over a defined period, with potential for extension subject to organisational needs and funding.

If you’re passionate about supporting young people to achieve their full potential, we’d love to hear from you.

About You
To be successful in this role, you’ll ideally have…

• Qualifications to at least Level 3 in a relevant area of specialism, for example supported employment, careers guidance, youth work, health and social care or education
• Demonstrable experience of supporting young people facing barriers to employment, education or training into positive outcomes
• Experience delivering mentoring, employability support or coaching on a one-to-one and/or group basis
• Strong working knowledge of local routes to employment, training and support services
• Evidenced literacy and numeracy skills (equivalent to at least GCSE A-C/NVQ Level 2)
• Experience of building positive and trusting relationships with young people from diverse backgrounds
• Experience supporting young people with barriers such as low confidence, mental health challenges, ESOL needs or social disadvantage
• Knowledge of safeguarding and risk assessment practices in relation to supporting vulnerable young people
• Ability to adapt communication styles for a wide range of stakeholders including young people, employers, agencies and partner organisations
• Proven ability to manage workload effectively across multiple priorities and stakeholders
• Ability to work in a responsive, proactive and supportive way
• Ability to negotiate and co-produce solutions with individuals and partners while managing sensitive situations professionally
• Ability to contribute to reports, monitoring information and outcome tracking as required
• Strong interpersonal, organisational and communication skills
• Knowledge of the Access to Work (DWP) process and reasonable adjustments would be desirable
• Experience of employer engagement, job matching or supported employment approaches would be desirable

Next Steps

If you would like to apply for this vacancy via an application form, please submit an application via the Derby City Council website.

The closing date for this vacancy is at midnight on Monday 25th May 2026. Any applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.

Interviews will be held: In person at Derby Multicultural Centre (date tbc)

If you would prefer to apply for this job using your CV, then please download the attached Declaration Form and send it to [email protected]. Without a completed declaration form, your application will not be accepted. We also encourage you to download the Equalities Form and return this to [email protected], however this is optional and will not affect your application.
Important Information

Links to the full Job Description and Person Specification are below.

As part of our safer recruitment checks the successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

All employees will normally be appointed to the minimum of the grade for the job.

Before you complete your application, please read our guidance on filling in your application form.

Remember to align your personal statement to the essential criteria in the Person Specification.

Please be aware that where there are colleagues within the organisation who are ‘at risk’ of redundancy, requirements to redeploy to another suitable role will apply and take priority.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We are a fair and inclusive employer and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We recruit for diversity and value difference. As many of our roles can now be home-based, we are able to offer more opportunities for people who need this facility.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. If you are a disabled person, you have the choice to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme so long as you demonstrate that you meet the essential requirements for the job.

We feel it is essential that we recruit a talented workforce that is as diverse as the community we work for.

Please let us know of any individual requirements or reasonable adjustments you may have during the application, interview, or onboarding process and we’ll do all we can to help. We strongly believe in social understanding of disability and for us it’s all about removing barriers to equality.

If you have any questions regarding this vacancy or are having difficulty applying, please contact our Recruitment Team on 01332 640844 (Relay UK – 18001 01332 640 844) or at [email protected] . https://www.derby.gov.uk/signing-service/