Youth Justice Education Coordinator

The role

We are seeking an Education Coordinator for our Youth Justice service. You will play a vital part in ensuring every child known to the Youth Justice Service receives their full educational entitlement. Many of the young people we support face challenges such as SEND, speech and language needs, exclusion, or trauma. Your role is to advocate for them, secure suitable education provision, and help them re‑engage with learning in a way that builds confidence, stability, and ambition.

Working closely with schools, colleges, the Virtual School, SEN services, and partner agencies, you will provide specialist advice, coordinate support, and offer interim education input where needed. You will also help young people transition into post‑16 education, training, or employment, ensuring they have the best possible start to adulthood.

What we’re looking for

We’re seeking someone who is:

• A strong communicator able to build trust with children, families, and professionals.
• Skilled at motivating young people who face barriers to education.
• Confident advocating within multi‑agency environments.
• Knowledgeable about education pathways, SEND, exclusion, and re‑engagement.
• Organised, resilient, reflective, and committed to child‑centred practice.
• Experienced in supporting vulnerable or disengaged young people.

What you’ll do

• Lead best practice across the service to improve educational outcomes for children.
• Engage young people in learning and positive behaviour, both in and out of school.
• Advocate for children who are excluded, truanting, or struggling to achieve.
• Work with partners to secure appropriate education provision for every statutory‑school‑age child.
• Provide interim education support for young people not currently in education.
• Support children with SEND, including acting as a SPOC for EHCP processes.
• Offer expert advice on education legislation, policy, and practice.
• Contribute to Youth Rehabilitation Orders with education requirements.
• Review and evaluate the impact of education interventions.
• Promote inclusive, culturally sensitive practice and uphold safeguarding responsibilities.

About You

Educated to degree level in a relevant subject e.g. Youth Justice, Social work, child mental health or Probation and you will have substantial experience and a proven track record of successfully improving outcomes for children and young people. You will also be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience of working with children in a statutory setting and ideally have experience of working with ‘Signs of Safety’ or a similar strength and relationships based practice framework.

• For an informal discussion, please don't hesitate to contact the recruiting manager below. Alternatively, please email the recruitment team on cscrecruitment@medway.gov.uk.
• Mark Powell, Service Manager (Youth Justice Team) - 01634 336236

In return we will offer you:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Generous local government pension scheme package
• Access to wider training and development qualifications
• Flexible working scheme
• Travel plan discounts
• Access to CAREFIRST advice & counselling service
• Employee discount scheme for national and local retailers

Career Progression Framework

Career Progression Frameworks (CPF) have been introduced for all roles at Medway Council. These frameworks provide a mechanism for employees to take ownership of their development within their post and be rewarded accordingly. This means that the salary you will be offered will be at level A unless, based on an assessment against the CPF criteria, you demonstrate that you are meeting the criteria of level B or C. There will be further opportunity once in post to progress from level A to B, and B to C.

When writing your application, it is important to ensure you identify your suitability against the requirements of the job profile, as this information will be used for shortlisting and may contribute to the CPF assessment. Your application may be rejected if the minimum required criteria is not met. Further information relating to the requirements for this role can be found in the CPF Guidance document attached.

The person specification of a job profile is split into three levels:

Level A details the essential criteria that all applicants must be able to demonstrate through their application and interview.

You can demonstrate knowledge, experience and skills to allow you to perform within this role. You will identify, through application, how you meet the elements detailed within the person specification, at either Level A, B or C. You will be supported to develop in your role through induction, probation and a supportive Performance Appraisal and Career Conversation. Through your induction you will be introduced to the Career Progression Framework (CPF), which will help you to identify your areas of strength and any development needs.

Our organisation

Medway is a unitary authority in the South East of England, made up of the towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham and more rural areas, including the Hoo Peninsula.

Situated in Kent in the South-East of England, the area has plenty of green spaces, excellent facilities and easy access to the national motorway and rail networks, facilitating superb transport links to London.

We provide all local Government services for a quarter of a million people, looking after education, environment, social care, housing, planning, business and much more - everything from frontline services such as rubbish collection and events like the Dickens Festival to work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure services in Medway run smoothly and cost effectively.

Working at Medway Council means that you get to be part of this journey working alongside talented, professional colleagues to drive forward change to transform the lives of our residents and the communities they live in.

Important Information

• Applicants must be able to demonstrate all essential requirements as listed in the job profile.
• Please note, we prioritise applications from current Medway Council redeployees. We will let you know if this post is to be filled by a redeployee as, in this instance, your application will unfortunately not be taken forward.
• If you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted.
• We reserve the right to close this vacancy at any time prior to the closing date.

Equal Opportunities Commitment Statement

Medway Council is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All appropriately qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age

For further information please refer to the Medway information pack available as a download or to view online

Please visit http://www.mindfulemployer.net/ for information on how Medway Council put good practices in place to ensure employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support.

All recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email, if you require documentation/correspondence in different format such as braille or large print, please contact the Resourcing Team on 01634 332878.