Location
Mare St, London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
£59,574 per annum

About the Role
Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values. Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. We are also proactive in bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity, and across the poverty divide.

Hackney Council’s Employment, Skills and Adult Learning Service is seeking to recruit a Youth Employment Programme Manager. This pivotal role provides strategic oversight and coordination for two of the Council’s high-profile initiatives: the Supported Internship Programme for young people with SEND, and the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer initiative for care-experienced and NEET young people facing barriers to accessing the labour market.

As Youth Employment Programme Manager, you will lead the delivery and implementation of these programmes, ensuring their successful impact across the borough. You will implement effective monitoring processes to review success, drive strategic and operational improvements, and establish robust governance structures. Additionally, you will manage key stakeholder relationships and provide effective leadership to staff to drive employment outcomes. You will work closely with commissioned partners, overseeing performance and compliance to ensure high-quality and impactful service delivery.

You will collaborate with colleagues across the wider Employment, Skills and Adult Learning team, as well as stakeholders in Education, to build a strong pipeline of young people for both programmes. Your role will involve embedding co-production to ensure young people are central to programme design, while maintaining operational excellence and strategic oversight to ensure both initiatives are successful.

The Council values its staff as its most outstanding asset, committed to serving residents and achieving organisational goals. We are working towards a vision of being a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud, diversity is celebrated, and everyone feels valued, included, and involved. We seek people who are Proud, Ambitious, Pioneering, Open, Proactive, and Inclusive.

Experience
Proven experience in leading complex employment or skills-based programmes within a target-driven environment. Extensive experience coordinating multi-agency partnerships. Deep understanding of the challenges faced by care-experienced young people and those with SEND. Working knowledge of Supported Employment models is essential.

About you
Excellent people manager with strong leadership skills. Commitment to championing diversity and inclusion. Ability to drive strategic and operational improvements. Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to work collaboratively across teams and partners.

Qualifications
Relevant qualifications or equivalent experience in employment, skills development, or related fields are desirable. A commitment to continuous professional development and embedding co-production approaches in programme design is expected.