Relational Mentor

For some young people, getting a job isn't the only challenge.

Believing that work can go well, navigating what is happening around them and staying in employment when things become difficult can be just as important.

That's why Relational Mentoring will sit at the heart of our Jobs Guarantee delivery.

We are looking for Mentors who can build genuine relationships with young people aged 18-24 who have experienced long-term unemployment and help them move towards, into and through employment.

Your job isn't to fix someone's life for them.

It's to build the relationship that helps them recognise their strengths, navigate the barriers in front of them and keep moving towards what matters to them.

You'll be there before employment.

You'll stay alongside them in work.

And you'll help them think about what comes next.

People's lives do not fit neatly into programmes.

You'll be curious about the whole person and the place around them - their relationships, community, transport, housing, wellbeing, skills, finances, support networks and the opportunities available locally.

You don't need to solve all those things.

You do need to notice them, understand how they affect progress and connect with the right people when additional support is needed.

Jobs Guarantee is a mandatory DWP programme, but how we engage with people still matters enormously. Our expectation is that every young person is treated with dignity, respected as an individual and supported through a purposeful relationship that helps them make progress.

What you'll do

1. Build trusted relationships

Develop trusting, purposeful relationships with young people.

Take time to understand the person rather than simply the information recorded on their referral.

Listen well.

Ask good questions.

Understand strengths, aspirations, circumstances and what matters to them.

Support and appropriately challenge.

Help people recognise their own agency and ability to make progress.

2. Prepare people for work

Understand what may be getting in the way of someone moving into employment.

Work together to address practical and personal barriers.

Build confidence, readiness and resilience.

Support participants to understand workplace expectations and prepare for employment.

Work closely with Employment Pathways colleagues so opportunities reflect the person's interests, strengths and circumstances.

3. Support the right job match

Help participants understand employment opportunities and make informed choices.

Make sure Employment Pathways colleagues understand the person, not simply their CV or employment history.

Identify any support or adjustments that could improve the likelihood of a successful start.

Prepare people for those important first days and weeks.

4. Stay alongside people in work

Your relationship does not end when someone gets a job.

Provide ongoing wraparound support throughout funded employment.

Help participants navigate workplace challenges and wider circumstances that could affect sustainment.

Stay curious about what is changing.

Work constructively with employers where additional support or mediation would help.

Support the participant to solve problems while retaining ownership of their own progress.

5. Act early

Notice changes in engagement, confidence or circumstances.

Don't wait for employment to fail before responding.

Talk to the participant and understand what is happening.

Bring in the employer, Team Lead, Employment Pathways colleague or wider support where appropriate.

Use good judgement about when to support, when to challenge and when to escalate.

6. Support progression

As funded employment approaches its end, help the participant think about what comes next.

That may be continued employment with the same employer, another job, education or training.

Help them recognise what they have achieved and translate their experience into their next step.

Work alongside Employment Pathways colleagues to create options where continued employment is not available.

7. Understand the person in their place

Get to know the wider support, opportunities and relationships available locally.

Build relationships with colleagues across the Wise Group and community partners so you understand what can be brought around the person.

Don't simply refer someone elsewhere and step away.

Keep the trusted relationship at the centre while helping them navigate support and opportunity.

8. Generate frontline insight

You will often hear and see things that our performance data cannot tell us.

Pay attention to recurring barriers, gaps in support and things that are helping people succeed.

Share those insights with your Team Lead.

Your responsibility isn't to become a regional strategist. It is to make sure the lived experience of the people we support informs our understanding of what is happening locally.

9. Case management, evidence and quality

Maintain accurate, timely and meaningful participant records.

Capture progress and evidence of change, not simply activity.

Understand safeguarding responsibilities and raise concerns appropriately.

Maintain clear professional boundaries.