Physical Activities Development Worker

POST: Physical Activities Development Worker

SALARY: £25,061-£26,101 (pro rata) 15hrs per week

RESPONSIBLE TO: Manager

EXPERIENCE /QUALIFICATIONS: prospective candidates must have basic accreditation to deliver physical activities/outdoor pursuits – although training may be provided to suitable candidate, external agencies will be used for advanced activities.

GY is looking for a youth worker with experience of delivering a physical activity programme activities programmes for young people aged 11+. The successful candidate will develop and implement a programme to work with young people, coordinating and designing the programme of activities, in conjunction with young people and networking with activity providers.

The post holder will deliver appropriate programmes to support and motivate young people to participate in the provision - including planning, development, decision-making processes and evaluation.

You will be responsible for managing any support staff as well as project monitoring and evaluation.

Funding for 1 year contract, which may be extended.

This post is supported by National Lottery Awards for All

Closing date for applications 14  November 2025

PURPOSE OF JOB: This post is for an experienced youth worker with a high level of knowledge and expertise in designing and delivering outdoor pursuits and physical activities programme for young people. The post holder would be required to develop and implement a programme, reflecting GY priorities. Ideally, the candidate should have or be working towards basic accreditation to deliver outdoor pursuits/physical activities - although training may be provided to suitable candidate, external agencies will be used for advanced activities.

During the pandemic Granton Youth took its services outside to enable us to work with larger groups which has proven to be a success with young people in improving their skills, mental health and wellbeing. As a result this is now an integral part of the GY programme. The successful candidate will develop and implement a programme to work with young people including; walking, cycling, orienteering, water-based activities etc and coordinating and designing the programme of outdoor activities, in conjunction with young people and networking with activity providers.

The post holder will work with other team members to deliver appropriate programmes to support and motivate young people to participate in the provision - including planning, development, decision-making processes and evaluation. You will also work 1:1 with young people identified as requiring more intensive support/intervention.

You will be responsible for supporting youth workers and project monitoring and evaluation.

Whilst developing a programme of outdoor activities is the aim of the project, its focus is to develop trusting and supportive youth work relationships with local young people and to encourage their participation. Some of the participants may lack confidence and self-esteem or others may exhibit challenging behaviour. As leader you will be expected to manage a variety of young people and support them and their mental health and wellbeing. The purpose is to support confidence-building, raise self-esteem and aspirations; enabling them to reengage with staff and peers so that they may be able to take up other opportunities; such as education, volunteering in the future. As stated some may express challenging behaviour, or emotional issues, or simply lack confidence. It is essential that the post holder is highly experienced, supportive and with good behavioural management skills.  

You will support and motivate young people to participate in the provision - including planning, development, decision-making processes and evaluation. You will lead to provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment for young people.

You will be responsible for managing programmes and project monitoring and evaluation.

MAJOR TASKS/JOB ACTIVITIES

• To work with staff in the delivery of programme of outdoor/physical activities for local young people.
• To work with staff in the delivery of indoor activity programme during youth clubs
• To support and motivate young people to participate in the provision - including design, planning, development, decision-making processes and evaluation.
• To provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment for young people.
• To complete regular monitoring and evaluation reports for programme.
• To support workers in service delivery.
• To ensure the delivery of activities which adhere to GY policies e.g. Health & Safety, Child Protection, GDPR and Confidentiality etc.
• To participate in relevant training opportunities.
• To manage appropriate resources.
• To undertake all appropriate duties as requested by Manager. 

DECISIONS MADE IN COURSE OF JOB

Decisions taken will include those related to the following:

• Programme design, content and associated tasks
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Recruitment of participants 
• Delegation of tasks to youth workers
• Implementation of GY policies and best practice

SUPERVISION RECEIVED

The post holder will be supported and supervised by the Manager

EDUCATIONAL/VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

Staff must have a relevant qualifications relating to physical activity/outdoor pursuits programmes or a minimum of three years youth work experience at a senior level.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

The post-holder must have a high level of understanding of youth work competencies and a knowledge and understanding of the current issues facing young people. The successful candidate should be confident in their ability and able to articulate their ideas and communicate effectively with young people from a variety of backgrounds and excellent motivational skills. The post-holder must have a high level of both written and verbal communication skills and a track record of working with young people from marginalised areas. The successful post-holder will have excellent literacy and reporting skills in order to complete funding and monitoring and evaluation reports as required by manager. Delivery of activities will take place out of doors and the successful candidate should have experience in devising appropriate risk assessments for a variety of situations.

COMPLEXITY

The post will involve working with young people, alongside networking with a wide range of other agencies, implementing GY policy and best practice, monitoring and evaluation, programme planning/development/delivery, gathering local intelligence regarding youth issues.

All of the work requires skills and confidence to engage well with young people and staff. Young people taking part may have issues regarding confidence and communication and as such the post-holder will be required to have excellent communication skills and the ability to put young people at ease.

The post holder will devise, develop and implement programmes of activities, evaluations, imaginative and innovative responses to challenges being faced by the young participants. They will be responsible for developing innovative methods of engaging marginalised and isolated young people.

The post-holder will be expected to liaise and promote the programme and attract young people to use its services from a variety of agencies and partners including, schools, colleges, youth work agencies and other local agencies and organisations as required.