Youth Development Lead – Foundations (Southampton and Portsmouth)
Join to apply for the Youth Development Lead – Foundations (Southampton and Portsmouth) role at The King's Trust
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full Time, 35 hours per week
Closing Date: 23:59 on 11/01/2026
Salary: £23,672.00 to £28,783.00, dependent on your skills, knowledge and experience
Location: Field‑based with expectation to travel to both Portsmouth and Southampton two to five days a week, with admin days working from home
Assessment Centre: In Southampton on the 16th January, in‑person
Could you become the personal champion of a young person facing barriers to achieving their goals? Imagine peeling back the layers to discover what's holding them back so that you can unlock their potential for astonishing progress. Imagine leading groups through a variety of personal and social development activities to stretch them and grow their comfort zone. Imagine having your own group of young people to support who will turn to you for that one‑on‑one support, guidance, and direction to progress towards their next steps of education or employment.
Working across our Get Started and Explore programmes, you'll lead personal development sessions that take our Foundation programmes to new heights. The sessions will range from outdoor activities in green spaces to work‑world experiences, creative projects, life skills and everything in between This is an active role which will involve frequent, funded travel between Portsmouth and Southampton to deliver these exciting programmes, programme visits and short residential trips.
You will provide pastoral support for young people, helping them to apply their newly acquired skills to their progression into education or employment. At the same time you will meticulously record information and data about our programme participants, volunteers, and partners to ensure that every step of their journey aligns perfectly with our funding contracts and has maximum impact for everyone involved.
Safety always comes first; safeguarding, health and safety, and data protection are all part of the role. You'll empower our delivery partners and service providers to make a difference through exciting and impactful partnership work. Together, we will ensure every young person embarks on a remarkable journey, experiencing the extraordinary and achieving the dreams they've aspired to.
At The Trust, we are strong advocates for fostering an inclusive workplace where everybody feels seen, and it would be fantastic if you share that passion too. Your mission? Making a positive impact by implementing a local action plan that harmonises with our big‑picture EDI goals and impacts those who need us most.
Be prepared for anything and everything. Alongside all these exciting responsibilities you might even find yourself wearing different hats as you collaborate with the wider South Coast team to work for young people across Portsmouth and Southampton.
Ready for this exciting opportunity? Let's make every day count and create a brighter future for our young people
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an Assessment Centre on Friday, 16th January.
For the full job description, please refer to the official posting. (This will open in a new window)
Please submit a CV, and cover letter that includes your experience, transferable skills and motivation to work for The King's Trust. The Team will be in touch about the next steps shortly after the closing date.
Why do we need Youth Development Leads?
Last year, we helped more than 40,000 young people, with three in four on our programmes moving into a positive outcome in work, education or training. The young people we help face a range of challenges such as unemployment, mental health issues, or having been in trouble with the law. We believe all young people should have the chance to succeed, and they are the key to a positive and prosperous future for all of us.
Benefits and Perks
* Great holiday package – 30 days annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays. Office closed between Christmas and New Year.
* Flexible working – where operationally possible, a combination of office days and working from home.
* Volunteer opportunities – The King's Trust Awards, Pride, active events, etc.
* In‑house learning platform – develop your skills for your career and role.
* Benefits platform – health and financial well‑being support, discounts on restaurants, shops and cinemas.
* Personal development opportunities through our networks (KT CAN, KT GEN, KT DAWN, PULSE).
* Family leave – 13 weeks full pay and 13 weeks half pay for maternity and adoption leave, 8 weeks full pay for paternity leave.
* Interest‑free season ticket loans.
* Trust contributes 5% of salary to the Trust Pension Scheme.
* Generous life assurance cover (4 × annual salary).
For more information about our benefits, please refer to the official benefits page.
Equal Opportunities
Here at The King's Trust, we are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We want to be an organisation that reflects the communities we serve, striving for diversity of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, race, religion and sex. Our goal is to create an environment where everyone, from any background, can be themselves and do the best work of their lives.
We are looking for people who can bring different perspectives and experiences and especially welcome applications from under‑represented groups such as Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. We are a Stonewall Top 100 Employer and Disability Confident. Our staff, volunteers and young people are supported by KT CAN, KT GEN, KT DAWN and PULSE. For more information, please visit the diversity page.
Safeguarding
The King's Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We undertake basic disclosure checks in accordance with the Codes of Practice for all roles within the Trust, and for our roles working directly with young people at an enhanced level. Having a criminal record will not automatically exclude applicants.
Recruitment Agencies
We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a preferred supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you.
Req ID: 3724
Seniority level
Entry level
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Other – Non‑profit Organizations
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