We are seeking a motivated and compassionate Deputy Manager to help oversee our holiday support service and develop improvements across our organisation.

This is an exciting time to join The Yard and play a key role in delivering and improving our specialist services for children and young people with additional support needs.

The Role

You will support the Children’s Services Manager in leading the day-to-day operations of the Holiday Support Service, providing direction to a team of Support Workers while liaising with parents & carers to maintain and review Personal Support Plans for each child.

During term-time, this post will involve additional duties in the delivery of our core services.

You will:

• Support the delivery of service in line with standards set by regulatory bodies (Care Inspectorate and SSSC)
• Support the engagement of children in creative play and the management of suitable activity plans for the different ages/stages of development and interests of children
• Provide effective support and direction to a team of support workers through motivation, supervision, and feedback
• Support the Children’s Services Manager to ensure compliance across the service and ensure the team receive training and guidance appropriate to their role

If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of children with disabilities and have the skills to help run a regulated service, we would love to hear from you.

About You

We are looking for a Deputy Manager who is inspired by our ethos and is excited to bring their knowledge and experience to our specialised Holiday Support Service for children with complex medical needs.

You will have:

• Supervisory experience, including direct staff supervision, development and implementation of rotas
• Knowledge and experience of facilitating indoor and outdoor play opportunities and environments and leading recreational activities
• Experience of working with children and young people with a range of disabilities
• Excellent organisational skills and administrative abilities

Desirable:

• Leaderships skills and team building capacity
• Previous experience of improvement work within a childcare setting
• First Aid at Work certificate
• Experience of Moving and Handling, delivering personal care and supporting complex medical needs

About the organisation:

The Yard is a Scottish charity offering adventure play, short breaks, training, and support for children and young people with additional support needs, and their families. We operate inclusive play centres, deliver outreach work, and run holiday and youth clubs. We aim to build supportive communities and promote understanding and inclusion for disabled children.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community. The post is subject to a PVG check and SSSC registration.

The Yard is an award-winning charity that runs adventure play services for children with disabilities and/or additional support needs and their families.

We are looking for individuals who have the special ability to support and encourage play activities on a 1 to 1 basis with children and young people with disabilities and medically complex needs.

About the role & your responsibilities:

As a Support Worker at Holiday Support, you will play an active role in the set-up, delivery and development of play activities, encouraging and enabling children and young people to play and socialise in an inclusive way.

There will be some requirement to assist and undertake personal care with individual children when required.

About you:

Do you get a buzz from helping children and young people create laughter, mess and happy memories? Then we would love you to be a part of our team.

This job is for you if you have:

• Experience of working with children and young people in a play or youth work setting or, alternatively, in a home environment
• An empathetic approach with the ability to trust in others
• An ability to work in a flexible manner, as an individual and as part of a team
• The ability to register to successfully with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), and undertake an acceptable PVG check

To understand more about the role, please download our Support Worker – Holiday Support job description below.