Adoption support worker jobs in edinburgh
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We’re an award-winning charity running local learning centres in the heart of the communities where the young people we support live. Our centres provide a high-impact education programme which includes practical learning support, pastoral care, and motivational and confidence-building activities for young people aged 7-18. Our aim is to enable students from the least advantaged neighbourhoods to realise their ambitions and achieve their wonderful potential.
As the UK’s leading university access organisation, our staff team is helping over 50,000 young people each year at its 44 learning centres and extension projects across England and Scotland, and we plan to scale-up our provision to 50 centres over the coming years.
We are looking for graduates who will enjoy working each day with young people and who will thrive in a frontline, community-based, fast-paced and rewarding role.You will be taking up a fixed-term contract as an Education Worker at our centre in Edinburgh.
The role at a glance
Contract: Full-time, fixed term until August 2026.
Start date: As soon as possible, to be agreed directly with the successful candidate.
Working hours
Mon and Thurs: 09:30-18:00
Tues, Weds, Fri: 09:00-17:30
(Some additional weekend & unsocial hours will be required)
Education Workers are based at one of our IntoUniversity learning centres and work directly with young people, schools and families on a daily basis. It is therefore not a hybrid role and is based full-time in our centres.
Location
Edinburgh (Craigmillar)
The role requires intermittent travel in your region (usually within the day) this can involve journeys times of 1 hour+. Occasional travel out of your local area e.g. to London is also required, this may include overnight stays.
Salary
£27,400 per annum. This will rise to £28,250 per annum from 1st September 2025.
Annual leave
33 days (inc bank & public holidays) + 3 closure days (two in December and one in July) + additional length of service entitlement (one day per year of service, up to 5 days)
Staff benefits
- Employer pension contributions of 6% (and up to 8% after two years)
- Year round ‘early finish’ Fridays at 4.30pm
- Summer working hours (finish at 1pm on Fridays for six weeks in the summer), pro-rated for staff joining after January in the same year
- Employee Assistance Programme including access to wellbeing and legal support
- Life Assurance scheme with Aviva including SmartHealth service with access to 24/7 online GP appointments
- Interest-free new starter loans of up to £1,000
- Cycle to Work Scheme and Travelcard Loan Scheme
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay and sick pay allowances
- Staff in FOCUS – rewards, competitions and prizes across the year
What could my day look like?
The Education Worker role is a frontline, fast-paced and rewarding role where no two weeks will look the same. A typical day will have different activities, possibly spread between the IntoUniversity centre, partner schools and the offices of a corporate partner.
In the morning, you might be setting off with resources to run a workshop for sixth-form students in their secondary school. In the afternoon you may be setting up the classroom ahead of running Primary Academic Support for young people in your IntoUniversity centre. On other days, you may be travelling to a corporate partner to run a business simulation workshop for 15 year-olds or leading a group of final year primary school students on a campus visit for their graduation.
As an Education Worker, you’ll always be delivering the programme as part of your centre team, which means that any delivery is always a team effort.
IntoUniversity provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve.





The National Youth Agency is looking for a new Local Quality Advisor to join our Youth Work Innovation & Development Team.
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £37,826 per annum
Remote: This role is homebased (within the UK) with occasional travel for staff residentials and other events.
What we do
As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.
We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work
About the Role
Responsibilities will include:
- Support the Local Quality and Improvement Manager in delivering key Local Offer programmes, such as the Peer Review and Peer Network Programme, helping Local Authorities and organisations meet the needs of young people and fulfil their Statutory Duty (Section 507B).
- Assist in the coordination and delivery of traded services related to Quality Standards and Organisational Development, ensuring high-quality support for partners.
- Contribute to the development, quality assurance, and standardisation of NYA resources related to Quality Standards, working collaboratively across NYA teams.
- Promote NYA standards and resources to the sector, offering support and training to encourage adoption and effective use.
- Identify and deliver support to non-commercial requests, including those from VCSE organisations and Town and Parish Councils seeking information, advice, and guidance.
- Engage with the Local Policy & Partnerships Manager and the NYA Knowledge Team to gather and share sector insights, promoting knowledge exchange across NYA teams and the wider youth work sector.
- Support collaboration with Local Authorities and partner organisations to raise awareness of NYA programmes and encourage engagement with Quality Standards.
- Utilise NYA tools, including CRM and Project Management systems, to help generate timely and relevant performance and financial reports that inform decision-making and support effective programme delivery.
Our ideal Local Quality Advisor should have the following:
- Demonstrated experience supporting the delivery of programmes or projects within the youth work, education, or voluntary sector.
- Strong understanding of youth work principles and the statutory duties of Local Authorities (particularly Section 507B).
- Ability to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders, including Local Authorities, partner organisations, and internal teams.
- Excellent organisational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to contribute to the development of resources and reports.
- High attention to detail and accuracy in all aspects of work.
- Strong time management skills and the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
- Competence in using digital tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and project management platforms. Experience of using project management platform (or similar) would be an advantage
- A proactive, flexible, and agile approach to working across multiple programmes, including attending events and responding to time-sensitive deadlines.
- Willingness to learn, adapt, and grow in a dynamic and evolving organisation.
Please refer to our Candidate Pack for more information on the role and the requirements.
Why Work for NYA?
NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.
How to Apply:
Please download our applicant pack to find out more about the role and requirements
To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Friday 18th July 2025:
A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter (maximum two sides) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.
Please note: the covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 30% AI generated content with be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.
The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.
At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.
We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.
More about us
Discover more about the National Youth Agency and our work on our website.
Youth Work changes lives
Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.
We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.
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