Director of Youth Work

Are you passionate about youth work with leadership experience? We are looking for a Director of Youth Work to provide effective leadership and strategic direction for the Youth Work team within FAST London. The Director of Youth Work will sit in the Leadership Team, working in collaboration with the CEO and managers to ensure FAST’s overall strategic objectives and desired outcomes are met.

Who we are

FAST London (FAST) is a Christian youth charity based on the Patmore Estate focused on supporting 10–19-year-olds from deprived backgrounds in Battersea and South Lambeth. Our mission is to help young people succeed by creating safe spaces and providing diversionary and inspiring activities that develop resilience and inspire hope in efforts to achieve this. We build relationships with young people by engaging with them in environments where they feel most comfortable whilst doing activities they love. Once relationships are developed, we work with young people and stakeholders to overcome challenges and unlock potential.We also provide opportunities for young people to explore the Christian faith as we believe it transforms lives. We serve people without regard to their religion or ethnic background.

Context for this role

This is a pivotal moment for FAST, as the need for our work has grown significantly. More young people are falling into poverty and struggling in school, making our mission more urgent than ever.

Although capacity remains a challenge—especially with a 60% reduction in public youth programmes over the past decade (YMCA, 2020)—we continue to grow strong, engaging over 400 young people annually.

Our desire is to build and sustain a healthy youth organisation that delivers excellent and vibrant youth work. We aim to make a lasting difference in young people’s lives and to cultivate a team of empowered, well-equipped staff who love what they do.

To achieve this, expanding our team is essential. We are seeking someone with experience in delivering and leading youth work, as well as insight into developing a healthy organisation. The ideal candidate will bring a passion for driving meaningful results, a strong work ethic, and strategic thinking.

We would love to hear from you if you:

Qualities and Attributes

• Are a committed Christian who loves young people with a heart for the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach
• Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills that inspire confidence and develop a culture of excellence.
• Are an experienced manager, with an ability to grasp detail and translate ideas into strategies and deliverable outcomes.
• Are highly organised, adaptable, problem solver with a focus on results.
• Can think systematically with knowledge of systems and governance of systems

Experience

• Have experience delivering frontline youth work in group sessions as well as one-to-one mentoring- experience delivering football projects is ideal

• Have experience managing projects and a track record for developing the systems, quality assurance that support organisational excellence;

• Have experience of managing Safeguarding and Risk within an organisation.

• Have experience in finance and managing budgets

• Have experience of project design, development and evaluation

• Have experience of working in senior leadership in an organisation and a track record of driving strategic vision to reality

This post is subject to an occupational requirement that the holder is a practising Christian under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.