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Independent Living Advisor (Self-Directed Support Service)
Salary: £30,000 per annum
Hours: 35 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Action on Disability, Mo Mowlam House, Clem Attlee Court, London, SW6 7BF
The Organisation
Action on Disability (AoD), founded in 1979, is one of London’s leading Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations. As we believe in the social model of disability, our values and principles embrace inclusive and accessible ways of working both internally and in all our activities, seek the participation and contribution of our members, and encourage and respect diversity.
The organisation is a medium sized charity with a Board of Trustees (at least 75% is disabled trustees), 20 staff and a strong ad hoc staff and volunteer base including many with direct experience of disability – all of whom are passionate about removing the barriers that disabled people face.
AoD provides five key services. These are: Youth, Employment, Welfare Benefits, Independent Living and Our Place.
AoD’s Independent Living Service
The Independent Living Service (Self-Directed Support Service) is a new service that will provide support to Direct Payment users within the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The service will enable disabled people to have genuine choice and control over the way in which they lead their lives.The post-holder will be working alongside disabled people to enable them to have more choice and control over their care and support needs.
Purpose of Post
To work with individuals, their family and friends (where appropriate) to provide them with information, advice and assistance to enable them to access and manage a Direct Payment
(DP) and recruit and manage a Personal Assistant (PA).
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Support to individuals employing their own Personal (care) Assistant (PA) or engage an agency to deliver care and support.
- Provide information and advice on becoming an employer and the role of the Personal Assistant.
- Ensure that the client understands their legal obligations and responsibilities of being an employer.
- Work with clients to: set up a profile on the Find-a-pa website, advertise and recruit a Personal Assistant, create a personalised job description and specification identify the level of experience and training requirements needed for the role.
- Advise and help to calculate the PA’s salary and on costs (full training provided).
- Support the client through the interview process and where necessary sit in during interviews.
- Support individuals to reference, check legal status and where necessary DBS their support worker.
- Support individuals to set up an induction plan for their PA and enable them to identify training needs.
- Support the client to complete payroll and insurance documentation.
- Work with the client to draw up a Statement of Particular (contract) for the employed PA (templates provided).
- Encourage DP employers to take a lead in all employment issues. Information on where to seek advice e.g. ACAS, Fish and Premier Care helpline will be given and clients will be encouraged to use them.
- Ensure that the individual has a back-up plan for emergencies.
- Encourage DP employers to be assertive and proactive with their Personal Assistants.
- Work with agencies to set up support for clients who may not wish to employ a PA directly.
Ongoing support to individuals in receipt of Direct Payments
- Providing advice on employment issues.
- Support individuals to solve practical problems e.g. lateness of staff, change of needs.
- Support individuals to recruit again if necessary.
- Assist individuals to re-look at budgets, training and job descriptions as they change over time.
- Assist individuals to ensure that they continue to manage their Direct Payment or budget.
- Support individuals to make informed choices.
- Meet with the DP Support Group on a regular basis.
- Assist in the development of training and other resources to support employers to manage their DP and their PA relationships.
- Develop links and professional relationships with Social Work teams to support a healthy level of referrals.
For all work:
- Work in a person-centred way.
- Comply with AoD’s agreed policies and procedures.
- Participate in the wider development of the service and contribute to service improvement as required.
- Be computer literate and administratively self-supporting.
- Undertake any other reasonable duties as identified by the Self-Directed Support Service Lead or line manager.
Special requirements
- Ability to travel within the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
- Some attendance at meetings and events outside of normal office hours will be required.
Person Specification
To be considered for this role, candidates must have:
- Good standard of education.
- Experience of recruiting volunteers or staff.
- Knowledge of employment law.
- Understanding of social care and Direct Payments legislation.
- Experience/knowledge of supporting individuals to recruit and manage employees.
- Experience of working with clients with support needs.
- Experience of using a person-centred approach.
- Ability to think creatively and to come up with solutions.
- Ability to gather and assess information efficiently.
- Numeracy skills and knowledge of budgeting.
- Ability to use Word and Excel packages to a high standard.
- Ability to work under pressure, and to tight deadlines.
- A flexible approach and able to work on own initiative
- Good communication skills including interpersonal, written, presentational and spoken.
- Ability to guide in a sensitive way
- Ability to assess and match skills and personalities to individual needs and preferences.
- Commitment to the Social Model of Disability and to promote choice, independence, rights and inclusion.
- Understanding of and commitment to the aims of the organisation.
- Excellent practical understanding of the need for confidentiality.
- An understanding of equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice
Desirable qualities
- Experience of working with disabled people
- Lived experience of disability
Closing Date: Friday 10th July 2026
N.B. we reserve the right to close this vacancy early and/or begin interviewing before the closing date if a suitable candidate is identified.
Early applications are therefore encouraged.
Interested?
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.
The successful candidate will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check.
We welcome applicants from all walks of life.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from Disabled people and people with long term health and mental conditions. We operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme in that we will guarantee an interview to all Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post. Please state in a cover letter if you wish us to consider you for this guaranteed interview scheme.
AoD is a Living Wage Foundation registered employer and all of our employees, casual workers and contractors are paid above the London Living Wage.
No agencies please.
Thank you!
Purpose of the job
The Operations Officer provides vital administrative and operational support across UK Youth, helping ensure our people, systems, and workplaces are set up for success. You will play a key role in keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly and ensuring teams have the tools, resources, and information they need to work effectively.
Working closely with the Head of Operations, you will take responsibility for core operational processes including systems administration, facilities coordination, cross-departmental events and compliance support.
This role strengthens the foundations that enable UK Youth to deliver for young people in the long term by supporting strong systems, effective ways of working, and a positive workplace environment.
Why work at UK Youth?
UK Youth exists to widen the reach and deepen the impact of youth work and outdoor learning, so that every young person has someone who believes in them. Our vision is a society that backs every young person - through each spark, struggle and success.
As the UK’s national infrastructure body for youth work, we strengthen and champion a diverse network of youth organisations, unlock investment, shape policy and build the evidence base for what works. At a time of growing need and inequality of access, our work has never been more important.
We are entering an exciting new phase of our strategy - focused on long-term resilience, income diversification and a transformational Capital Appeal to develop Avon Tyrrell as a national centre of excellence for outdoor learning. Joining UK Youth means being part of an ambitious, impact-driven organisation committed to strengthening youth work for generations to come
Key responsibilities
IT & Systems
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Manage the day-to-day relationship with our IT support partner, including monitoring support tickets, approving change requests, and escalating issues to the Head of Operations where required.
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Support the maintenance and monitoring of IT equipment in collaboration with our IT Support Partner
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Maintain our IT asset register; be responsible for ensuring all IT equipment is accounted for and organising its safe distribution.
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Maintain and improve UK Youth’s SharePoint and MS Teams sites and channels, ensuring efficient organisation, accessibility of information and compliance with information and data protection policies
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Support operational improvement projects, including process automation e.g., use of Microsoft Forms and Power Automate to streamline and automate internal workflows such as onboarding, approvals, and data collection.
Office Management
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Serve as the primary point of contact for all London office facility needs, liaising with landlords, contractors, suppliers, and cleaners to ensure the workspace remains safe, functional, and well maintained.
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Manage staff building access and oversee the use of UK Youth’s storage facility, ensuring secure and efficient use of space.
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Manage and maintain the room booking systems, ensuring availability, access, and efficient use of meeting spaces.
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Manage departmental shared inboxes, general phone lines and post, ensuring timely and helpful responses.
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Coordinate purchasing and maintenance of office supplies and equipment, ensuring value for money and timely delivery.
Health & Safety
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Act as the main contact for Health & Safety within our London office, ensuring compliance with policies and procedures.
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Coordinate H&S inductions and site orientations for all new starters and maintain risk assessments, compliance logs, and required documentation.
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Maintain UK Youth’s risk assessment log and review schedule
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Support the collection, tracking, and reporting of organisational H&S compliance data, contributing operational reporting.
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Contribute to the development and documentation of standard operating procedures (SOPs), templates, and internal process playbooks.
Team Support
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Provide day-to-day administrative and coordination support to the People and Operations Team.
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Maintain departmental calendar, schedule meetings, and coordinate agendas, papers, and minutes.
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Lead logistics for key organisation-wide events such as our quarterly Town Halls.
Experience we're after
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Experience supporting operations, administration, compliance, or facilities within a busy organisation.
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Experience coordinating service providers, contractors, or suppliers.
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Experience supporting digital systems (e.g., Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams) and contributing to process improvements.
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Experience handling sensitive information and maintaining accurate, high-quality records.
What we can offer you
We offer a competitive range of benefits, good work/life balance, excellent learning and development opportunities and vibrant organisational culture:
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Flexible/Agile Working
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27 days annual leave (24 days + 3 days winter closure) plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time employees)
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Funded training provided in; Safeguarding, GDPR, Information and Cyber Security & Equality & Diversity
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Other training available in support of your personal and professional development
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Pension scheme (currently UK Youth match employee contributions up to 5%)
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Membership of our life insurance scheme which would pay-out up to 4 times your salary
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Employee Assistance Programme to support employees both professionally and personally
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20% discount off bookings at Avon Tyrrell, our New Forest Outdoor Centre, including camping, lodges and outdoor activities.
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IT equipment provided for the duration of contract
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CycleScheme and TechScheme
How to apply
If you would like to be considered for this fantastic opportunity, please complete an application via our completely anonymised recruitment system provided by Applied which looks to create a fair and unbiased application process for all. Scroll to the top of the page and start your application.
Closing date: 10th July 2026 at 23:59 (midnight)
Provisional Interview Dates: 21st and 23rd July 2026
As this role involves working in a regulated environment with young people, any offer will be conditional to satisfactory background checks, which include criminal record check and employment reference.
Registered Charity
51 - 100
UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.