Senior Support Worker – Learning Disabilities & Autism

Location: St Austell, Cornwall
Pay: £14.25 per hour
Hours: Full-time
Driving: Drivers preferred
Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role

United Support Services is looking for an experienced and thoughtful Senior Support Worker to help lead high-quality support for adults with learning disabilities and autism.

This role combines direct support with leadership responsibilities. You will work alongside Support Workers, senior colleagues, management and our PBS team to help ensure support remains safe, consistent, person-led and focused on improving quality of life.

What the role involves

As a Senior Support Worker, you may be responsible for:

• Providing direct support to adults with learning disabilities and autism
• Leading shifts and supporting staff with day-to-day decision making
• Helping staff understand care plans, risk assessments and support strategies
• Supporting medication management and good recording practice
• Modelling high standards of person-centred support
• Coaching and supporting less experienced staff
• Responding to incidents and helping teams reflect on what happened
• Helping maintain consistency between staff members
• Escalating concerns appropriately
• Contributing to reviews, audits and service development
• Supporting good communication between staff, management and professionals
• Working alongside our Positive Behaviour Support team and external professionals

Positive Behaviour Support

A major part of our approach is understanding why behaviour happens rather than simply responding to what we can see.

Our dedicated Positive Behaviour Support team reviews behavioural information, identifies patterns and works alongside staff to improve support.

Our practice is also supported by Nick Barratt, MSc, UKBA (cert), BCBA, an accredited Behaviour Analyst.

Senior Support Workers have an important role in helping staff remain curious, reflective and consistent in their approach.

Staff receive development in areas including:

• Positive Behaviour Support
• Positive Behaviour Management
• PACE
• Active Support
• Autism and communication
• Understanding distress and behaviour
• Reflective practice

We also use the PERMA wellbeing framework to encourage teams to think about positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement in people’s lives.

Leadership and development

We want Senior Support Workers to do more than simply manage shifts.

You will be expected to:

• Model good practice
• Provide constructive guidance to staff
• Help teams learn from incidents
• Promote dignity, independence and participation
• Challenge poor or overly restrictive practice appropriately
• Support consistent recording and communication
• Contribute ideas for improving support
• Help maintain high standards across the service

There may also be opportunities for people who demonstrate the right skills and values to develop further into specialist, PBS, training or management responsibilities as the organisation continues to grow.

What we are looking for

We are looking for someone who:

• Has experience supporting adults with learning disabilities and/or autism
• Is confident taking responsibility during a shift
• Communicates clearly with colleagues and professionals
• Remains calm under pressure
• Understands the importance of good documentation
• Is willing to challenge practice constructively
• Values reflection and learning
• Can support and coach other staff
• Is reliable, organised and consistent
• Understands the importance of person-led support

Experience of Positive Behaviour Support, complex needs or behaviours of concern would be beneficial, although further training and support will be provided.

Drivers are preferred because some roles involve supporting people to access the community.

Hours

This is a full-time role.

Shift patterns vary depending on the needs of the service and may include daytime, evening and weekend work.

The role includes a mixture of direct support, leadership responsibilities and shift-based work.

Pay

£14.25 per hour

Sponsorship

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Apply

If you are an experienced Support Worker looking to take on more responsibility, or an existing Senior Support Worker looking for a role with greater emphasis on development, leadership and Positive Behaviour Support, we would like to hear from you.

Apply through the vacancy page or contact United Support Services for an informal conversation about the role.