Intensive Support Practitioner — experienced, but not from a typical care background? Read on.
We're recruiting Intensive Support Practitioners to work with young people aged 10–25 with complex needs, significant risk and a history of placement breakdown. You'll need real, hands-on experience of supporting young people through difficult, high-stakes situations, but it doesn't need to have come from a traditional residential or care setting, and we're actively looking beyond that pool.If you've spent years holding steady with young people in youth justice, secure or semi-secure settings, crisis or outreach work, specialist education, therapeutic mentoring, uniformed youth services, or similar high-pressure, relationship-based roles — we want your application, even if "care worker" has never been your job title.
What you'll do
- Provide consistent, relationship-based support to a small number of young people as part of a dedicated team.
- Apply a structured, formulation-led approach to understanding and responding to distress and risk, working alongside psychology, health and therapeutic colleagues.
- Help hold safety and stability for young people who've often been let down by services moving too fast or too often.
What we're looking for
- Demonstrable experience supporting young people through complexity, risk or crisis — from any setting, not necessarily residential or care.
- Confidence holding boundaries calmly, and working as part of a small, tight-knit team.
- Willingness to work within a clinical, formulation-based model and take on structured training even with existing experience.
What we offer
- A genuinely fast route into leadership: our Senior roles are recruited from within our existing ISP pool, not brought in externally, so experienced practitioners can move into senior positions on a short timeframe rather than waiting years.
- Ongoing clinical supervision, formulation-led practice and a team culture built around psychological safety, not just rota-filling.
- Further training and development support, including routes toward advanced and clinical practice roles.
Please note: we are not currently able to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK.Apply now — tell us about your experience supporting young people through complexity or crisis, even if it doesn't come from a care background.
Reports To:
Senior Intensive Support Practitioner
Professional Support:
Registered Manager
Professional Development:
Principal Therapeutic Practice Lead
Professional Accountability:
Head of Service
Location:
The role is based in Peterborough. The vacancy may be advertised across Cambridgeshire and surrounding county areas to reach a wider pool of suitable applicants, but the work location will be Peterborough with travel across Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas as required.
Hours:
36 hours per week (3 x 12-hour day and night shifts per week including weekends and bank holidays) as part of 24/7 rota.
Salary:
£32,073 annual salary, dependent on experience and contracted hours
Contract:
· Permanent, Full-time roles
· Part-time roles: flexible contracted hours, subject to service need.
Purpose:
Working alongside children and young people to create safe, stable, nurturing and therapeutic everyday experiences.
About Nurture
Nurture Health and Care believes relationships are the primary therapeutic intervention. Every interaction has the potential to increase safety, stability, trust and hope. Our purpose is simple: 'Nurturing you to nurture others.'
About the Role
We are recruiting caring, resilient and relationship-focused people to join our Intensive Community Support Service for young people and young adults aged from puberty to 25. This is an opportunity for individuals with relevant experience in roles such as care work, support work, residential childcare, youth work, SEND support, teaching assistance, mental health support, or community-based services.
You do not need to hold a formal qualification before joining us. As this is a new and developing service, we are looking for people with the right values, transferable experience and commitment to making a genuine difference. Full competency-based training, structured induction and ongoing professional development are built into the role. You will be supported to develop specialist skills in trauma-informed care, attachment, neurodiversity, emotional regulation, safeguarding, therapeutic practice and positive behaviour support.
This is not a traditional care role. You will become a consistent, trusted adult in a young person’s life, helping them to feel safe, understood and supported to build confidence, independence, stability and positive relationships
Job Purpose
The Intensive Support Practitioner is a new Care Worker role which works alongside children and young people during ordinary everyday life, recognising that ordinary moments create extraordinary opportunities for healing, learning and recovery. Guided by each young person's formulation, EHCP and therapeutic goals, the post holder supports children and young people to develop emotional regulation, independence, health, education and community participation through consistent therapeutic relationships.
Key Responsibilities
· Develop trusting therapeutic relationships built on compassion, consistency and professional curiosity.
· Support morning and evening routines, meals, shopping, cooking, budgeting and everyday living skills.
· Promote emotional regulation using co-regulation and relationship-based approaches.
· Support attendance at education, health appointments, activities and community engagement.
· Promote healthy lifestyles including sleep, nutrition, exercise and personal care.
· Recognise behaviour as communication and implement formulation-led responses.
· Maintain safe environments and contribute to safeguarding and risk management.
· Complete accurate documentation and contribute to handovers and reflective practice.
· Work collaboratively with families and the multidisciplinary team.
· Model Nurture values in every interaction.
Pay and Benefits
In addition to your salary, Nurture offers:
· A structured induction and full competency-based training programme.
· Paid safeguarding, trauma-informed care and specialist practice training.
· Monthly protected development time.
· Regular supervision, reflective practice and professional support.
· Access to a competency passport and professional development portfolio.
· Opportunities for progression into senior practitioner, therapeutic practice, leadership and specialist roles.
· Annual leave entitlement of 5.6 weeks per annum (pro-rata for part time).
· Pension contributions in line with statutory and organisational arrangements.
· Employee wellbeing support and access to a supportive, values-led team culture.
Competency-Based Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential: Evidence of continuing educational/professional development.
Desireable: Level 3 qualification (or equivalent experience) in Health, Social Care, Residential Childcare, Education, Therapy Support, Youth Work, Youth Justice or related field. Care Certificate or willingness to complete during induction.
Foundation Degree, Level 4 qualification or apprenticeship.
Experience
Essential: Supporting children, young people or adults experiencing emotional distress or complex needs.
Desirable: Residential childcare, CAMHS, SEND, education, healthcare or youth justice experience.
Therapeutic Practice
Essential: Understanding that behaviour communicates unmet need and ability to build trusting relationships.
Desirable: Knowledge of developmental trauma, neurodiversity or Positive Behaviour Support.
Communication
Essential:Excellent interpersonal and team working skills.
Desirable: Experience working with families.
Personal Attributes
Essential: Compassion, resilience, curiosity, emotional intelligence, integrity and reflective practice.
Desirable: Quality improvement or mentoring experience.
Start Date
· We are aiming for successful candidates to ideally commence training from the beginning of September 2026, subject to satisfactory references, enhanced DBS clearance, right-to-work checks and completion of pre-employment requirements.
Nurture Professional Formation Programme
Following appointment every Intensive Support Practitioner completes the Nurture Ripple Programme.
· Four-week foundation programme including the Care Certificate (where required), safeguarding, attachment, developmental trauma, neurodiversity, formulation-led practice, health promotion, relational care, communication, human rights and simulation.
· One protected professional development day each month for six months to consolidate learning and complete competency assessment.
· Competency passport and reflective portfolio mapped to the Care Certificate, Skills for Care standards and relevant Level 3 professional pathways.
Success in the First 12 Months
· Successfully complete the Nurture Ripple Programme.
· Build trusting therapeutic relationships.
· Demonstrate formulation-led practice.
· Promote stability, wellbeing and independence.
· Contribute positively to a psychologically safe team culture.
Our Promise to You
Nurture is committed to developing specialist practitioners. You will receive structured induction, monthly protected development, supervision, reflective practice, coaching from the Principal Therapeutic Practice Lead and ongoing career development.
· Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and early applications are encouraged.
Pay: £32,073.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Company events
- Company pension
- Health & wellbeing programme
Work Location: In person
