Team Co-Ordinator / Personal Assistant (Dual role)
Team Co-Ordinator / Personal Assistant (Dual role) to young man with special needs
Contract: Long term position, 20 hours per week (some flexibility within this)
Location: Raheny, Dublin 5 Salary: €50,000 FTE based on 37hr week
A little bit about me:
I am a young man in my early 20s living on the northside of Dublin city with my family. I love books and magazines; I have an encyclopaedic knowledge of shapes and a broad and varied taste in music. I love being out and about, trying new things and I enjoy a good laugh.
I’m still trying to figure out my potential and my real strengths, I am looking to access more opportunities to learn new skills, to broaden my social circle and to generally become more independent of my family. I also want to have a paid job and a place of my own in the future.
I like a structured day and to know what is happening. Visual schedules are key in supporting me across my day and I use an App on my iPad to enhance my communication. Sometimes it can be hard for me to engage in new tasks and to access activities both inside and outside my home, but when the environment and the support is right anything is possible. I’m looking to build a team of support around me to explore what is possible and live life to its fullest.
The Role:
This is a dual role involving supporting me 1:1 throughout the week and also coordinating my team of 2-3 part-time personal assistants
Supporting me -16hrs/wk:
- Support me to really explore my interests and strengths and help me to create a vision to work towards – this will involve plenty of thinking outside the box and networking with people to identify opportunities that will work for me
- Encourage and motivate me to engage in daily routines.
- Encourage and motivate me to engage in productive activities to boost self-esteem / confidence.
- Enable me to access community – including use of public transport.
- Support me to engage in social and recreational activities – as possible examples these may include cinema, eating out, coffee shops or the gym as well as support during clubs.
- Support with daily living tasks at home – for example meal preparation; getting ready in the morning
- Support with planning and organising my day / activities for the week ahead
- Support when walking or doing physical activity
- Emotional Support and reassurance
- Liaison with main care givers (parents) and rest of team regarding progress
Co-ordinating my team - 4hrs/wk: (currently a team of 2 part-time staff, vacancy for 1- 2 more)
- Ability to create a strong team spirit among those who support me (paid/unpaid).
- Staff supervision – induction, ongoing training, reviews etc.
- Identify clear achievable goals that my team can help me to achieve
- Periodic review of goals with me, my family and team to assess what is working, not working, what we have learned and what we might change. (I’m sure there will be lots of trial and error and you will have to be patient as we experiment with new ideas. But hopefully that will be part of the fun of this role!)
The person:
- have a real passion for equality and social justice and truly believe that young people with intellectual disabilities should be able to choose what they want to do with their life. • enjoy developing an understanding of my specific needs and aspirations, and supporting me to identify and access suitable courses, activities or volunteer opportunities.
- • Patience - as we won’t get it right first time
- Ability to work off own initiative
- Organized and flexible
- Lots of energy and a good sense of humour will go a long way!
Experience- the right candidate will have:
- Experience of working or living with people who have intellectual disabilities or those who find it challenging to access the mainstream world.
- Professional experience of hiring and managing a small team (induction, ongoing training, supervision)
- Proven track record of working in an environment with clear goals but also the ability to continuously evaluate and adjust accordingly to what’s working/not working
- Driving licence and access to a car a distinct advantage
Training will be provided. Opportunities for continued professional development available