Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting a Senior Peer Worker to join our Health and Justice services. The role will initially be based at HMP Deerbolt, with scope to expand across nearby sites to support incoming Peer Workers. This post is designed to deliver peer support in custodial settings and provide supervision to Peer Workers across the Health and Justice pathway.
Job Title: Senior Peer Worker
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: £31,049 to £37,796 a year per annum
Location: County Durham, North East England, United Kingdom
Deadline: The closing date is 06 October 2025
Main duties of the job
These are challenging but rewarding roles supporting people with a wide range of experiences.
Your time in post will start with attending our peer support training alongside other people starting peer support roles with us. This training is delivered by people with their own lived experience who also have direct experience of working in peer roles themselves.
Working under the direction and guidance of the relevant Peer Lead within the service, this role will involve:
Working autonomously into designated teams or sites to provide peer support
Setting up and facilitating / co-facilitating peer support groups
Working into designated team processes to support service user voice to be heard and bring lived experience expertise into team or service processes
Delivering 1:1 supervision to peer workers and peer practitioners
Facilitating or co-facilitating co-reflection spaces for peer workers and peer practitioners
To support you with this work you will receive ongoing regular line management and peer work supervision, and will be able to access a range of other peer connection and development structures.
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to degree level OR has equivalent experience developing and delivering Peer Support in a community or NHS setting.
- Completed Trust Trauma Informed Peer Support Training course (passing within agreed timescale)
- Completed Trust approved Peer Support Training
- Numeracy, Literacy and ITQ level 2 (or equivalent)
Desirable
- Completed Trust Trauma Informed Peer Support Course
- Completed an accredited Peer Support training course
Experience
Essential
- Personal experience of mental health challenges or a learning disability that is relevant to the specific role advertised
- Personal experience of accessing secondary (or inpatient) mental health services
- Experience of working as a peer worker or in another lived experience essential role
- Experience of delivering peer support in a paid or voluntary role, or in a user led environment
- Experience in delivering supervision or co-supervision to peers
- Experience of actively engaging in a supervision or co-supervision system
Desirable
- Experience of social exclusion, stigma and / or discrimination
- Psychiatric hospital admission
- Experience of peer support or user led environments outside the NHS
- Experience preparing workplace teams for peer support workers
- Experience in recruiting peer support workers
- Experience of delivering training sessions on peer support
Knowledge
Essential
- Passionate about the values of peer support and understands what the role adds to a team
- Understanding of trauma informed approaches
- Understanding of trauma informed approaches and trauma informed peer support, and a demonstrated ability to apply this knowledge to practice and to support others to develop their practice
- Health and Safety legislation and its application in practice
- Clinical Governance and Clinical Supervision.
- Care Programme Approach
- Safeguarding and its application in practice
- Understanding of the day to day issues effecting service users with mental health conditions or learning disabilities
- Research and development methodology
- Understanding of the needs of individuals from diverse social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds
Skills
Essential
- Able to share elements of own life experiences, and engage compassionately with experiences of others, in a way appropriate to the role and peer relationship
- Communicate complex and sensitive information in a manner appropriate to the individual and situation
- Good peer relationship skills and ability to describe such skills verbally and in writing
- Peer record keeping and report writing
- Ability to relate as a peer to the needs of the service user group
- Work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Manage own caseload and prioritise effectively
- Delegate tasks appropriately
- Apply latest research evidence and evaluative thinking in practice
- Ability to lead peer support group sessions
- Ability to deliver effective teaching and training sessions (within agreed timescale)
- Breakaway techniques (within agreed timescale)
Personal Attributes
Essential
- Commitment to supporting service users voices to be heard
- Commitment to anti-discriminatory practice
- Able to work in accordance with the Staff Compact and Trust Values and Behaviours.
Note
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Application Process
For more information and application, CLICK HERE
