Support Worker (Personal Assistant to the Play Service Manager)
Location: Hackney Adventure Playground, Spring Lane, Big Hill, Hackney, London E5 9HQ
Hours: 15 hours per week (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Contract: Fixed term until February 2027
Salary: £10,360 per annum
Role Overview
This role provides personal assistant, practical, and workplace support to the Play Service Manager, an adult employee working within a specialist Adventure Playground operated by a national charity.
Working within a strengths-based, neuro-affirming framework, you will support a manager with AuDHD (Autism and ADHD), recognising neurodivergent traits as natural differences rather than deficits.
The purpose of the role is to reduce workplace barriers, support wellbeing, and enable the manager to carry out their role effectively and sustainably. Support will be collaborative, flexible, and led by the manager's preferences, needs, and consent.
Please note: This role is focused on supporting the Play Service Manager as an adult colleague and employee. It is not a role providing direct care or support to children.
Key Responsibilities
Personal & Workplace Support
- Adapt the working environment to support regulation, focus, and sensory needs.
- Support mobility and physical wellbeing, including during periods of pain or fatigue.
- Recognise and respond to signs of overwhelm by adjusting demands, workload, or the environment where appropriate.
- Proactively plan for situations that may increase stress or anxiety.
- Prompt and support regular wellbeing breaks, including hydration, movement, and rest.
Communication Support
- Support clear, respectful communication with staff, volunteers, partners, and external agencies.
- Help interpret or clarify information where needed.
- Support colleagues and stakeholders to understand the manager's communication style.
- Provide assistance during complex or sensitive workplace conversations.
- Adapt information into accessible formats and preferred learning styles.
- Work in ways that reduce the impact of rejection sensitivity and communication barriers.
- Collaboratively explore alternative perspectives where thinking becomes rigid or stuck.
Organisation & Administrative Support
- Maintain and improve digital and paper-based filing systems.
- Support document management, reporting, and record keeping.
- Assist with financial administration, including petty cash, expenses, and invoices.
- Take meeting notes and maintain action records.
- Support the development of training materials, systems, and workplace processes.
- Identify and implement helpful software, digital tools, and organisational systems.
Scheduling & Task Support
- Manage diaries, appointments, and schedules.
- Coordinate rotas, meetings, and team logistics.
- Draft, organise, and manage emails and correspondence.
- Provide reminders, prompts, and follow-up support for key tasks.
- Support prioritisation and protected time for focused work.
- Anticipate pressure points and plan supportive strategies in advance.
Person Specification
Key Qualities
- Empathy and patience.
- Adaptability and flexibility.
- Creativity and initiative.
- Professional integrity.
- Resilience.
You will be comfortable working in an active, outdoor environment alongside a play service, while remaining focused on supporting the Play Service Manager in their professional role.
Essential Criteria
- Confident IT user, including MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and databases.
- Strong organisational and time management skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team.
- Strong communication skills across a range of communication styles.
- Experience working in a flexible, collaborative, and person-centred way.
- Understanding of neurodiversity, including stimming, masking, demand avoidance, and AuDHD profiles.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience providing personal assistant, workplace support, or support worker assistance to disabled or neurodivergent adults.
- Background in SEND, social care, community services, play, youth work, therapeutic settings, or arts-based environments.
- Knowledge of neurodiversity-informed frameworks such as Monotropism and the Double Empathy Problem.
- Confidence using social media and digital communication tools.
Additional Information
- Primarily site-based in Hackney, with occasional off-site meetings or travel.
- Some flexible or home working may be available where appropriate.
- Enhanced DBS (Child & Adult Workforce) required due to the workplace setting.