Mentor Support Lead – 12 Month Secondment – East Kent  

Location: East Kent

Salary:  £27,992

Vacancy Type: Permanent

Advertising End Date: 16 Mar 2026
Ready to lead with lived experience and make housing stability a reality for people in recovery?

We’re looking for a Full Time (35 Hours) dynamic Mentor Support Lead to drive and develop our lived-experience mentoring offer across East Kent.

This is initially a 12-month secondment, with the potential to become permanent as funding is secured for up to three years. Working within an OHID-funded Housing Support Service and aligned to Forward Trust priorities, you’ll play a pivotal role in strengthening recovery journeys through stable housing and structured treatment engagement.

What You’ll Be Driving

• You’ll build and lead a thriving Housing Peer Network that delivers:
• Increased engagement and retention in structured drug & alcohol treatment
• Reduced unplanned treatment discharges linked to housing instability
• Improved sustainment of temporary and long-term accommodation
• Reduced loss of housing due to substance use
• Stronger peer-led motivation, recovery capital and progression pathways
• A robust evidence base aligned to OHID priorities

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead & develop trauma-informed lived-experience mentoring, recruiting, supervising and supporting Peer Mentors & Trainees.
• Drive service delivery with Housing Support Coordinators to improve client outcomes in housing, treatment engagement, benefits, and employment pathways.
• Deliver training & progression for mentors, including workshops, reflective practice, and career development.
• Ensure quality & compliance with safeguarding, housing legislation, OHID KPIs, and accurate reporting.
• Build partnerships across housing, substance misuse, criminal justice, and community services.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong knowledge of housing, homelessness legislation and community support services
• Understanding of substance misuse and criminal justice systems
• Experience supervising, coaching or developing others
• Personal lived experience of homelessness/addiction/criminal justice welcomed
• Minimum 3 years in recovery (if applicable)
• Minimum 5 years since criminal justice involvement (if applicable)
• Confident partnership builder and outcome-focused leader

This isn’t just management; it’s leadership with purpose.

You’ll shape a peer-led approach that helps people sustain housing, stay in treatment, and build lasting recovery, changing lives across East Kent.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits:

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. 

Diversity at Forward Trust

The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness.

When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know. 

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work

Dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.

If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Forward Trust follow safer recruitment practices and support a culture of openness and accountability.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Forward Trust, please proceed through the following link to be redirected to our website to complete your application.

https://careers.forwardtrust.org.uk/vacancies/543/mentor-support-lead--12-month-secondment--east-kent.html

Contact information

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