Qualified Habilitation Specialist

Unleash your potential
- Your Career. Their Independence

Come and join us as a supportive and confident Qualified Habilitation Specialist and be part of something life-changing- helping people with sight loss live the life they choose.

As a Qualified Habilitation Specialist at Guide Dogs, you'll deliver specialist mobility and independence training to children and young people, including those with complex needs, helping them build the skills they need to confidently navigate the world. The Qualified Habilitation Specialist will be an expert in assessing individual needs, designing tailored habilitation programmes, and providing practical, person-centered support in a range of settings.

Our Habilitation Specialists play a huge part in ensuring everything we do enables us to deliver on our purpose and exceed expectations.

This role is 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. However, flexibility is required to occasionally work outside of core hours and support weekend events when needed.

The role involves regular travel across South East London, ideally applicants should be based within a commutable distance.

• To holistically assess the needs and capabilities of children and young people (CYP) with a vision impairment (VI) and produce appropriate person-centered training programmes and recommendations as required.
• Plan, implement and review habilitation training programmes for CYP with vision impairment (including those with complex needs).
• Deliver specialist habilitation (mobility and independence) services which support the Guide Dogs strategic objectives and bring independence and freedom to CYP with a vision impairment, across your region or nationally.
• Write reports, maintain accurate records, and monitor CYP’s progress against set training programme goals, adapting these as required to ensure they continue to meet the CYP’s individual needs and identify any further training requirements.
• Deliver habilitation awareness training to parents / carers and professionals.
• Provide advice, information and training to parents/carers, professionals including school staff and any others supporting CYP with a vision impairment to promote and ensure reinforcement of training programmes and to raise their awareness of vision impairment and resources available.

You’ll have a person-centered and collaborative approach to teaching mobility and independence skills, alongside carrying out assessments and developing tailored support plans. You’ll enjoy working in a variety of settings including home, education and community environments, with a dedicated focus on supporting children and young people to develop confidence and independence, whilst being committed to delivering high-quality, safe and effective services.

You’ll act with integrity and honesty in everything you do.

• Qualified as a Habilitation Specialist - please refer to the Essential Education/ Qualifications criteria within the attached Job Description
• Demonstrable post qualifying experience in statutory or voluntary sector.
• Demonstrable experience of teaching mobility and independence skills to individuals with a vision impairment in home, education and/or community settings.
• Demonstrable experience of supporting children and young people (Not necessarily vision impairment related) e.g., Youth Work, in an education setting, brownie or scout leader.
• Proven experience of carrying out access and environmental audits.
• Proven ability to liaise effectively with other professionals / agencies.
• Demonstrable evidence of effective assessment and planning skills.

We would not be able to change the lives of people with sight loss without our people. That’s why it’s important for us…