Jobs at Saracens

We're looking for a Youth Mentor Project Officer to join the Saracens Foundation team.

Since its inception in 2000, the Saracens Foundation has delivered innovative and industry leading projects across North London & Hertfordshire, developing sustainable partnerships and providing vital support that helps build stronger, healthier and more connected communities.

This role will report directly to the Development Manager within the team.

Saracens is an inclusive, people first organisation. A core part of achieving our mission is that our workforce is diverse and reflective of the community that we serve. There will be no discrimination in our recruitment and selection processes, nor when considering pay and benefits. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for the position and join us on our mission to enrich lives through sport and entertainment. (You can read more about diversity and inclusion here).

JOB TITLE:                          Youth Mentor Project Officer

LOCATION:                         Stone X Stadium, Hendon

CONTRACT TYPE:               Permanent, Full Time        

KEY STAKEHOLDERS:        All internal departments and external stakeholders

REPORTS TO:                  Development Manager

SALARY BRACKET:              £25,000 - £28,000 (SUBJECT TO EXPERIENCE)

PURPOSE OF THE JOB:  

We are looking for a skilled, passionate Youth Mentor to join our expanding Mentoring Team at the Saracens Foundation. The successful candidate will work across a variety of our projects within our Reducing Reoffending Pathway. Saracens Foundation mentoring projects aim to nurture positive change in participants, improve behaviour, facilitate personal development, and decrease risk factors in young people whose lives have often been shaped by crime, family dysfunction or learning disabilities. The project will offer a package of mentoring in one-to-one, group and sport-based settings.

The role will include leading and developing supportive relationships with young pupils by engaging them in sustainable projects and creating a powerful curriculum of workshops and discussions. Particular focus should be paid to topics such as resilience, creativity, accountability, personal development/life skills and anger management. The successful candidate will have both knowledge and experience in developing and delivering these activities.

The successful candidate will deliver a range of projects, throughout our mentoring team, these include but are not limited to:

• Bespoke one-to-one and group enrichment mentoring, targeted at facilitating young people back into mainstream education through sport.
• Individualised mentoring projects for students in the early years of secondary school that are at risk of permanent exclusion.
• Alternative Provision designed to build life skills through workshops focused on leadership, communication and teamwork.
• Further Alternative Provisions, in both a supporting and leading role, depending prior experience and skills.

The successful candidate will contribute to the Saracens Foundation’s strategy by delivering an innovative programme of activities, the impact of which will create stronger, healthier communities through projects that benefit our participants education and employability.

KEY ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Develop and deliver Saracens Foundation mentoring projects and Alternative Provisions to have a positive impact on our community of vulnerable young people that access our programmes. The successful candidate will also need to adapt to the evolving needs of the participants when necessary.
2. Provide and coordinate high quality mentoring, group and sport-based sessions to young people, providing beneficiaries with a platform to change their own lives.
3. Create and implement an effective monitoring and evaluation strategy to measure project outcomes ensuring sustainable and long-lasting impacts.
4. Build and maintain positive working relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external.
5. Coordinate with the Foundation team to ensure high quality and safe delivery that exceeds expectations and delivers maximum positive impact.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The successful candidate will possess the following:

Skills

• An ability to motivate, inspire and mentor people towards achieving their goals.
• Be comfortable delivering 1:1 and group sessions, face-to-face.
• An ability to build relationships and work collaboratively with a range of partners.
• Good judgement and knowing when to seek advice or support.
• Experience working with a team of people to reach a shared objective.
• A passion for sport for change and understanding of the work undertaken by the Foundation in this area.
• A ‘people’s person’ with excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build strong internal and external relationships.
• Energy/motivation and an ability to be an inspiration to your audience.
• Good organisation and time management skills.
• Ability to communicate internally and externally – empowering us to ‘shout’ about what we do.
• Great ICT capability.
• Willingness to be flexible, if required.

Desirable

• Experience in delivering sessions working with young people who have shown anti-social or negative behaviours.
• Experience in delivering active, engaging programmes tailored to participants.
• Lived experience or critical understanding of the challenges faced by young people at risk of exclusion from school or committing crime.
• Knowledge and experience of safeguarding requirements when working with young people.
• An understanding of the sport for change landscape, and the desired impacts of these projects.
• A mentoring or youth counselling qualification.

Personal Characteristics

• You have a relentless focus and are a great team player.
• You work collaboratively with others and take pride in your work.
• You manage delivery effectively, assuming personal ownership and accountability for results.
• You are organised, efficient and innovative in your approach to your work and tasks.
• You are flexible in your approach to managing your workload but also possess the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

BENEFITS

Compensation

• Dependant on the charity’s financial performance, the Saracens Foundation may conduct an annual pay review. However, proactive pay increases may be implemented to reflect growing responsibilities.

Working from home

• Our office anchor days are on Mondays and Thursdays. This keeps team collaboration and engagement high.
• If you are normally office-based, you can still work from home occasionally - as long as you have a good internet connection and a private, quiet space which allows you to do your best work.

Holiday

• 25 days’ holiday a year, plus bank holidays - please use them all!

Health & Wellbeing

• Paid sick leave for both physical & mental health.

Sports & Entertainment

• Ballot tickets for Saracens Home Games.
• Ballot tickets for International Rugby Games.
• Opportunities for discounted tickets to Saracens games and events for you and your family.

Family

• Enhanced paid maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave, if you’ve been with us for at least 26 weeks.
• Life insurance with MetLife.

Commuting

We’re a member of the cycle-to-work scheme.

Applications should be made by submitting a CV and covering letting incorporating suitability to the role. Applications should be sent to Sangita Asani, People Business Partner at recruitment@saracens.net.

Closing date for applications is Friday 5^th December 2025 at 5pm.

We anticipate formal interviews to take place on week commencing the 15^th December.

Saracens Group positively welcomes and seeks to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment. We encourage applications from all candidates regardless of age, race, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised date. This is to ensure our teams can manage application levels while maintaining a positive candidate experience. Once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications, so please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. If you have not heard from us by 7 days after the closing date of the role, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

Due to the ongoing success of the Saracens Foundation, we are seeking additional casual coaches to add to our delivery capacity and continue a high level of coaching on programmes across North London, Hertfordshire and Essex. This is a casual position which will have varied hours as required by the projects. The Saracens Foundation is a registered charity which exists to enhance the lives of children and young people through the power of sport. It achieves this through the delivery of high quality and innovative programmes that promote the benefits of sport, physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. Saracens Foundation delivers its work in partnership with key local statutory agencies including schools, colleges and FE establishments, county sports partnerships, local councils, youth offending teams and the local community.

RESPONSIBILITIES/REQUIREMENTS

You will be expected to coach a variety of inclusive tag, touch and contact rugby activities and deliver cross curricular sessions in a secondary and primary school setting. In addition to coaching, a key aspect of the role involves various admin tasks when necessary. Working across secondary schools, a proven ability to build relationships in these environments is essential.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• To deliver inclusive rugby sessions that includes delivering tag, touch or contact to boys and girls in schools, either curriculum or after-school.
• Plan, organise, deliver and review all sessions.
• Complete all aspects of monitoring and evaluation of all delivered sessions.
• Use the Saracens Way to engage and increase participation in under-represented groups.
• To have regular meetings/catch-ups with lead project officer.

ESSENTIAL

• UKCC Level 2 Coaching Qualification in Rugby Union.
• Experience of working with a range of children aged 6-18.
• Current Driving Licence and have access to a suitable vehicle.
• Hold or willing to apply for a current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Certificate.
• A passion for sport and an understanding of wider issues related to sport, health and education.
• Good organisation and time management skills.
• Excellent communication, motivation and ability to inspire others.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, if necessary.

DESIRABLE

• Attended 3 or more RFU CPD workshops
• Valid first aid qualification.
• Good understanding of barriers to participation in the local area.

Rate of pay: Applications: £25 per hour dependent on experience. Applicants should send a current CV and covering letter to milesthompson@saracens.net

This is ongoing recruitment campaign.

Our renowned Saracens Pioneer Volunteer programme was established in the Olympic year of 2012. Saracens Pioneers are the life blood (DNA) of Saracens along with the staff and players. Match days are delivered with the support, participation, and time given by our volunteers, known as ‘The Pioneers’. The Pioneers make each and every home match day a unique and fabulous experience for all our visitors to StoneX Stadium.

We maintain a pool of up to 170 Pioneers with typically 90 to 100 volunteering on match day.  Recruitment cycles are annual and start in summer. The programme sets high expectations and has done so since inception in 2012, becoming the envy of many sporting organisations nationally and globally. The programme delivers an enhanced customer service to Spectators whilst upholding our Saracens core values.  Pioneers are part of the Saracens family, are highly valued throughout the club, partners, sponsors and fanbase.

Our Pioneers are a diverse group of people of all ages and backgrounds.  Some of our Pioneers travel from further afield, to support Saracens, besides those who live locally in and around North London.

Saracens Pioneers are a team of match day volunteers who represent the smiling faces of Saracens Rugby Club. This opportunity is for anyone interested in volunteering with an elite sporting organisation at its spectator events at StoneX Stadium. The programme will give volunteers practical insight into match day operations, crowd dynamics, as well as achieving a qualification in Spectator Safety.

Our programme currently consists of 16 home matches for Saracens Mens rugby matches that Pioneers can support throughout the season. Whilst we would love for our volunteers to support on all 16 matches, we know that this is not always possible. We do however hope that we cab get about +/- of 8 games throughout the season for Pioneers to support on.

The Pioneer Programme is inclusive and open to all. Primarily we are looking for individuals who are:

• Reliable, friendly, engaging and professional
• Over the age of 18
• Able to display good interpersonal, communication and excellent customer service skills
• Relentlessly positive, responsible, adaptable and energised at all times
• Enjoy working professionally in a team environment
• Supportive and sensitive to the needs of visitors, supporters, Pioneer colleagues and staff
• Able to demonstrate and abide by the Saracen’s core values of Honesty, Discipline, Humility and Work Rate.
• A level of mobility to achieve the Pioneer role within the stadium environment
• Stadium or rugby experience is not essential for the Pioneer role

Pioneer Match Day key roles and responsibilities include but not limited to the following:

Health and safety, welfare and the meeting and greeting to the very highest standards, of all our Spectators and visitors within the stadium environment on a match day.  Saracens Pioneers are a unique resource that draws on best practice for crowd safety management, stewarding and customer service to all our visitors.

Pioneers do provide a dedicated service to assist our disabled visitors.  A number of our Pioneers have professional experience working with client groups with a range of physical, emotional and learning challenges.

All of our Pioneers volunteer in Spectators Services in the following areas:

• Meeting & Greeting and welcoming Spectators, visitors and fans within and to the Stadium, through our three gates and at Edgware, Mill Hill Broadway and Mill Hill East stations, as well as at the Pursley Road bus stops and footpaths
• Undertaking ticketing duties at our three gates
• Working in our North, South, East (which includes hospitality areas) and West stands
• Working in our fan zone areas
• Working with our Hospitality Support Team.

VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

Behind the scenes there is a Volunteer Management and Volunteer Support team engaged in supporting, motivating, planning, logistics, HR, training/ development of our volunteers.  Looking after and supporting our Pioneers is extremely important to the programmer.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

We are looking for people who can show potential to become a Pioneer through skills and experience gained from their personal life, work, volunteer experiences and educational background as follows:

• Demonstrate flexibility to cover match day responsibilities in all areas of the volunteer role
• Undertake match day roles in a reliable, friendly, responsible and professional manner, making spectator safety a priority
• Demonstrate good communication that support and develop your potential to deliver excellent customer service within a team
• Show evidence of skills to volunteer in the Spectator Service roles with a passion for volunteering
• Show evidence of personal excellence and going that extra mile that would support the volunteer role
• Give evidence of being relentlessly positive, exceptional and energised at all times.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

• It is a mandatory requirement that every volunteer achieves as soon as practicable possible lst4Sport Level 2 Certificate in Spectator Safety or shows evidence that they have achieved this qualification or equivalent. This qualification is provided by Saracens.
• Requirements in some areas would need mobility to climb stairs.
• Complete and meet criteria of volunteer orientation to achieve and confirm your Pioneer status

BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEERING

• Expenses reimbursed on agreed threshold for travel
• Meal & Refreshments provided whilst on duty
• Pioneer uniform
• Incentives to recognise the time and efforts of all Pioneers throughout the season through a variety of events.
• Opportunities to volunteer within other Saracen’s Sporting events
• The chance to build friendships and camaraderie with fellow Pioneers and colleagues

To find out more about the role and the opportunity to become a Saracens Pioneer, please complete the Pioneer application form on our Volunteer Management System. A member of our team will be in touch with you to progress your application.

Alternatively, if you want to know more about the programme, or if you know anyone else who may be interested in joining the team, please email pioneers@saracens.net.