Surrey County Council
Reigate · Posted 23 Oct 2026 · 8 applicants
The starting salary for this role is £38,090 per annum based on a 36-hour working week. The role is fixed term up until March 2029.
We are looking for two Community Activators to join the supported employment function in our Economy and Growth Team in Surrey County Council, helping to connect Surrey residents facing barriers to employment with life-changing support through our Connect to Work and WorkWell programmes.
This is a target-driven and community-focused role requiring substantial travel across Surrey. You will be expected to deliver tangible impacts from the local stakeholder relationships that you will establish. You will need to invest time building relationships with local organisations, voluntary and faith groups, health services and other referral partners with the primary aim of facilitating residents' access to employment. You will also be expected to attend the office one day a week in Woodhatch Place, Reigate (usually Tuesday). The post reports directly into the Supported Employment Operations Manager and you will be expected to be fully integrated and work collaboratively across the Economy & Growth team of over 80 people.
Our Offer to You
About Economy and Growth
The Economy and Growth team focuses on growing Surrey's economy, working as 'One Council' to create a sustainable economy and ensure no one is left behind. We provide strategic leadership and direct delivery of services in business support, innovation, skills and places for the benefit of Surrey's 110,000 businesses and 1.2 million residents.
We collaborate with partners and major employers including Amazon, Asahi, WWF-UK, Samsung and McLaren to champion and futureproof Surrey's leading regional economy, home to key strategic businesses contributing £50 billion annually to the UK economy.
We have a highly skilled workforce, respected educational and research institutions, and an enviable location. We are home to world-leading sectors including creative industries, cybersecurity, gaming and health, which we are proud to champion and support.
Supporting residents into good, sustainable work is a key priority for the Economy and Growth team and supports our wider objectives of driving sustainable economic growth across Surrey. Connect to Work and WorkWell are key programmes within our Get Surrey Working approach, helping residents overcome employment, health and wellbeing barriers whilst meeting the workforce needs of local employers.
We are committed to cross-team consolidation of activity across our area of work, and the integration of programmes both with each other and across the wider team is a fundamental principle of how we operate. By working collaboratively across services and with external partners, we deliver seamless employment and skills support through a single, coherent front door for residents, businesses and employers.
About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity to join Surrey's supported employment team as a Community Activator, playing a vital role in ensuring residents who could benefit from employment support are identified early and connected with the right services.
You will be responsible for generating high-quality referrals into Surrey's employment support programmes, particularly Connect to Work and WorkWell. Working in communities across Surrey, you will build strong and sustainable relationships with stakeholder organisations, referral partners and local networks to create referral pathways and engagement opportunities that support programme growth and participant outcomes.
Using programme intelligence, local insight and engagement plans, you will target communities and groups that are currently underrepresented within employment support services. You will develop and maintain trusted relationships with community organisations, faith groups, voluntary sector partners, health services and frontline professionals, increasing their confidence and capability to identify and refer suitable residents.
Acting as both a community engagement specialist and relationship manager, you will support organisations to embed referral pathways into their everyday practice, creating sustainable systems that generate a consistent flow of appropriate referrals. You will also plan and deliver outreach activities, workshops, presentations and community events to raise awareness of available support and encourage engagement.
A significant proportion of your time will be spent working within communities across Surrey, building local intelligence, identifying opportunities for engagement and developing partnerships that help residents access support. Through targeted outreach and partnership development activity, you will evidence how you contribute directly to programme delivery targets, contract requirements and improved economic outcomes for Surrey residents.
Please note that, as a community-based position, this role is not suitable for home working.
Your Application
In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours: