Youth Development Team Lead – Make a Lasting Impact!
Location: Grace Vineyard Beach Campus, New Brighton, Christchurch
Hours: Permanent, 30–35 hours/week (includes some evenings & weekends)
Salary: $60,249 – $72,537 FTE (pro rata)

Do you have a heart for young people and a passion for leadership? Are you looking to lead a dynamic team making a real difference in the lives of tamariki and rangatahi in our local community? If so, this is the opportunity for you!

About the Role:

Youth Alive Trust is on the lookout for a highly motivated and experienced Youth Development Team Lead to oversee our youth development programmes. You’ll be guiding a passionate team of youth workers, designing high-quality, evidence-informed programmes, and fostering strong relationships with community partners.

Your leadership will ensure our mahi continues to reflect our Christian values, uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and follow best practice youth development work principles.

Why Join Us?

• Faith-aligned mission: We’re a Christian trust with a deep commitment to transforming young lives.
• Community rooted: Based in beautiful New Brighton, serving the east of Christchurch since 1989.
• Culturally grounded: We embrace te ao Māori and foster inclusive and respectful engagement.
• Team culture: A fun, relational environment that values trust, servant leadership, and professional growth.
• Sector aligned pay and monthly external supervision provided.

You’ll Be Responsible For:

• Leading, supervising, and mentoring a team of youth workers and interns
• Overseeing and developing high-quality youth development programmes and events
• Building trusted relationships with rangatahi, whānau, schools, and community partners
• Managing programme administration, compliance, and reporting
• Promoting a culture of excellence, inclusion, and cultural safety

We’re Looking For:

• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in youth development or a related field
• Proven experience leading a team
• A commitment to the Christian faith and values
• Strong interpersonal skills and understanding of youth development principles
• Cultural competence and a willingness to learn te reo Māori and tikanga Māori
• A relevant Level 6+ qualification (preferred) and a full NZ driver’s license

Read the FULL JOB DESCRIPTION HERE

Ready to Lead and Inspire?
Apply now via SEEK with your CV and cover letter.

Everyone is invited to join us to support our awesome students performing their hearts out on the big stage in a wide variety of Amplify Bands! Saturday 2nd August from 2pm- 4pm at A Rolling Stone, 579 Colombo Street, Christchurch Central City. Free Entry!

We made some more amazing memories at our holiday programmes. Check out these photos for some of our highlights!

Kea – Years 1-3 Photo Album

Pukeko – Years 4-6 Photo Album

Piwakawaka – Years 6-9 Photo Album

Lost Property

Kia ora,

We hope the school holidays are going well. Reminder there are lots of Kidsfest activities in Christchurch to check out!

Latest Newsletter

Grab a coffee and read YAT’s latest Newsletter HERE.

Term 3

Registrations for all our programmes are LIVE for Term 3!! (& Term 4 if keen). Weekly clubs begin on Week 1, starting Monday 14^th July.  All club plans, brochures and online registration links for Term 3 are on our website.

> Seniors After-School Oscar (School Years 4-9) EVERYDAY with Van Pick Ups 2:45pm – 5:45pm

> Surge (School Years 9 – 13) Mondays 6:30-8:30pm. FREE for teenagers

> #NEW 2025: RISE (ages 12-16) Mondays 6:30pm – 8:00pm.  FREE for teenagers

> Basketball Clubs (School Years 1 – 8) Tuesdays

• 3:15pm – 4:05pm (School Years 1-3)
• 4:15pm – 5:05pm (School Years 3-6)
• 5:15pm – 6:05pm (School Years 6-8)

> Kitchen Klub (School Years 5 – 9) Tuesdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Kōtirotiro Girls Club (School Years 1 – 6) Wednesdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Tamatāne Boys Club (School Years 1 – 6) Thursdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Craft Club (School Years 5 – 9) Thursdays 4:00pm – 5:30pm

> Rock Solid (School Years 7 & 8) Fridays 4:00-6:00pm

> Amplify Music Lessons (School Years 1-13) Everyday 3pm – 6pm

> Amplify Band Programme (School Years 7-13) various times by audition

Save The Date: Parenting Seminar on Anxiety

Thursday 28^th August 7:00pm at Beach Campus

Free Tickets will be advertised via our social media and website too.

Feedback

We appreciate any feedback on our programmes and have a short general parents feedback survey you can complete anytime. As positive comments made are also really helpful for us when applying for funding:

Parents Survey Link

The YAT Team

www.yat.org.nz

www.facebook.com/youthalivetrustnz

www.instagram.com/youthalivetrust

www.youtube.com/@youthalivetrust

Read our latest Newsletter at THIS LINK

It begins! Five action packed days of Holiday Programmes over 3 different age groups led by an amazing group of staff and volunteers! There are still spots available in every age, so find out more at: www.yat.org.nz

Amplify School of Music in New Brighton is hosting a series of Music Workshops – keyboard, guitar, electric guitar, stage performance and more!

The workshops for youth (school year 3 and up) – first week of the school holidays.

Something for everyone so head over to our website and book in for some crazy musical fun! Here is the line-up:

Monday – Electric Guitar Workshops – bring your guitar and your pedals (don’t worry if you haven’t got any yet!) and let’s explore the world or electric guitar (workshops for both beginners and intermediate/advanced)

Tuesday – Beginner Keyboard Workshops – get some handy tips from our tutors on how to get started on the keys (keyboards provided – bring your own headphones)

Wednesday – Singer/Songwriter workshops – whether you need help with something you are already working on, or you would like help with how to get started, or you just love singing, let’s explore our voices!

Thursday – Beginner Guitar Workshops – get some handy tips on how to get started on the acoustic guitar (guitars provided)

Friday – RISE and RISEJr. – combine singing and dancing to create a performance piece and then perform it for our in-house holiday programme and your nearest and dearest!

It’s going to be an action-packed week full of beautiful music – don’t miss out!!

Registrations here: https://amplify.mymusicstaff.com/music-workshops

We were so inspired by this video from last nights Neurodiversity Seminar – we hope you are too!

“Across history there has been a tendency for human beings to fear our differences. To equate difference with defectiveness, or even label our differences as disorders. We think that it is time for us to rethink the way we view our differences. We think that it is time for us to recognise that difference represents diversity, and this diversity is vital to our collective wellbeing. The more genetic diversity there is among us, the better we are able to continually adapt to our environment, as it changes and evolves…

Humans think, feel, perceive, process, and experience the world in vastly different ways. This beautiful diversity of human minds with infinite variations, traits, and abilities is known as neurodiversity.

There are minds that sense the most subtle changes in the environment. Minds that have a determined sense of social justice and minds that can create stories in worlds that most of us can only read about. There are minds that seek patterns to process and synthesise. There are minds that crave words, or numbers, or images. There are busy minds, and quiet minds, highly focused minds, and distractable minds. There are minds that think deeply, and feel intensely.

When we value neurodiversity as a form of genetic diversity as part of the biodiversity of planet earth, we start to value our differences, and see that they do not require curing, treating or masking. We see that our differences can be accepted, appreciated and respected. We start to support each other to find a place in this world, and flourish as individuals, while increasing the resilience of humanity as a whole!”

Samson and Bulluss Psychology

We hope you enjoyed tonight’s Raising Neurodiverse Kids Seminar.

We’d love to hear your feedback, by completing a short survey at this link:

https://forms.gle/rEEoDRpJ316nV8xWA

Resources

CLICK HERE for the PDF of all the slides shown tonight.

CLICK HERE for a PDF of more resources about ADHD we’ve put together.

There are lots of websites, with some great tools, resources, and ideas too. Here are some of our favourites:

https://autismnz.org.nz/

https://www.adhd.org.nz/

https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/

https://sparklers.org.nz/wh%C4%81nau/

https://parentingplace.nz/

https://biglifejournal.com/

https://gozen.com/

Also here’s a link from Listening to Families, which has Videos on various wellbeing topics including ADHD and Autism:

https://www.listeningtofamilies.co.nz/#Topics

Do follow the Mana Ake Facebook page for more updates and resources for parents.

“Poipoia te kākano kia puawai”: “Nurture the seed (child) so that it blooms”.

The Mana Ake & Youth Alive Trust Teams