Employment Specialist

IPS Grow; Gedling; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an Employment Specialist to deliver IPS-based employment support across Gedling. You will provide motivational, person-centred assistance to help individuals secure paid work and sustain it, with a caseload of 20–30 and collaboration with employers and local job schemes.

You will work within the Future’s Positive Team, liaising with LMHTs, care teams, and local NHS partners to promote meaningful employment and recovery through IPS

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Counselling or Careers Guidance qualification, evidenced by a relevant credential.
• IPS Training completed or in progress.
• Employer engagement training completed.
• Experience in health, social services, or voluntary sector.

Responsibilities

• Provide support to people with mental health challenges to explore employment opportunities.
• Manage a caseload of 20–30 individuals and liaise with employers and service partners.
• Meet NHS England targets for engagement and employment outcomes.
• Co-locate in LMHTs and collaborate with care teams to promote employment.
• Support service users with vocational profiling, interviews, and action plans.

Skills

Motivational skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Negotiation skills

Relationship building

Recovery principles

Education

Degree level or equivalent

Counselling or Careers Guidance qualification

IPS Training

Employer engagement training

Experience in health/social/voluntary sector

Job description

Gedling, Nottingham | Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Permanent contract

Could you help people experiencing mental health challenges take the next step towards meaningful employment? Join Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as an Employment Specialist and support people across Gedling to find, secure and sustain paid work through the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model.

Deadline: 24th September 2026

• East Midlands
• Full-time

Job overview

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire’s biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment

Role

As part of the NHS England initiative , the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services, have an exciting opportunity for you to join our Future’s Positive Team as an Employment Specialist, to deliver employment support to individuals with mental health conditions in the borough of Gedling as part of the County South IPS Team. Getting into employment can be a critical part of a recovery journey, so you will be focusing on providing motivational, supportive and person centred support to enable people to secure employment

We have an great opportunity an individual to join our Future’s Positive Team as community-based Employment Specialists. You will provide individual support to people faced with barriers into employment, using a strength-based approach to gain sustainable paid work. You will be working with a caseload of 20-30 people and liaise with employers and a range of stake holders. As part of your role you will meet targets set by NHS England.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies

Responsibilities

You will provide support and guidance to people who have experienced mental health challenges in exploring their interest and opportunities to find and retain employment.

You will have an individual caseload, complete vocational profiles, support service users with interviews and actions plans, and support people when they are in employment.

You will proactively engage with employers to open up and secure employment opportunities and you will network with Job Centres and Employment Schemes in the local area.

You will have experience of working with people with mental health challenges , have an understanding of working with the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) evidence base / principles.

You will meet targets set by NHS England which include engaging with service users , finding and retaining employment for service users.

The Future’s Positive Employment Service (IPS) work across the Local Mental Health Team’s (LMHT’s) in Nottinghamshire

You will have a caseload of people who have experienced mental health challenges and want to find or return to employment . You will support them by assessing their specific employment needs through vocational profiling

You will co locate in the LMHT’s and meet regularly with the care team to promote employment and raise expectations around the ability of service users to access employment

You will proactively work with employers and network with community organisations

(Please see attached job description for full role responsibilities)

A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Successful applicants with no prior NHS experience would normally be placed at the bottom of the band in line with Agenda for Change. This salary is below the minimum salary required for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa. In these circumstances the Trust would not, therefore, be able to sponsor for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa.

• Educated to degree level/equivalent in employment
• Counselling or Careers Guidance/equivalent as evidenced by a relevant qualification
• Occupational Therapy or Occupational Psychology Training
• IPS Training
• Employer Engagement Training
• Previous experience with health, social services, or the voluntary sector, working with people who have experienced mental health problems
• Experience of working in employment support
• Personal experience of mental health problems
• Experience of working in an IPS Service
• An understanding of the principles and practice of Individual Placement and Support.
• An understanding of Employer engagement and strategies
• Understanding of Recovery principles
• A working knowledge of Human Resources good practice and Employment legislation in relation to supporting people with mental health needs in the work place
• Understanding of Welfare Rights
• An understanding of applied research methods
• An ability to initiate and develop relationships with employers while being aware of their needs
• Ability to build and develop relationships with service users having awareness of their needs to access employment

IT Skills

• Motivational Skills
• Use own initiative
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Vocational assessment skills
• Good negotiation skills and persuasive style
• Contractual Requirements
• A full UK driving license and vehicle for business use is required for this post, however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2012
• Willingness to work flexible hours according to the demands of the job.
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty, Respect Compassion Teamwork
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust’s expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation

Physical Requirements
Essential

• Able to undertake training in the management of violence reduction.
• Has the ability to perform the full range of Employment Specialist duties.
• Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.