Employment Specialist - Employment Coach

Gloucestershire Health and Care; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free car parking

27 days leave + bank holidays

NHS pension and enhanced pay for unsoc

Flexible working

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust in Gloucester is seeking an Employment Specialist to deliver IPS-based employment support for people with mental health difficulties. You will work to help clients achieve paid employment, build confidence, and maintain roles in the community.

The role is permanent, full-time, offering a meaningful career with professional development and close collaboration with employers to identify opportunities in the local labour market.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent level of knowledge.
• Experience or knowledge of recruitment/employment.
• Knowledge and experience of Recovery and Social Inclusion principles.

Responsibilities

• Proactively manage a caseload of people with mental health difficulties to find and maintain paid employment or retain existing employment.
• Follow the IPS model, collate evidence and participate in Fidelity Reviews.
• Identify and meet the employment goals of clients by providing individually tailored programmes, using a person-centred approach.
• Work within a multi-disciplinary environment and liaise with stakeholders including DWP and Citizens Advice.
• Engage employers, research the labour market and negotiate job opportunities.
• Support service users and employers to identify reasonable adjustments and return-to-work strategies.

Skills

Experience in recruitment/employment

Recovery and Social Inclusion

Education

Degree level or equivalent knowledge

Job description

Employment Specialist - Employment Coach

Band 5

Main area Individual Placement and Support Service (IPS) Grade Band 5 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 327-26-872

Site Gloucester Town Gloucester Salary £32,073 - £39,043 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 23/11/2026 23:59

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county .

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care . We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you ’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and w e are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality team s in all areas of the Trust .

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .

Job overview

This role is offered on a permanent basis.

Working as an Employment Specialist for IPS Employment Services, for people with a serious and enduring mental health difficulties in Gloucester.

Are you looking for a career where you can make a positive difference to the lives of people with Mental Health Difficulties?

Do you believe you have the skills to support people back into employment?

Are you passionate that occupation can support a person's wellbeing?

If so these roles may be just what you're looking for!

For people who need Mental Health support, getting back into work is a vital step on their recovery journey. The evidence backs this up and although 90% of people with Severe Mental Illness want to work, only 8% of them are in paid employment. This is why we are looking for people to join our friendly Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Service, as an Employment Specialist.

Main duties of the job

This is an incredibly rewarding role - you will have the opportunity to transform the lives of your clients, to give them hope, direction and support their recovery journey.

This is also a challenging role, so you’ll need to be resilient, empathetic and dedicated to finding clients employment that is right for them. As a people person, you will build a good rapport with your clients, gaining a real understanding of their key skills, their aspirations and their career goals.

You will also spend time building productive relationships with employers, in order to identify and negotiate job opportunities in the hidden labour market.

We welcome people from a range of backgrounds and with a variety of experience for this role. We will train you on the Individual Placement & Support (IPS) approach, giving you the tools you need to provide expert support and advice to clients, while also building positive relationships with employers and changing perceptions around mental health.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Working for our organisation

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be required to:

• Proactively manage a caseload of people, who have experienced Mental Health Difficulties, to either find and maintain paid employment, or to retain existing employment.
• Follow the IPS model, collate evidence and participate in Fidelity Reviews.
• Identify and meet the employment goals of clients by providing individually tailored programmes, using a person-centred approach.
• Work within a multi-disciplinary environment and liaise closely with a variety of stakeholders i.e. Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Citizen Advise
• Work proactively at Employer Engagement and research the labour market and spend time getting to know local employers, in order to negotiate job opportunities.
• Support Service Users and employers to identify reasonable adjustments and return to work strategies, to ensure job retention.

Act independently, using own judgement, knowledge and initiative.

Gloucestershire Health and Care is committed to embedding and providing personalised care through all of its services as part of our high-quality care strategy. The purpose of personalised care is to empower people to lead the lives they want to live. Personalised care starts with a conversation with people about what matters to them. It builds on what people can do, as well as addressing their health needs. Including new ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our people’s skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care. So we want to know What Matters to You and that you will share our values and join us on this very important journey.

Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.

To support compliance with UK immigration requirements, all applicants who require a visa to work in the UK must disclose their visa history in full. This includes current and previous sponsors, dates of sponsorship, visa category, and any changes of employment. If you are on a Graduate or Dependant Visa, please disclose the expiry date on your application. Incomplete information may mean we are unable to consider your application

Person specification

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent level of knowledge
• Experience or knowledge of recruitment/employment
• Knowledge and experience of Recovery and Social Inclusion principles

Experience

• Experience of working in supported employment services
• Experience of working with people with Mental Health problems or a similar service user group
• An understanding of employment and challenges for people who have Mental Health experiences

other

• Flexibility to travel within the region
• Full driving license with access to own vehicle for business purposes

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

If you are aged 16-30, you may be eligible for financial and pastoral support from the King’s Trust, with who we are in partnership with to support your first 6 months in role. We will pass on your details to the King’s Trust who will be in touch with you if you are eligible. If you would rather not be contacted, please let us know.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.

Good luck with your application.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.