Employment Specialist, IPS Employment Service

NHS; Thatcham; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in the UK seeks an Employment Specialist to support individuals with severe mental health issues in finding and sustaining employment. This full-time position involves community engagement, building partnerships, and challenging stigma in the workplace. Candidates should hold a degree and have experience in working with mental health issues. The role offers a salary range of £31,049 to £37,796 and includes various employee benefits, including flexible working options.

Benefits

Flexible working options

27 days' annual leave

Learning and career development opportunities

'Cycle to Work' scheme

Wellbeing tools and services

Discounts at retailers and restaurants

Staff networks for equality

Generous family leave policies

Free parking

Qualifications

• Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues.
• Experience of supporting disadvantaged groups into employment.
• Strong and empathic communication and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Support up to 20 people with severe mental health issues who are unemployed.
• Work with stakeholders including clients, employers, and psychiatrists.
• Transform the lives of clients and support their recovery journey.

Skills

Empathy

Communication

Organization

Tenacity

Education

Degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Employment Specialist, IPS Employment Service

Help us close the gap: over 80% of people with severe mental health issues want paid work, but only 8% achieve it. We're working hard to change that, and you could be part of it.

Join Berkshire Healthcare's Individual Placement and Support (IPS)team, now in its 10th year, we are looking for a passionate Employment Specialist to support people with severe mental health issues to find, secure and sustain meaningful employment, while building strong partnerships with employers to challenge stigma and create opportunities.

You will support people with severe mental health issues to find, secure and sustain paid work. Much of your week will be spent in the community, meeting clients and employers, building partnerships, opening doors, and challenging stigma around mental health in the workplace.

We'll provide full training in the IPS approach, equipping you with the tools to offer expert support and advice while also developing positive, lasting relationships with employers.

This is a full-time role (37.5 hours) within our Newbury CMHT team, covering West Berkshire.

• Telephone - informal discussion
• Face to face (please note online interviews are not offered)

At interview, you'll need to demonstrate:

• Empathy, tenacity and hope when supporting clients facing complex challenges
• Excellent communication, listening and motivational skills
• Strong organisation and perseverance (evident in your application)

Main duties of the job

We have 1 full time role available (37.5 hours) within our West Berkshire Community Mental Health Team, and you would be expected to travel across West Berkshire.

It's a highly varied job where you'll spend most of your week in the community, meeting clients and employers, and making a vital contribution to the team's activities.

• You'll support a caseload of up to 20 people with severe mental health issues who are unemployed or struggling in the workplace
• Working directly with all relevant stakeholders - including clients, clinicians, consultant psychiatrists and employers and Job Centre Plus - you'll aim to enable your clients to gain, sustain and retain paid employment.
• You'll have the opportunity to transform the lives of your clients, to give them hope, direction and support their recovery journey. It's also challenging, so you'll need to be able to demonstrate perseverance, whilst being empathic and dedicated to finding clients a role that's right for them.

Applications will be reviewed as received and may close early if the right candidate is found.

About us

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust site

Job responsibilities

The must haves for this role:

1. Degree or equivalent experience

2.Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues

3.Experience of supporting disadvantaged groups into employment

4.Strong and empathic communication and influencing skills

5.A high level of organisation and perseverance

6. A car driver with access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

Please note: We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

While we are a licensed sponsor, we must follow the criteria set by UK Visas and Immigration for sponsoring overseas nationals under the Skilled Worker route. After reviewing this position, we believe it does not meet the requirements for sponsorship.

For more information on Skilled Worker visa eligibility, please visit the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

Were committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

Person Specification

Education/qualifications/training

• Degree or equivalent experience
• A good understanding of the principles and practice of supported employment
• Trained in the IPS approach
• Additional employability/careers counselling qualification, such as: Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector Qualification, QCF in Advice & Guidance (Level 3)
• Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues (or other unemployed disadvantaged groups) into employment
• Experience of supporting individuals on a one-to-one basis
• Proven experience of meeting and exceeding outcomes and targets
• Experience of carrying out assessments (eg vocational, health, occupational)
• Experience of partnership working, negotiation and liaison with other agencies
• Experience of opening up job opportunities with a range of employers
• Experience of working alongside clinical teams within mental health

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Able to demonstrate empathy, tenacity and hope when working alongside people with severe mental health issues
• Knowledge of policy, practice and legislation in relation to employment, disability, equalities and mental health
• Good numeracy and information management skills
• A high level of perseverance; committed to seeing plans through to their conclusion within agreed timescales
• Excellent motivational, communication and listening skills; able to build rapport and trust with a range of people, especially clients and employers
• Well organised and confident working independently with own caseload and using initiative to identify and make the most of new opportunities
• Able to collaborate successfully within a mixed-disciplinary team
• Able to use Microsoft packages to advanced level
• Good knowledge of the local employment market
• Understanding of work-related benefits
• Understanding of successful job search strategies - eg creating a compelling CV, presenting clients to hiring managers, preparing for interviews

Additional requirements

• Ability easily to commute to different localities across Berkshire
• Personal experience of mental health issues

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.

£31,049 to £37,796 a yearper annum (Incl. of HCAS)