Employment Specialists

IPS Grow; Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington; Remote; GBP 28,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an Employment Specialist to deliver the Individual Placement Support (IPS) model across Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Warrington, helping people with mental health challenges find and sustain paid employment.

You will build relationships with employers, support service users through tailored coaching, and work within a recovery-focused, community-based service. Flexible working may be considered; travel will be required.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent or demonstrable experience.
• Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector.
• Trained in IPS Delivery Model.
• NVQ level 3 in Care or Learning Disability related.
• Knowledge of teaching principles and counselling.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with individuals to identify their skills, aspirations, and career goals.
• Build strong partnerships with local employers to promote the service and secure employment opportunities.
• Collaborate with healthcare professionals and community organisations to provide integrated support.
• Offer coaching, advice, and guidance to help individuals navigate recruitment processes and thrive in their new roles.
• Champion the IPS model, demonstrating a person-centred, strengths-based approach to employment support.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Empathy

Travel for meetings

Education

Degree level education

Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector

Trained in IPS Delivery Model

NVQ Level 3 in Care or Learning Disability related

Knowledge of teaching principles

Counselling

Person Centred Planning

Job description

Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington | Mersey Care NHS Trust

Permanent contract

Could you help people experiencing mental health challenges achieve their employment goals and build a brighter future through work? Join Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust as an Employment Specialist and support people across Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Warrington to find and sustain meaningful paid employment through the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model.

Deadline: 1st November 2026

• North West
• Full-time

Job overview

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Role

Are you passionate about supporting individuals to achieve their employment goals? Do you believe in the transformative power of work and its impact on health and wellbeing? If so, we want to hear from you!

We are looking for dedicated Employment Specialists to join our team and deliver the Individual Placement Support (IPS) model, helping people with mental health conditions find and sustain meaningful employment.

What we’re looking for:

• A commitment to empowering individuals to reach their full potential.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience in employment support (preferred but not essential).
• Knowledge of the local job market and the ability to build relationships with employers.
• A positive, proactive, and compassionate attitude.
• A strengths-based perspective, focusing on clients’ abilities.

If you’re ready to make a lasting impact and help change lives through employment, we’d love to hear from you!

Please note, the role requires travel for meetings with colleagues, service users and local employers.

We have vacancies across Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington

Interviews planned for 19th and 20th November 2026

Responsibilities

The Employment Specialist will join an Individual Placement and Support Team (IPS) working under the direction of the IPS Employment Services Manager to deliver IPS as part of the holistic recovery plan for mental health service users.

The post holder will work directly with employers to secure employment opportunities for people who have experienced mental health problems, and subsequently provide ongoing support depending on employee’s and employer’s needs. The aim will be to enable people who have experienced mental health problems to gain and retain paid employment.

The Employment Specialists will be responsible for:

• Work closely with individuals to identify their skills, aspirations, and career goals.
• Build strong partnerships with local employers to promote the service and secure employment opportunities.
• Collaborate with healthcare professionals and community organisations to provide integrated support.
• Offer coaching, advice, and guidance to help individuals navigate recruitment processes and thrive in their new roles.
• Champion the IPS model, demonstrating a person-centred, strengths-based approach to employment support.

The person

• Naturally interested in and energised by working with and talking to people
• Non -judgemental and trustworthy
• Passion and drive to make a positive difference to people’s lives
• Belief that people with mental illness can gain and sustain meaningful work
• Responds positively to failure and is able to translate it into a valuable learning experience
• Patient and empathetic to others’ situations without imposing own experiences or beliefs onto others
• Ability to work unsupervised
• Ability to listen and make grounded judgements
• Ability to use tact and diplomacy and negotiation skills when dealing with and seeking to new employers
• Reaching shared agreement, effective group/meeting skills
• Ability to learn and assimilate quickly into a variety of situations
• Ability to keep effective records both verbal and written in a timely and accurate fashion

Qualifications
Essential criteria

• Educated to degree level or equivalent or demonstrable experience
• Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector
• Trained in IPS Delivery Model
• NVQ level 3 in Care or Learning Disability related
• Knowledge and understanding of teaching principles.
• Training in Systematic Instruction
• Counselling
• Person Centred Planning

Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria

• Experience of working with people with complex mental health needs or a similar service user group
• Knowledge and experience of recovery and social inclusion principals
• Experience of utilising IT systems
• Experience of working within diverse communities
• Ability to engage with employers across all industries using a variety of methods
• Understanding and experience of working across a range of recruitment/ employment sectors
• Understanding of employment and challenges/barriers for people with complex mental health needs
• Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies and legislation in relation to employment
• Knowledge of the labour market and a demonstrated understanding of ‘market positioning
• Understanding of financial implications between benefits/pay structure and advising service user’s accordingly
• Experience of working in supported employment services
• Understanding of principals and practices of the Individual Placement and Support model (IPS)
• Experience of caring for someone experiencing mental ill health
• Personal experience of using mental health services
• An understanding of self employment or business start up