Employment Support Coach

IPS Grow; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

Leeds Mind is seeking an Employment Support Coach to assist adults with mental health challenges to secure meaningful, long-term work in Leeds. You will work with our clinical team to support clients in breaking down barriers and building confidence.

You will spend time in the community meeting clients face-to-face, provide CV and interview coaching, and build action plans while connecting with local employers to create opportunities.

Qualifications

• Strong organisational skills with caseload management ability.
• Empathy and sensitivity when supporting people with mental health challenges.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Solution-focused approach to help clients overcome barriers.
• Proactive networking with local employers and stakeholders.
• Good IT skills including Word/Excel; comfortable with digital case systems.
• Basic safeguarding awareness and commitment to equality and diversity.
• Willingness to complete the IPS Employment Specialist training programme.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of around 20 clients to support meaningful employment.
• Provide CV support, interview coaching, and action planning.
• Develop personalised steps to help clients reach goals.
• Engage with local employers to create opportunities for clients.
• Build employer relationships and challenge workplace stigma.
• Deliver one-to-one coaching on applications and workplace adjustments.
• Collaborate with clinical teams and attend meetings as needed.
• Maintain accurate records in line with GDPR and safeguarding.

Skills

Organisation

Empathy

Communication

Solution-focused

Networking

IT skills

Safeguarding awareness

Equality & diversity

IPS training

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Case management software

Job description

Could you help someone experiencing mental health challenges take the next step towards meaningful work? Join Leeds Mind as an Employment Support Coach and help people build confidence, overcome barriers and achieve their employment goals.

Deadline: 5th November 2026

• Yorkshire & The Humber
• Full-time

Job overview

Leeds Mind promotes positive mental health and wellbeing and provides help and support to anyone who needs it in and around Leeds. We have faith and optimism in our clients and so the services we deliver are built around their needs. We support the people of Leeds to discover their own resources to ‘recover’ from periods of poor mental health, and to live life independently with their mental health condition.

Our culture and values
Our values of Being Open, Supportive, Brave, Connected, and Resourceful are pivotal to the work we do.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy
Leeds Mind is committed to creating an inclusive environment – equity, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of everything that we do.

We are committed to ensuring that our colleagues, volunteers and people who access our services feel a sense of belonging at Leeds Mind that gives them the confidence to share their unique perspectives and experience.

By creating an inclusive environment that fosters belonging, we aspire to attract colleagues and volunteers who offer diversity of experience and thought. We believe this will ultimately improve the service we provide as well as the employee and volunteer experience.

To find out more about how we are developing this you look at our website.

Role

40% of people who are unemployed struggle with their mental health. Many want to work, but face barriers. With a little support, coaching, guidance and patience, we can change this. You can change this.

As an employment Support Coach, you’ll work with people with severe mental health challenges, assisting them to find meaningful, long term employment. You’ll work with their clinical team to help find ways to break down barriers to working, and support them in taking the next steps in their career.

The role has two major focuses:

First and foremost, you’ll spend time in the community working with a caseload of 20 clients. We find the best results come from meeting face to face with job seekers, so you’ll spend time meeting in public places like coffee shops, libraries, or community hubs. Here you’ll work on CV support, interview coaching, helping to decide what roles would be best to apply for, and helping build action plans to make meaningful steps towards employment. You’ll support your clients through every step of their journey.

The rest of your time will be spend building connections with local employers. Whether it’s large employers with many opportunities, or the local butchers who have a team of 4. When looking for opportunities for our clients, it’s not the size of the employer that matters, it’s the opportunities they can provide.

This role does come with KPI’s. The two main ones are how many people you help into long term jobs in a year, and how many potential employers you connect with on a weekly basis. The numbers are realistic, and reflect the support needed by our clients to gain employment. You’ll be trained on how to track your progress on our internal systems so that we can feedback on our progress to the funders of this work.

Responsibilities

A day in the life of an Employment Support Coach will involve:

• Supporting a caseload of around 20 clients with mental health challenges to find, prepare for, and sustain meaningful employment
• Developing personalised action plans to help clients identify job goals, tackle barriers, and build confidence for interviews and applications
• Reaching out to local employers through networking, cold calling, and face-to-face meetings to create opportunities for your clients
• Building lasting employer relationships, challenging mental health stigma in the workplace, and providing ongoing support to both employer and employee
• Delivering one-to-one coaching on CVs, job applications, interview techniques, reasonable adjustments, and workplace disclosure
• Working closely with clinical teams, attending multi-disciplinary meetings, and co-locating in community settings
• Maintaining accurate, timely records in line with GDPR and safeguarding requirements, and contributing to audits and quality improvement

The person

To be a successful Employment Support Coach, you’ll need:

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a caseload, prioritise tasks, and meet deadlines
• Empathy and sensitivity when working with people experiencing mental health difficulties, with a non-judgemental approach
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build rapport with clients, employers, and clinical teams
• A solution-focused mindset to help clients overcome barriers and achieve their employment goals
• The initiative to network with and engage employers and stakeholders
• Good IT skills including Microsoft Word and Excel, and confidence using digital case management systems
• A basic awareness of safeguarding vulnerable adults and a commitment to equality and diversity
• Willingness to complete the IPS Employment Specialist training programme