Employment Specialist

Base pay range

Actual pay will be based on skills and experience – talk with your recruiter to learn more.

This role will cover Andover and is community-based working and site-based work in clinical settings.

Working with clients, health professionals, service providers and employers, IPS Employment Specialists ensure a person’s journey into employment— with improved social inclusion and wellbeing—is as easy as possible. You will manage a caseload of clients with mental health support needs, assisting them in securing sustainable paid employment in line with their preferences. Your role will be to deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach (training will be given), providing person-centered advice and guidance to clients while building positive relationships with local employers to enable clients to move into suitable employment.

The Role

You will work with people on their individual employment journey from vocational profiling to the point where they no longer require face-to-face in-work support. The six key stages on a typical journey are: outreach/referral; vocational profiling; action planning; job search activities (including working one-to-one with employers to match people with appropriate employment); job placement and coordinating support whilst in employment; managing withdrawal of support as the in-work support is no longer required.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of around 20 clients with mental health support needs who are motivated to start/return to work.
• Deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach (training will be given).
• Meet and support clients to understand their key skills, aspirations and goals through completing a Vocational Profile and producing an Action Plan to help them obtain and sustain competitive employment, including support with their job search, CV production, application forms, interview techniques and career development.
• Assess client’s support needs related to work which may include benefits/welfare advice, disclosure of mental health symptoms, etc., and provide support & guidance.
• Attend weekly clinical team meetings as an embedded IPS practitioner.
• Source job opportunities for clients through tailored job search and regular contact with local employers to explore hidden as well as advertised employment opportunities.
• Provide education and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments, return-to-work strategy and ongoing contact with the employer to ensure job retention.
• Build relationships with colleagues in clinical teams to engage and generate referrals and create collaborative working partnerships with clinical staff (promoting employment as a positive intervention in the recovery journey).
• Once employment has been secured continue to provide quality service through regular visits, effective monitoring and in-work support to clients and employers to help sustain employment.
• Spend time getting to know local employers, negotiating job opportunities that meet each individual’s strengths, needs, abilities and preferences.
• Challenge inequalities experienced by clients and address existing discrimination, whilst ensuring a learning process for the organisation.
• Work with employers to promote the service, identify job opportunities and ensure appropriate strategies are in place to reduce barriers in the workplace – including exploring ‘job carving’ (carving small slices of work from duties other staff do not have time to do).

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience/understanding of working with people with mental health support needs, or a similar client group within health, social services or the voluntary sector.
• Experience of working with someone on a one-to-one basis.
• Proven experience of meeting and exceeding outcomes and targets.
• Experience of managing multiple tasks at any one time.
• Previous experience of working assertively to influence decision makers.
• Experience of supporting people to obtain or keep work.
• Experience of working within mental health services.
• Previous experience of delivering a service using the IPS model.

Seniority level

Associate

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Health Care Provider, Customer Service, and Training

Industries

Staffing and Recruiting, Public Health, and Health and Human Services

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