Position: IPS Employment Specialist — Salary: £29,556 – £35,413 — Location: Essex
We are recruiting for up to 10 roles covering Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castlepoint, Chelmsford, Colchester, Maldon, Rochford & Tendring.
The Role
Working with clients, health professionals, service providers and employers, IPS Employment Specialists focus on making each person’s journey into employment — alongside improved social inclusion and wellbeing — as smooth as possible. You will manage a caseload of clients with mental health support needs, providing person‑centred advice and guidance to help them secure and sustain paid employment that matches their preferences.
In this role, you will deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach (full training provided) and support individuals throughout their employment journey, from vocational profiling through to the point where face‑to‑face in‑work support is no longer required. This typically includes six key stages: outreach and referral; vocational profiling; action planning; job search activities (including one‑to‑one engagement with employers to match clients to suitable opportunities); job placement and coordination of in‑work support; and the managed withdrawal of support once it is no longer needed.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Manage and support an active caseload of around 25 clients who have mental health support needs who are motivated to start/return to work.
- Deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach for which training will be given.
- Meet and support clients to understand their key skills, aspirations and goals through completing a Vocational Profile and produce an Action Plan to help them obtain and sustain competitive employment. This includes 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 on‑going 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 conducting regular visits, effective monitoring and in‑work support to clients and employers to help sustain employment.
- Spend time getting to know local employers, in order to negotiate job opportunities that meet each individual’s strengths, needs, abilities and preferences.
- To challenge inequalities experienced by clients and address existing discrimination, whilst ensuring a process of learning 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 work place – this can include exploring ‘job carving’ i.e. carving small slices of work from the 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.
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