Employment Specialist - Employment Coach - Band 5

We welcome people from a range of backgrounds and with a variety of experience for this role. We will train you on the Individual Placement & Support (IPS) approach, giving you the tools you need to provide expert support and advice to clients, while also building positive relationships with employers and changing perceptions around mental health.

You will be required to:

Proactively manage a caseload of people, who have experienced Mental Health Difficulties, to either find and maintain paid employment, or to retain existing employment.

Follow the IPS model, collate evidence and participate in Fidelity Reviews.

Identify and meet the employment goals of clients by providing individually tailored programmes, using a person-centered approach.

Work within a multi-disciplinary environment and liaise closely with a variety of stakeholders i.e. Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Citizen Advise

Work proactively at Employer Engagement and research the labour market and spend time getting to know local employers, in order to negotiate job opportunities.

Are you looking for a career where you can make a positive difference to the lives of people with Mental Health Difficulties?

Do you believe you have the skills to support people back into employment?

If so this role may be just what you're looking for!

For people who need Mental Health support, getting back into work is a vital step on their recovery journey. The evidence backs this up and although 90% of people with Severe Mental Illness want to work, only 8% of them are in paid employment. This is why we are looking for people to join our friendly Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Service, as an Employment Specialist.

This is an incredibly rewarding role - you will have the opportunity to transform the lives of your clients, to give them hope, direction and support their recovery journey. This is also a challenging role, so you'll need to be resilient, empathetic and dedicated to finding clients employment that is right for them. As a people person, you will build a good rapport with your clients, gaining a real understanding of their key skills, their aspirations and their career goals. You will also spend time building productive relationships with employers, in order to identify and negotiate job opportunities in the hidden labour market., We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust.

The annual NHS Staff Survey gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust. For the 2023 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%). It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:

• 89.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users;


• 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work;


• 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;


• 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative


Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.