Employment Specialist, IPS Employment Service

Job overview

People with severe mental health issues face huge barriers when it comes to employment. Over 75 per cent of them would like paid work, but only 6-8 per cent achieve it.

Could you be part of the team that’s dedicated to addressing this injustice? Berkshire Healthcare’s Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment service, now in its tenth anniversary year, are looking for employment specialists to champion our mission and support people with severe mental health issues – your clients – to gain, sustain and retain paid work.

Our diverse team brings together a wide range of strengths and skills. We’ll train you in the IPS approach so you can support clients effectively, build relationships with employers, and help change perceptions of mental health. Experience in supported employment or working with severe mental health issues is beneficial, but empathy, hope, and determination are essential.

We have 3 full time roles available (37.5 hours) within our West & East Berkshire Community Mental Health Services teams. Based at Reading, Newbury or Bracknell you would be expected to travel across Berkshire occasionally.

It’s a highly varied job where you’ll spend most of your week in the community, meeting clients and employers, and making a vital contribution to the team’s activities.

*For salary some locations attract HCA supplement

Main duties of the job

• You’ll have the opportunity to transform the lives of your clients, to give them hope, direction and support their recovery journey. It's also challenging, so you’ll need to be able to demonstrate perseverance, whilst being empathic and dedicated to finding clients a role that’s right for them.

• You’ll support a caseload of up to 20 people with severe mental health issues who are unemployed or struggling in the workplace.
• Working directly with all relevant stakeholders – including clients, clinicians, consultant psychiatrists and employers and Job Centre Plus – you’ll aim to enable your clients to gain, sustain and retain paid employment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The “must haves” for this role:

• Degree or evidence of equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues, (or other disadvantaged groups) into employment .
• A Car Driver with access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

Please note: We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

While we are a licensed sponsor, we must follow the criteria set by UK Visas and Immigration for sponsoring overseas nationals under the Skilled Worker route. After reviewing this position, we believe it does not meet the requirements for sponsorship.

For more information on Skilled Worker visa eligibility, please visit the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.