IPS Peer Employment Specialist

Job overview

People with severe mental health challenges often face major barriers to employment. While over 75% want paid work, only 6–8% achieve it.

Berkshire Healthcare’s Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Employment Service, now celebrating its tenth anniversary, is looking for a Peer Employment Specialist to help change this. The role focuses on supporting people with severe mental health issues to gain, retain, and sustain paid employment.

At the start of your IPS journey, you will promote employment as a key part of recovery, working closely within Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) to build relationships and encourage timely referrals to the IPS service.

To apply, you must have personal experience of accessing secondary mental health services and feel able to manage your diagnosis well. Most importantly, we value your lived experience, resilience, willingness to support others, and ability to build positive relationships.

Full IPS training will be provided. You will support clinicians and clients in making informed choices about employment while helping challenge perceptions around mental health and work. Experience in supported employment or mental health services is helpful, but empathy, hope, and determination are essential.

There are two full-time roles (37.5 hours) available across the West and East Berkshire Community Mental Health Services teams, with travel required across Berkshire Healthcare locations.

Main duties of the job

• Act as a visible and active presence within CMHS, promoting IPS and employment as a core part of recovery.

• Build strong working relationships across CMHS to generate appropriate and timely IPS referrals.

• Hold a caseload of around 20 clients, supporting individuals to explore employment goals in line with IPS principles.

• Share lived experience appropriately to instill hope, build motivation, and reduce stigma around work and mental health.

• Work closely with IPS Employment Specialists, clinicians, and MDT members to ensure integrated and coordinated support.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The “must haves” for this role:

• A degree or experience in health, social care, or employment support

• You will need to have accessed secondary mental health services and have reached a time in your life where you feel you are able to manage your diagnosis well

• Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues (or other disadvantaged groups) into employment

• Ability to travel across West/East Berkshire

• Able to demonstrate through examples offered at interview excellent motivational, communication and listening skills

• Able to demonstrate a high level of organisation and perseverance in the application and at interview

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.

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.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Gurpreet Athwal on 07815485139 or email:  [email protected] who’ll be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.