Transform lives as an Employment Specialist, empowering individuals with mental health needs to find fulfilling work while joining a caring NHS trust and making a meaningful impact in your community.
Deadline: 6th January 2025
* West Midlands
* Full-time
Job overview
Get involved with a charity that truly cares and join your local NHS trust to make a meaningful impact in your community and positively influence people’s lives.
We are looking for a motivated, passionate self-starter who wants to develop a career in the mental health sector. This position, with on-the-job training, is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference and support those with mental health needs across the Hereford area.
As an Employment Specialist you will play a rewarding and vital role in helping people with mental health needs find meaningful and fulfilling employment. You’ll receive all the training and support you need to take on the role, develop your skills, and have access to a broad range of opportunities within Landau.
We welcome applications from all experience levels and backgrounds. What you will need is the ability to motivate and build relationships with clients, strong organisational skills, the confidence to communicate and engage with a range of employers, and a fundamental belief that anyone with a mental health condition can work.
At Landau, we’re not just a charity; we’re a community making a real difference. Every year, we transform over 800 lives across the West Midlands, empowering individuals through employment opportunities, learning access, and personal growth. As a diverse and ever-growing organisation, we pride ourselves on delivering quality, sustainable services that change lives.
Why Work for Landau?
* NHS Partnership: This role is based within the NHS, meaning you’ll receive a full NHS induction and join the NHS family, working closely with community mental health teams.
* Extensive Training: Benefit from comprehensive in-house training with Landau and ongoing access to NHS training sessions and workshops.
* Professional Growth: Access IPS Grow training and professional communities of practice, held both in-person and virtually on Teams.
* Career Development: Whether you’re planning future projects, supporting fundraising initiatives, or mapping out new services, this role provides plenty of opportunities to grow professionally and make a lasting impact.
* Make an Impact: Get involved in community events like client coffee mornings, client feedback sessions and support groups, while identifying and addressing gaps in support for Herefordshire. You see a gap in support- let’s see if we can fill it
* Exclusive Benefits: Receive a Blue Light Card, giving you access to discounts and rewards. Hybrid work environment, and a competitive benefits package.
Role
What is a Mental Health IPS Employment Advisor?
This is an exciting and dynamic role, where no one day is the same and you’ll be making a genuine difference to people’s lives. Using the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model you’ll be:
* Supporting and motivating individuals with mental health needs to access and sustain paid employment.
* Regularly meeting with clients to listen, help them identify their best job match, reflecting on their skills and aspirations, providing support including CV production and interview techniques.
* Provide in-work support, assessing each clients work-related needs, designing a return-to-work strategy, and ensuring job retention with ongoing contact.
* Advocating for your clients by educating and engaging with employers regarding the IPS service.
* Sourcing job opportunities for your clients through regular contact with local employers within the community.
* Become fully integrated into the clinical teams to build collaborative relationships and receive direct referrals.
Who are we looking for?
* We are looking for an individual who is driven to support your community and want to be part of a team that values and nurtures its members. This role calls for empathy and the ability to initiate and develop relationships with a variety of individuals. Alongside having strong and persuasive communication skills, excellent time management, and exceptional organisational and administrative skills.
* Ideally, we are looking for someone who was experience working with vulnerable people in employment focused programmes or has worked with people on a one-to-one basis providing motivation and support. It is desirable, but not essential, to have knowledge of the barriers faced by people with mental health issues.
* We are also actively interested in individuals with transferrable skills for this role such as experience using a persuasive communication style or promoting a service to a variety of audiences, this can include, but not limited to, recruitment, sales, education, training, mentoring or marketing roles.
* This role is an excellent opportunity to start a long-term career within the mental health sector, develop your skills and make a real impact with Landau.
* We welcome applications from a range of backgrounds and with all kinds of life experience, so apply today to become an Employment Advisor and make a real difference!
Responsibilities
Client Support
* Manage a caseload of up to 20/25 clients, of whom are unemployed looking for work, those in work off sick, and those in work who are requiring retention support.
* Conduct initial meetings with participants to build rapport, gain consent and collect baseline information. Support participants to understand their skills aspiration and goals through the completion of vocational profile and produce a personal employment plan to obtain competitive employment in line with their preferences
* Assist participants with job readiness skills, job search strategies such CV building and interview techniques
* Focus on rapid job search with clients, whilst utilizing local support networks to help individuals overcome their barriers to employment
* Assess individuals support needs related to work which might typically include help with in-work benefits, travel to work, managing health at work etc. and continue providing this once in employment to ensure they retain work
Employer Engagement and Service Promotion
* Source job opportunities for clients through tailored job search and proactive engagement with employers to open-up and secure paid employment
* Engage employers and keep abreast of local labor market trends, job openings, skills requirements and general information that will assist participants in seeking employment
* Provide advice and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments and on-going contact with supervisors to ensure job retention
* Become fully integrated into the clinical teams to build collaborative relationships and receive direct referrals
* Attend all relevant internal and external and internal stakeholder meetings, prioritizing MDTs/ Community Care Meetings.
* Build the profile of the employment service and promote co-production within the clinical team, alongside raising expectations around the ability of clients to access paid work
Administrative and Organisational Responsibilities
* To undertake IPS training and develop an excellent understanding of Fidelity
* To work towards targets in access & employment and demonstrating excellent caseload management
* Ensure all participant information is requested, recorded, stored electronically and in hard copy in accordance with fidelity and compliance requirements so that participant’s journey to employment is fully documented and claims can be made in a timely fashion.
* Ensure you are using the NHS MIS, Carenotes/ RIO to document client’s journey ensuring you adhere to GDPR standards
* Receive and manage referrals ensuring all referrals are contacted within agreed timescales
* To assist in the preparation of project reviews, reports, project audits, case studies and data as required by the 2gether trust, IPS Grow & Landau and other stakeholders
* Ensure that you take positive actions to safeguard young people and vulnerable adults you come into contact and follow correct procedures around safeguarding
* To fully comply with Health and Safety, Equal opportunities/Diversity, Quality assurance, sustainable development, safeguarding and GDPR protocols
* To undertake such other duties, training and/or hours of work as may be reasonably required and which are consistent with the general level of responsibility of this role.
The person
Criteria Essential (E) or Desirable (D)
Technical competency (qualifications and training certificates/ licenses)
* Information, Advice & Guidance (IAG) Level 3 minimum or willing to work towards this,
* Holds Mental Health First Aid Qualification
* Trained in the IPS approach
Experience
* Relevant previous experience in the employment support/ recruitment/ welfare to work/ supported employment field
* Experience working with disabled/disadvantaged young people/adults/children
* Experience and knowledge of barriers faced by people mental health issues
Skills and Attributes
* Experience working with individuals facing employment challenges
* Excellent communication, interpersonal, and advocacy skills
* Ability to build rapport and trust with clients from diverse backgrounds
* Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills
* Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and data management software
* A passion for social justice and a commitment to Landau’s mission
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