Main area: Employment Specialist - Mental Health Services
Grade Band: 5
Contract: 1x Full Time Permanent and 1x Full Time Fixed Term until 31 August 2025
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 350-TWS6775257
Site: Warrington and Halton Town Widnes
Salary: £29,970 - £36,483 per annum pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: Today at 23:59
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnic minorities, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore, we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
Job overview
IPS Employment Specialists B5 – Permanent Posts
An exciting opportunity has arisen for 1 x full time Band 5 Employment Specialist for the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Services in Halton and Warrington. The IPS service supports Mersey Care service users with severe and enduring mental health conditions who are under Community Mental Health and/or Early Intervention Teams and are looking for paid employment as part of their recovery journey. The post holders will be expected to adhere rigorously to the national and international IPS model. The IPS Teams are situated under the portfolio of The Life Rooms.
The Employment Specialists will be expected to travel across an identified geographical patch for meetings with clinical teams and the staff who will be co-located there, with service users, and with local employers.
The post holders will benefit from being a part of The Life Rooms services and will have the support of peers within The Life Rooms Teams.
We would expect applicants to have demonstrable experience of supporting individuals into paid employment and to be confident in liaising with employers to gain access to work opportunities in the local area. Some prior knowledge of the IPS model would be advantageous.
Main duties of the job
The Employment Specialist will join an Individual Placement and Support Team (IPS) working under the direction of the IPS Employment Services Manager to deliver IPS as part of the holistic recovery plan for mental health service users. The post holder will work directly with employers to secure employment opportunities for people who have experienced mental health problems, and subsequently provide ongoing support depending on employee’s and employer’s needs. The aim will be to enable people who have experienced mental health problems to gain and retain paid employment.
The Employment Specialists will be responsible for:
1. Working directly with the clinical teams in which they are co-located to generate referrals into the service
2. Managing a caseload of a maximum of 25 service users at any one time (full time posts) to support them into appropriate paid employment
3. Working directly with employers to secure employment opportunities for people who have experienced mental health problems
4. Providing ongoing support dependent upon employee and employer needs
5. Recording their daily activity in line with the IPS requirements
Additionally, the post holder will work directly with all relevant stakeholders: the service user, Employment Specialist colleagues, community staff, Consultant Psychiatrists and employers – the aim is to enable the majority of the service users on the caseload to gain and retain paid employment.
Person specification
* Educated to degree level or equivalent or demonstrable experience
* Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector
* Trained in IPS Delivery Model
* NVQ level 3 in Care or Learning Disability related
* Knowledge and understanding of teaching principles, Training in: Systematic Instruction, Counselling, Person Centred Planning, Adult education/training, Sales & marketing
Knowledge and Experience
* Experience of working with people with complex mental health needs or a similar service user group
* Knowledge and experience of recovery and social inclusion principles
* Experience of utilising IT systems
* Experience of working within diverse communities
* Ability to engage with employers across all industries using a variety of methods
* Understanding and experience of working across a range of recruitment/employment sectors
* Understanding of employment and challenges/barriers for people with complex mental health needs
* Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies and legislation in relation to employment
* Knowledge of the labour market and a demonstrated understanding of ‘market positioning
* Understanding of financial implications between benefits/pay structure and advising service users accordingly
* Experience of working in supported employment services
* Understanding of principles and practices of the Individual Placement and Support model (IPS)
* Experience of caring for someone experiencing mental ill health
* Personal experience of using mental health services
* An understanding of self-employment or business start-up
Values
* Accountability
* Support
* High professional standards
* Responsive to service users
* Engaging leadership style
* Transparency and honesty
* Discreet
* Change oriented
Skills
* Naturally interested in and energised by working with and talking to people
* Non-judgemental and trustworthy
* Passion and drive to make a positive difference to people's lives
* Belief that people with mental illness can gain and sustain meaningful work
* Responds positively to failure and is able to translate it into a valuable learning experience
* Patient and empathetic to others' situations without imposing own experiences or beliefs onto others
* Ability to work unsupervised
* Ability to listen and make grounded judgements
* Ability to use tact and diplomacy and negotiation skills when dealing with and seeking to new employers
* Reaching shared agreement, effective group/meeting skills
* Ability to learn and assimilate quickly into a variety of situations
* Ability to keep effective records both verbal and written in a timely and accurate fashion
* Ability to translate employer need into job seeker opportunity
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