Employment Specialist £28,182 - £29,547 per annum inclusive Base: Woking, Surrey Areas of service delivery: Farnborough, Aldershot, Fleet, Yateley Are you interested in helping people who have, or are recovering from, mental health problems, integrate back into work? Would you like to be part of an organisation that counts on the professionalism, insight, expertise and passion of its staff to inspire individual recovery for the people they work with? Then join us as an IPS Employment Specialist. Right now, one of our partners, Waythrough, is looking for an Employment Specialist to join our team in Woking and Leatherhead, Surrey. We help individuals with mental health problems to find paid employment. We also support people to retain their employment when they are struggling at work due to their mental health. We also advise and support employers about mental health in the workplace. But, it’s only possible with the help of people like you. Your challenge? To do everything you can to help the individuals we work with to source appropriate work experience placements with local organisations/employers. Day to day, you’ll offer support, careers advice and guidance, helping people to set their own recovery and employment focused goals and provide training in personal and skills development such as CV preparation, interview techniques etc. You’ll also be responsible for establishing and maintaining positive links with partner organisations, local employers and Mental Health teams and have the initiative to develop and promote the service. Additionally, you will have responsibility for maintaining efficient admin systems to ensure referrals, assessments and reviews are completed in a timely manner. As well as a good understanding of mental health problems and the issues and barriers this can create for our clients, you’ll need excellent motivational, presentation and listening skills and a willingness to travel in the local area and to work outside of office hours as required. The post holder will need to be a car driver and have access to their own vehicle. Service delivery is Surrey and borders wide, however the post holder will be covering the areas of Farnborough, Aldershot, Fleet and Yateley, with the possibility of supporting neighbouring locality. Learning and development is important to us, and we are pleased to be able to offer a wide range of apprenticeships. We hire apprentices into specific roles as well as offering apprenticeships to the workforce. Anyone can apply to undertake an apprenticeship relevant to the role as long as they are in a permanent post and have successfully passed probation. This is a permanent full time post, requiring the post-holder to work 37.5 hours per week. To review the Job Description please click here. We are committed to increasing our diversity and we would welcome applications from those with lived experience and/or who are from a BAME background. This is a rolling recruitment process. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed as and when they apply. To apply, please send a CV and covering letter explaining why you feel you are right for the role. On 1st June 2024, Richmond Fellowship, part of Recovery Focus, a national group of charities highly experienced in providing specialist support services to individuals and families living with the effects of mental ill health, drug and alcohol use, gambling and domestic violence merged with Humankind to form a single organisation that provides the joined-up mental health, housing and drug and alcohol support we’ve all known has been needed for decades. In October 2024, Humankind and Richmond Fellowship was renamed Waythrough to reflect the new organisation. Waythrough launched in October 2024 following the merger of Humankind and Richmond Fellowship. Our vision is to break down the barriers that stop people getting the support they need to live a life they value. We tackle poverty and disadvantage in communities, through mental health, drug and alcohol, housing and related support. We have almost 200 services around England – and nearly 3,500 amazing staff and volunteers who run them. Every year our services support around 125,000 people. Bringing together two big organisations is not a small task and it’ll take a while to fully integrate our systems, processes and approaches. That’s why you will notice the jobs here are still branded ‘Richmond Fellowship’ or ‘Aquarius’ (our subsidiary charity in the Midlands). Next year we’ll be fully integrating our recruitment systems but for now they are separate. Thanks for bearing with us – and don’t forget to check out the Waythrough jobs on the Humankind job site https://peoplekind.my.salesforce-sites.com/recruit/ Aquarius Aquarius is a subsidiary of Waythrough. Aquarius is a Midlands-based charity supporting individuals to overcome the harms caused by drugs, alcohol and gambling. Aquarius has always held the view that people we support could resolve their problems with support and guidance and that people have the ability to find their own solutions to their problems. Our roles across the organisation include Practitioners and Administrators as well as Team Managers. Find out more at www.aquarius.org.uk