Job summary
IPS stands for "Individual Placement and Support". It is an evidence-based approach to helping people with mental health conditions find and keep a paid job.
Having a job can bring numerous benefits to people;routine, structure, identity, social opportunities, a purpose, as well as a wage or salary. We know having a job can help people with mental health conditions to recover.
At present, only around 8% of people receiving support from secondary mental health services are in paid employment, while studies suggest almost 90% of people with serious and enduring mental health conditions want to work. The IPS Employment Team aims to provide the right support to help this happen.
Exciting permanent opportunities have arisen for two Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Senior Employment Specialists, covering the below areas
North Yorkshire
York and Selby
The IPS Senior Employment Specialist will hold their own individual IPS caseload whilst providing support and guidance to a small team of IPS Employment Specialists and IPS Employment Assistants, whilst supporting and reporting in to IPS Team Leader.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will support a team of IPS Employment Specialists and IPS Employment Assistants in their locality, providing effective supervision, training, mentoring, and role modelling of the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach to the team, ensuring this is understood as part of the holistic recovery plan for mental health service users.
The post holder will also be required to independently manage their own maximum caseload of 25 people at any one time who have experienced mental health problems and who are unemployed. You will support the service users on your caseload to gain and retain paid employment by offering individual placement and support.
The IPS Senior Employment Specialist will be supporting the IPS Employment Specialists and IPS Employment Assistants, ensuring they provide a personalised service to clients. They will give IPS Employment Specialists the confidence to use the flexibilities available to them, recognising innovation in helping clients find and remain in paid work.
This role is part of a wider employment support service, working closely with people with moderate to severe common mental health problems and their clinicians.
The role will involve working directly with IPS Team Leader and partners, Jobcentre Plus, employers, trade unions and employment agencies to secure paid employment opportunities, including supporting patients and their employers to retain these opportunities for up to one year once gained.
About us
We're committed to co-creating a great experience for our colleagues. This means listening to what staff are telling us and working together to be the best employer we can be.
Our staff are our most important asset and recognising their excellent work and the vital contributions they make to patient care is very important.
We have achieved the gold Investors in People (IIP) standard and have been commended on great people management practice and demonstrating a commitment to staff development.
We are signed up to the Disability Confident Scheme. This means we have to demonstrate that we're taking positive action to attract, recruit and retain disabled people
We have an award-winning system for delivering efficiency through clinician-led quality improvements.
All staff who join us are provided with a comprehensive induction programme, starting on their first day of employment.
Continuous professional development is important to us. Once you're comfortable in your new role, you and your manager will work collaboratively to form a Personal Development Plan (PDP), your personal career aspirations are taken into account and the trust will provide you with the resources you need to develop.
It's important our staff are able to raise concerns about patient safety and let us know when we need to improve services. We have a number of ways people can do this.
Date posted
21 February 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 5
Salary
£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time
Reference number
346-NYA-013-25
Job locations
North Moor House
North Yorkshire / York and Selby
DL6 2FG
Job description
Job responsibilities
The successful applicants will support a high-quality locality IPS service that adheres to principles of best practice and undertake supervision, guidance and support to IPS Employment Specialists as agreed.
The successful candidate will be dynamic and highly motivated, with excellent communication skills to enable you to work/engage effectively with your IPS Team Leader and team of IPS Employment Specialists and with a wide range of agencies and employers, clients and sometimes their families.
Innovation, determination and ability to influence assertively are key to the success of this role.
You will apply consistently high standards, have knowledge of relevant legislation and be willing to attend training as required. The successful candidate needs to demonstrate a strong commitment to employment and social inclusion.
IPS supervision and clinical support from IPS Team Leader and community mental health team members will be offered on a regular basis with ongoing training and development opportunities relevant to the post.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.
Additional contact details:
Danielle Liversedge, IPS Team Leader.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
1. Numeracy and Literacy level 2 (or above)
2. Minimum of level 5 qualification related to IPS practice. Level 5 - diploma of higher education (DipHE), foundation degree, higher national diploma (HND), level 5 award, level 5 certificate, level 5 diploma, level 5 NVQ. If level 5 award (or higher) is not a health or social care related subject will complete care certificate during first 6 months of employment. OR A minimum of 4 years of experience in. delivering employment support, delivering health/social care support, providing coaching/advice and guidance
Desirable
3. Evidence of additional qualifications relevant to role
4. Completed care certificate
Experience
Essential
5. Significant experience of providing vocational/employment support
6. Experience of working with people with mental health problems or a similar service user group within health, social services or the voluntary sector
7. Experience of supporting people with MH conditions into vocational/employment activities.
8. Experience of assessing, planning and facilitating activities that focus on recovery and vocational skills.
9. Experience of participating in service development or other quality improvement initiatives.
10. Experience of partnership working, negotiation and liaison work with other agencies
11. Experience of staff supervision and coaching
Desirable
12. Experience of working in a service where agreed targets are in place, demonstrating specific outcomes
13. Experience in running projects
14. Experience of working within a multi - disciplinary team
15. Experience of delivering training
16. Lived experience
Knowledge
Essential
17. Substantial understanding of return to work planning.
18. Understanding of the employment needs and barriers and difficulties faced by people with mental health conditions in relation to employment
19. Awareness of the secondary effects on the individual that could be caused by their mental health experience, including awareness that many individuals with mental health conditions may also have primary or secondary health conditions and disabilities. The IPS employment supervisor will have the knowledge to understand the work implications of these conditions, confidence, fear of failure etc
20. Knowledge of employment law and the Equality Act 2010
21. Knowledge of the evidence base for interventions to support people with common mental health problems remain in, return to & gain work
22. Knowledge of IPS principles and approach
23. Knowledge of employment and disability related benefits
24. Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies and legislation in relation to employment
25. Able to use IT and tools such as MS Word, Power point and Excel
Desirable
26. Working knowledge of community resources.
27. Awareness of the Job Centre Plus Employment, Health Condition and Disability guide notes.
Skills
Essential
28. Effective written and oral communication skills.
29. Can effectively manage time to meet deadlines while maintaining high standards
30. Good negotiation skills and a persuasive style
31. Organisational and time management skills.
32. Ability to prioritise and plan own caseload.
33. Ability to provide vocational assessments and profiling, or willingness to gain this ability in a specific timeframe.
34. Ability to assess individual strengths in relation to employment
35. Ability to adapt activities to be appropriate for the needs of an individual client.
36. Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets
37. Excellent interpersonal skills- including the ability to develop relationships with clients, carers, staff, employers and other agencies being astute in relation to the needs of all
38. Ability to collect and report data to support service performance and evaluation
39. Manage competing demands with project management tools and techniques
40. Maintain effective and organised administration systems
41. Ability to role model excellent practice and standard and motivate team to meet performance targets
42. Excellent coaching and active listening skills, ability to ask perceptive questions that tease out important information through mentoring and coaching
43. Abilities to persuade and negotiate in a constructive and appropriate manner
44. Able to work strategically and across organisational boundaries
45. Ability to collect and report data to support service performance and evaluation
Desirable
46. Ability to negotiate with employers on behalf of service users
47. Ability to be flexible, open and creative in problem solving
48. Ability to work as part of a multi - disciplinary team