Employment Specialist

EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST: Connect To Work North Buckinghamshire

We’re currently recruiting Employment Specialists to join our dedicated Buckinghamshire Connect to Work team

This role forms part of a specialist programme designed to support individuals with disabilities, health conditions or other barriers to work into sustainable paid employment. This role is a county based role but we are looking for people to cover the following areas:

• Buckingham
• Horwood
• Steeple Claydon
• Winslow
• Wing
• Ivinghoe

Job Summary

As one of our Employment Specialists, you’ll play a pivotal role in helping our participants achieve their employment goals. Working primarily with individuals who have health-related support needs and other barriers to work, you’ll identify suitable job opportunities and provide tailored guidance to help them secure meaningful, sustainable employment.

You’ll offer bespoke advice and support to each client, alongside developing strong relationships with referral partners and local employers, that will be key to enabling successful employment outcomes.

To succeed in this role, you’ll bring proven experience supporting individuals with multiple and complex needs. You’ll have a track record of working in target-driven environments while consistently delivering services standards that meet contractual and quality standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Meet, and strive to exceed personal performance targets, Key Performance Indicators and all Quality and Compliance measures.
• Progressively manage a caseload of referred participants with barriers to work
• Undertake in-depth assessments using a suite of tools to fully understand participants circumstances, preferences and holistic barriers to progression to employment
• Achieve the Customer Service and Quality Standards required on the programme.
• Co-produce personalised tailored Action Plans featuring SMART targeting to enable positive and timely progression.
• Use an integrated framework of local specialist services to obtain support to address specific issues (e.g. substance misuse, anger management, debt advice, health and vocational training).
• Use social prescribing to develop and improve participant circumstances
• Work with multiple agencies to develop holistic approaches to support participants
• With participant consent undertake case conferences with external agencies to jointly optimise support packages.
• Fully understand the local labour market to source suitable job opportunities
• Undertaking direct marketing to employers using digital and electronic formats e.g. email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.
• Identify the specific recruitment needs of each employer and undertake tailored pre-screens and group assessments.
• Co-produce effective in-work support plans with participants and employers, based on an assessment of need, providing practical support to ensure a smooth transition into work. When appropriate facilitate job carving opportunities.
• Be mindful of Health & Safety within the participants’s workplace and actively promote and report (if appropriate) to ensure a safe working environment for all participants.
• Develop an understanding of specialist signposting services in the county, building knowledge in areas such as specific disabilities, housing, benefits etc.
• Maintain IT files and participant records to the required compliance and quality standards.
• Work from local hubs and community outreach locations (sometimes alongside other services e.g. housing, health and primary care centres) to increase service accessibility.

Skills and Experience

• A good working knowledge of the local labour market and partner agencies in the specified geographical locations
• Experience of working with people with multiple and complex needs in particular those with disabilities.
• Fully IT literate in using a range of Microsoft Office programmes to include 365 products, Microsoft Teams/Zoom, and web based CRMs
• Experience of successfully working to a range of KPIs
• Experience of delivering services to meet contractual and quality standards
• Full driving licence and own transport
• Knowledge of SEQF/IPS standards
• Level 3 Award in Employability Services Sector or equivalent
• Knowledge of the employability industry
• Knowledge of the recruitment industry

In return for all you’ll bring to Intuitive Thinking Skills, we’re offering a competitive salary range of £29,000 to £31,000 per annum (dependent on experience) along with these benefits:

• 26 days annual leave + Bank Holidays (opportunity to buy/sell additional days)
• Company Pension Scheme

Additional Information

This role is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS/DS) check.

Intuitive Thinking Skills is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.

Compliance

All colleagues are responsible for following organisational policies, procedures and relevant legal and regulatory requirements, including safeguarding, Prevent, health and safety, equality and inclusion, UK GDPR/data protection and information security.

The postholder must support compliance with applicable organisational standards, including ISO 27001 Information Security, ISO 9001 Quality Management and ISO 14001 Environmental Management, by maintaining accurate records, protecting confidential information and escalating concerns appropriately.