IPS Employment Specialist in Manchester

Location: Trafford, Greater Manchester

Hours: 37.5 pw

Accountable To: Employment Specialist Team Lead

Background: Intuitive Thinking Skills place a high value on the life experiences of individuals, regardless of their backgrounds. All roles within the organisation are primarily focussed on fostering these experiences, supporting employees to thrive in whatever sector they are working in. This emphasis on the skills of our workforce is primary to all other activities, as without a relevantly skilled, empowered and highly motivated workforce we will fail to support the needs and aspirations of our customers. Our IPS Service supports individuals facing drug and alcohol challenges to build a meaningful, sustainable positive future through integrating employment as a part of their recovery. We are committed to embedding the voices, expertise and leadership of people with living & lived experiences in everything we do, from service design to delivery and evaluation.

Job Purpose: As an IPS Employment Specialist you will play a central role in ensuring people referred to our service receive high quality employment support through regular 1-2-1 support in the community. You will embed employment as a part of their recovery by working in partnership with the treatment team to ensure all individuals can access IPS employment support.

Job Summary: Under the supervision of the Senior Employment Specialist, manage a caseload of up to 25 people currently in community based treatment services for drug and/or alcohol dependency and who are unemployed, and who wish to secure paid employment.

• Managing a caseload of c.25 people in drug and alcohol treatment services who wish to return to, or start, paid employment. Clients will be worked with for up to 9 months, plus up to 4 months of in-work support, as specified in the IPS-AD protocol.
• Building effective working relationships with local employers, training providers to secure employment opportunities for people in community treatment for substance misuse, including ensuring the service is focused on accessing the ‘hidden’ labour market.
• Providing job development and job search activities directed toward positions that are individualized to the interests and uniqueness of the client, following the evidence-based principles and procedures of IPS supported employment.
• Providing ongoing support according to both the employee’s and employer’s needs to enable people who have experienced dependency on drugs and/or alcohol retain employment once secured.
• Promoting the profile of employment and working embedded within the clinical team to raise expectations around the ability of clients to attain paid work.

Overview of Main Responsibilities:

• To prepare individuals for employment through assessing each person’s individual employment needs through vocational profiling, and then actively support them to achieve their employment goals, in partnership with the clinical team.
• To promote the benefits of supporting clients to access employment within the clinical team and external employers, aiming to raise the profile of IPS services, and raise expectations around the ability of clients to access paid employment.
• To work with client keyworkers and clinical staff, including through case conferencing, to ensure that clients receive appropriate support from everyone involved in their care during the return to work process.
• To provide advice and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments and ongoing contact with supervisors to ensure job retention.
• To assess individual support needs related to work which might typically include help with welfare benefits, travel to work, managing health at work etc.
• To work flexibly on occasion as required by clients and employers, which may require some working out of normal office hours.

Key Relationships: Organisation managers, human resources, clinical teams, user groups, VCS organisations, local colleges, local employment services, local employers and Jobcentre Plus.

Professional Development: To participate in your own IPS and management supervision, objective setting/appraisal, and personal development plan.

Policy and/or service development: To work with the local IPS Employment Specialist Team Lead and service management to ensure that vocational support services offered continue to develop effectively. To participate in effective monitoring and evaluation systems in relation to the contract.

Research and Development: To keep abreast of changing practice within IPS and vocational support more generally.

Who we’re looking for: We welcome people from a range of backgrounds and with all kinds of life experience, but here’s what we’d like you to have:

• Experience or an understanding of working with people with drug and alcohol recovery support needs.
• Experience of working with people on a one-to-one basis, offering motivation and support.
• Empathy with those with drug and alcohol recovery support needs.
• The ability to build good relationships with a range of different people, from referral partners/sources across a range of settings, employers and service users.
• The ability to demonstrate considerable resilience and adaptability.
• The ability to manage multiple tasks at once.
• A passion for making a difference to peoples’ lives.

Annual Leave: 26 days paid holiday pa + bank holidays, rising to 28 days holiday + bank holidays with each full service year accrued.

Additional Information: Full training package provided, Auto-enrolment Pension, Generous Staff Benefit package.

Inclusive Recruitment and Accessibility: Intuitive Thinking Skills is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We welcome applications from candidates with a range of backgrounds, experiences and working styles. Candidates are encouraged to let us know if they require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process. Applicants do not need to meet every desirable criterion to apply; we are interested in relevant skills, potential and values alignment as well as direct experience.

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.