Senior Employment Specialist (Individual Placement and Support) in Surrey

Change Grow Live are a charity dedicated to the belief that we can make a difference to our Service Users lives, offering support and respect in a safe environment, treating each service user as an individual and working with them to find the right treatment and care options. Our core values are ‘Be open, be compassionate and be bold,’ and our team members apply these daily to achieve our mission of helping people change the direction of their lives, grow as individuals, and live life to its full potential.

We have an exciting opportunity for an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Senior Employment Specialist with the skills and experience to lead a team of Employment Specialists to deliver a high fidelity IPS service, enabling Service Users to access and sustain paid employment as part of their recovery goals. The IPS Senior Employment Specialist will manage a team of six IPS Employment Specialists integrated across the South West London IPS Service. The Senior Employment Specialist will ensure IPS service provision is delivered with high fidelity to the IPS model. They will provide IPS leadership, supervision, training, caseload management, and role modelling of the IPS approach as part of the holistic recovery plan for people in structured treatment for drug and/or alcohol use. You will be an excellent team player with the ability to build effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders including service users, commissioners, treatment service managers and staff, benefits agency staff, local employers and ETE providers.

Where: Croydon, with travel across Merton, Kingston, Sutton, Richmond and Wandsworth

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: Full Time, 37.5 hours per week

Full-time hours at Change Grow Live are 37.5 hours per week. For part-time roles, the salary and payments will be pro rata based on contracted hours.

Responsibilities

Service Overview: IPS forms a fundamental commitment in the Government’s Drug Strategy and will be implemented in all treatment services in England. This evidence-based employment support model helps service users secure preference-led paid work, proven to be more effective than any other form of employment support. South West London IPS, including 1 Senior Employment Specialist, 1 Deputy Senior Employment Specialist and 6 Employment Specialists, offers support within structured treatment services to individuals motivated to find paid work.

In this role:

• Effectively manage a high-quality service that adheres to the principles of IPS best practice.
• Monitor and manage performance of the IPS Employment Specialists – guide them individually on best practice and achieving individual and team job outcome targets.
• Create a culture of continuous improvement.
• Identify training needs of staff and arrange appropriate training to support with continuous professional development.
• Support the design and delivery of in-house staff training and development (including facilitating peer learning and best practice).
• Involve service users in co-production of service developments where possible.
• Coordinate the work of Employment Specialists in relation to building relationships with employers to effectively access the hidden labour market, external agencies and delivery of job seeking groups.
• Produce regular monitoring reports for internal and external stakeholders, including commissioners.

Join us and play a pivotal role in setting up this integrated service. The Senior IPS Employment Specialist will play a vital role in establishing the new service, you'll collaborate closely with key stakeholders to promote and establish the service across South West London.

About You:

• Educated to degree level, or with equivalent relevant work experience.
• Strong communication skills for building effective relationships.
• Proficiency in team management and support strategies.
• Aptitude in data collection and reporting for IPS services.
• Ability to engage and manage staff effectively.
• Dedication to assisting individuals in securing paid employment.
• Experience in engaging employers and cultivating partnerships.
• Firm belief in supporting all individuals to access paid employment.
• Proven ability to connect with individuals, especially understanding challenges faced by those affected by substance misuse.

What We Offer:

• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays. Additionally, you'll receive one extra day of annual leave for each year of service during your first five years, therefore you will enjoy 30 days of leave after five years with us.
• Paid ‘Wellness’ hour each week, ‘Wellness’ hub, and Employee Assist Programme.
• Contributory pension scheme.
• Great benefits incl. discounts for shopping, cinema, holidays, etc.
• A supportive team passionate about their work.
• Training, career development & progression opportunities.
• Generous Refer a friend scheme for successful candidates.

If you're excited about this opportunity, apply now and be part of our transformative journey at Change Grow Live. Join us in making a positive difference in people's lives.

Please review the attached Job Description and Role Specifics for a detailed outline of responsibilities and Person Specification. Direct applications only we will not be engaging agencies for this vacancy. Please note: This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK at the time of application. For applicants with time-limited visas, unfortunately, we are unable to support new visa applications or extensions.

More information about eligible roles and occupations can be found here: Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Salary Range (pro rata if part time):

CGL points 31 to 33 (£35,220.59 - £37,184.90)

ILW / OLW /Fringe:

Outer London Weighting (£2,195.72)

Closing Date:

7/6/2026

If you have any questions on this opportunity that you would like to talk through please contact us using the below details:

Mia Tillyer | mia.tillyer@cgl.org.uk | 07436021640

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level.