GFIE-485- DWP Work Coach - IPSWICH in Suffolk

This role at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is available to people who served in the Armed Forces, are in your resettlement period and due to leave the Armed Forces within a reasonable time frame, or Military Spouse/Partner: your current partner must still be serving or was discharged within the last 12 months. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. We are the UK's biggest public service department and administer the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.

The Work Coach role is rewarding, varied and complex and no two days will be the same as you will be dealing with different customers face to face and their specific support needs each day. The Work Coach role helps individuals and families towards financial independence through work and enables them to claim the support they need as they progress. Work Coaches are customer-focused and able to deliver exceptional service with empathy and compassion to people who need their support.

Job details:

• Organisation: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• Job Grade: Executive Officer (EO)
• Positions available: 6 (1 per location)
• Salary: Outer London £35,615, Inner London £37,016, National £32,137
• Location: BROMLEY (outer London); ENFIELD (outer London); HARROW (outer London); IPSWICH (National); FOREST HILL (inner London); LONDON (inner London)
• Contract Length: 18 months
• Hours: The full-time working week in DWP is 37 hours. You may be required to work at any time between the hours of 7.45 am and 8:00 pm on any day between Monday to Friday, and 8.45 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday. Managers will agree working patterns with successful applicants within these business hours and review these as appropriate. Part-time and job-sharing patterns are available but must meet business needs. We will do our best to let people with existing part-time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line with current business needs. Please note that successful part-time and job-share candidates may be required to work full time for specific periods to complete and consolidate training.

About the job:

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and aspire to being the most inclusive employer in the United Kingdom. The Work Coach role is rewarding, varied and complex and involves dealing with customers face to face and their specific support needs each day. This role focuses on helping customers towards financial independence through work and enabling access to the required support.

As a Work Coach you will help individuals and families towards financial independence through work and enable them to claim the support they need as they progress. You will be customer-focused, delivering exceptional service with empathy and compassion to people who need your support. You will use sound judgement to help people through challenging times, and tailor coaching to improve their ability to find, stay in, and progress in a job.

Key Accountabilities:

The Work Coach role is wide-ranging and diverse. You will work with customers, employers and colleagues through face-to-face, digital and telephone contact on a daily basis. Main activities include:

• Providing support to customers claiming Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support.
• Offering quality advice about job search actions, supporting effective job searching in a largely digital environment, and matching to suitable vacancies.
• Meeting legal duties to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and ensuring customers get additional support to access services.
• Building positive relationships with customers that encourage, motivate, and build trust.
• Developing in-depth knowledge of local employment opportunities and partner support.
• Making timely decisions based on customer needs and referring to appropriate help and support.
• Being accountable for performance and management of your caseload.

Person specification:

What we are looking for:

• Effective communication skills both verbally and in writing to a wide range of diverse customers.
• Ability to understand complex information and give clear explanations.
• Ability to coach customers to improve movement into work.
• Capability to navigate a range of computer systems to action tasks and coach customers to be confident using digital work search tools.
• Ability to handle telephony queries and manage difficult situations calmly and professionally.