Work Placement Co-ordinator & Job Coach in Devon, Exeter

Work location: Dartington and surrounding areas

Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week, 52 weeks per year

Salary: £28,353.00 - £33,754.50 per annum

Are you proactive, organised and experienced in working with vulnerable people with learning disabilities? Do you love seeking new opportunities to support growth and progression? We have an exciting new opportunity within our college team.

This role is integral to enabling students to transition into independence. You will be working to find local businesses that share our vision of supporting people to gain work experience. Through the work you do, you will find suitable placements to match students' interests, work with employers to assess suitability and responsibilities, and ensure workplaces are safe. Throughout a student's time at a work placement, you'll be there both in person or behind the scenes supporting them and will be working closely with your wider college team to encourage and monitor progress.

Who we are: Since 1996, we've been empowering people with learning disabilities in Devon to achieve their dreams and build fulfilling lives. Our core values of kindness, respect, and positivity guide everything we do.

What you'll do: As a Work Placement Coordinator & Job Coach, you will play a pivotal role in the success of our students through:

• Generating and maintaining new and exciting work placements for students, completing the necessary health and safety and safeguarding checks, as well as arranging and supporting with student interviews.
• Supporting students into & during their work placements and being point of contact for employers.
• Monitoring and ensuring that students have positive outcomes through their work placements.
• Working alongside colleagues within the college with work placement diary management and students' individual learning plans.

You will work 37.5 hours per week, Monday-Friday 08.30-16.30, over 52 weeks per year. This role will be based at our College/Central Support Office in Dartington; however, due to the nature of the role, you will be travelling to surrounding areas such as Torbay, Newton Abbot and Ivybridge, so the ability to travel between placements is essential.

What we're looking for: You'll be a motivated and experienced professional who is passionate about making a difference. You should have:

• Significant experience in coaching and mentoring young people with learning disabilities and/or working 1:1 with vulnerable children/young adults with complex needs.
• Extensive and demonstrable experience in developing and maintaining work placement partnerships with local organisations.
• Experience in building and maintaining professional relationships with employers, students, families, colleagues and other stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills (both verbal and written), as well as an organised and detail-oriented approach.
• The right mindset; a positive and practical person, who is enthusiastic and proactive about student outcomes through the encouragement of work placements.
• The ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
• Ideally, you will have worked in an FE college previously.

Most importantly, we are looking for someone that is aligned to our work ethic; we are a relatively small charity, so you do need to be willing to get involved with other tasks occasionally in order to support a common goal! So, if you are proactive and passionate about working in an organisation that helps people with learning disabilities to live their best lives, then we would love to hear from you!

Make a difference and build your career at Lifeworks: We're passionate about supporting our staff just as much as we are about supporting our service users. When you join our team, you can expect:

• A Real Living Wage
• A starting entitlement of 33 days holiday
• A fully funded DBS check and update service to ensure a smooth onboarding process
• Access to valuable resources, including an employee assistance programme to support your mental and emotional health

Building a diverse and safe team: At Lifeworks, we're committed to fostering a workplace that reflects the diversity of our community. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from individuals with disabilities who meet the job criteria, and we guarantee qualified candidates with disabilities an interview.

Lifeworks is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk. To achieve this commitment, we will ensure the continuous development, improvement and review of robust safeguarding processes and procedures that continuously promote a culture of vigilance in respect of safeguarding within our organisation. Therefore, all staff undergo Safer Recruitment checks, which include pre-employment checks, reference checks, and an enhanced DBS check.

Early applications encouraged! This vacancy is scheduled to close on the 29th of June but may close earlier if suitable candidates are identified. So, to ensure your application is considered, ensure you apply early! Interviews will take place primarily on the 30th June, and will consist of 2 parts: a standard interview and a presentation. If you are shortlisted for interview, we will contact you ahead of these dates with further information.

Apply today and tell us why you'd be a great fit for our team. We'd appreciate no contact from agencies regarding this role. We are only accepting direct applications.