SEQF Employment Specialist

Maximus is a global organisation that specialises in providing health and employment services to millions of people every year. Here in the UK we employ around 5,000 people across the country to deliver services that have a profound impact on people’s lives. From assessments and health services to employability programmes and specialist support, we do work that matters with people who care.

We are looking for 1 Employment Specialist to join us, primarily covering the East of Lancashire. As these roles are community based, you will need to be comfortable travelling around the delivery area, supporting participants in community settings, as well as conducting employer engagement activities.

Salary - £29,000 - £33,500 dependent on experience. Benefits include:

• 25 days annual leave
• Holiday trade scheme
• 9% combined pension
• Flexible benefits package

Job Summary

Connect to Work is a devolved Supported Employment (SE) programme, that will service residents within Functional Economic Areas (FEA’s). FEA’s will be funded through grants from DWP. The SEQF Employment Specialist will demonstrate the core values of SE, empowering participants to gain employment whilst delivering the 5 stages of SE: Customer Engagement; Vocational Profiling; Employer Engagement; Job Matching and providing In-Work Support/Career Development. Supporting vulnerable adults with a variety of health conditions, disabilities and other barriers to meaningful employment, you will engage with a variety of stakeholders and advocate on behalf of your caseload by promoting equality and gaining employment opportunities.

Supported Employment is not a ‘work readiness model’ rather a ‘Place, Train & Maintain’ approach – therefore strong ability to assess and plan with participants to gain meaningful employment opportunities.

Key Contacts & Relationships

Internal:

• Borough Integration Managers
• Fidelity Officer

External:

• Participants
• Commissioners
• Partners (e.g. referral sources; partners who can support participants etc)
• Circles of Support

Responsibilities

• Supporting a caseload through the 5 stages of Supported Employment. You will be expected to build rapport and trust with your caseload, ensuring that they have choice and control over their journey and being an advocate on their behalf.
• Adhere to the SEQF quality framework & Determine the most appropriate occupational direction through core and job skills assessments (Vocational Profiling) producing SMART action plans whilst supporting methods of support.
• Meet and exceed KPI’s
• Ensure compliance by accurate data entry, completion of contractual and internal documentation and/or provider guidance.
• Make effective use of appropriate resources to ensure value for money.
• Engage with a variety of stakeholders (Partners & Employers) to advocate on behalf of your caseload.
• Facilitate the integration with local communities and their partners, ensuring that employment support is seamlessly woven into the broader network of local services and resources to optimise outcomes/support and opportunities.
• Use a range of recruitment activities to match and market participants to relevant vacancies and/or potential employers. (e.g. Labour Market Analysis)
• Engage and work with employers to ‘job carve’ positions/negotiate work trials and provide support (e.g. in job training such as TSI or support development of natural sources of support)
• Identify and work with partner services to signpost participants to effectively support barriers and develop support networks/coping strategies.
• Provide mentoring support, advice and guidance to both participants and employers to ensure sustained employment, incorporating reasonable adjustments where possible.
• Support development of ‘circles of support’ for participants to support individual’s aspirations.
• Promote zero rejection philosophy of SE to stakeholders.
• Promote social inclusion.
• Challenge any prejudice, use of stereotypes, discrimination, assumptions and unethical or oppressive behaviour by self, others, or organisational processes.

Quality & Continuous Improvement

• Strive for the best quality the service can provide through: accurate record/following SEQF
• Gaining feedback from stakeholders: working with team to make improvements to the service (CI)
• Actively engaging in CI measures
• Reflecting on performance and inputting into personal development plan.

Qualifications & Experience

• Familiarity with systems like MS Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, numeracy and literacy skills, team experience, problem-solving, workload management, people development, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Experience of working to Quality Standards and associated Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
• Numeracy and Literacy skills
• Creative problem-solving skills
• Experience of organising a workload and managing priorities
• Experience of people development in an individual and/or group environment
• Experience of working as part of a team, as well as the ability to work alone and demonstrate clear decision making
• Experience of supporting participants through Supported Employment contracts.
• Experience of working in an employability related area supporting vulnerable adults.
• Ability to coach individuals within their role – to support developing healthy work behaviours and achieve their maximum potential and career development (if you do not have experience, there is an expectation to learn this skill).
• Welfare to Work Sector specific qualification e.g. Supported Employment Techniques; Level 3 Certificate for Supported Employment Practitioners; NVQ 3 L3 in Employment related services. (If you do not have any of these qualifications, have a willingness to develop/train in this field).
• Demonstrate experience of working in a role where, sales, promotional or influencing skills are required.
• Motivated whilst demonstrating an Adaptable nature
• Strong Interpersonal Skills, specifically active listening, questioning, building relationships
• Participant Focused whilst setting realistic goal setting
• Stakeholder & Communication Skills (e.g. relationship building, negotiation and persuasiveness)
• Quality Focus – where creative and innovation input to build quality standards
• Willingness to learn.
• Teamwork – being an active and proactive member of your team
• Behaviours include ability to manage conflict; demonstrate resilience & good time management skills

Travel Requirements

• Be able to travel independently throughout contract area
• To support participants in their local area
• Be able to visit employer sites and provide support to all stakeholders.
• Attend team meetings/organisational events.

EEO Statement

MAXIMUS is committed to developing, maintaining and supporting a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the recruitment process. We know that feeling included has a dramatic impact on personal wellbeing and are working to ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment due to any personal characteristic. Advertisements for posts will include sufficiently clear and accurate information to enable potential applicants to assess their own suitability for the post. We are a Disability Confident Leader, thanks to our commitment to the recruitment, retention and career development of people with disabilities and long-term conditions. The Disability Confident scheme includes a guaranteed interview for any applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for a job. When you complete your job application you will find a question asking you if you would like to apply under the Disability Confident Guaranteed Interview Scheme. If you feel that you have a disability and apply under this scheme, providing that you meet the essential criteria for the job, you will then be invited for interview. Your Guaranteed Interview application will only be shared with the hiring manager and the local resourcing team. Where reasonable, MAXIMUS will review and consider adjustments for those applicants who express a requirement for them during the recruitment process.