Senior Employment Specialist – Berkshire Connect to Work in Reading

Location: Berkshire (any borough; flexibility during mobilisation required). Delivery expected throughout a network of community venues and with specialist partners. Salary: £34,000 – £36,000 depending on experience. Travel expenses over and above those to the agreed base location will be reimbursed.

Primary Duties And Responsibilities

• The Senior Employment Specialist will play a vital role in the success of the programme for those across Berkshire. They will manage a small caseload, delivering person centred support to create and follow an individualised workplan, engaging with employers directly to support people into good and sustainable work.
• Model best practice and provide line management support for their team.
• Lead and support your team of Employment Specialists to champion our customers as valuable candidates by actively promoting them to employers and raising awareness and support available through the programme.
• Guide and support your team in creating and implementing tailored action plans for each customer, ensuring effective and appropriate activities are undertaken.
• Oversee that customers have regular check‑ins with customers to track their progress before starting employment and once in employment.
• Support your team in addressing personal constraints to employment, offering challenge, advice, and guidance to build customer confidence and capability.
• Collaborate with the team to identify and recommend training and vacancy solutions tailored to customer and employer needs.
• Maintain oversight of customer records, ensuring documentation meets quality standards and contractual requirements.
• Facilitate work experiences, such as placements, trials, and shadowing opportunities with suitable employers.
• Develop and share expertise in local signposting services, including those related to disability, housing, benefits, and mental health.
• Meet personal and team targets, KPIs, and compliance standards by delivering high‑quality, impactful employability support.
• Work alongside the Contract Manager and key partners to ensure a joined‑up and collaborative approach across Berkshire for both the team, residents, employers and stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience delivering an IPS contract and ability to be a role model for others.
• A passion for working with people and a solution‑focused approach.
• Experience leading or mentoring staff in employability or support services.
• Strong understanding of barriers to employment, including disability, welfare, and mental health.
• Proven ability to build relationships with employers and advocate for inclusive hiring.
• Excellent communication, coaching, and organisational skills.
• Ability to manage performance and ensure quality service delivery.

Desirable

• Educated at university degree or alternatively have a demonstrated track record of performance and success in target‑driven sales, customer service, supported employment, or case‑management roles.
• Experience working on government‑funded employment programmes.
• Driving licence and access to a car given the community‑based nature of the project.

Key Competencies

• Creative intelligence.
• Ability to motivate, challenge, and inspire.
• Proactive and solution focused.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Kind, personable and approachable.
• Performance and target focused.
• Excellent organisation and prioritisation skills.
• The determination and drive to want to make a positive difference.

Guiding Principles

• We are One Palladium: We are all accountable, we take responsibility for our actions, and celebrate the positive impact we create.
• Our business grows when our people grow. We seek out opportunities to develop ourselves, each other, and Palladium.
• Our strength lies in our differences: We harness our unique strengths by listening to and respecting each other.
• Making mistakes is part of learning: We admit our mistakes early, help to make things right, and learn from the experience together.
• We don’t exist without results: We’re driven by the outcomes we achieve and stay focused on what matters.

Project Overview And Role

Connect to Work is a UK government‑funded initiative aimed at supporting individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or other complex challenges in finding and maintaining employment. The programme offers tailored assistance, including one‑to‑one coaching, employer engagement and help with CV writing. Participants can receive up to 12 months of guidance if they are seeking employment, or up to 4 months if they are currently employed but at risk of losing their job. Support is delivered through local partnerships, and individuals can either self‑refer or be referred by professionals and community partners.

About Palladium

You would be joining Palladium, a global impact organisation, with 3,000 employees in over 70 countries. We are a mission‑driven business, for whom the impact of our work is as important as the commercial return; the common feature of all our work, regardless of contract size, is the requirement that it contributes to positive social and economic impact. We simply call this ‘Positive Impact’. For the past 50 years, we have been helping our clients to see the world as interconnected in over 90 countries, by formulating strategies, building partnerships, and implementing programmes that deliver lasting positive impact. We are experienced in implementing large, complex programmes supporting skills and employment and are currently delivering 30 programmes for the UK Government.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: socio‑economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

As a Disability Confident employer

We will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. Should you require any reasonable adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or any other circumstance, please let us know.

Safeguarding

We define Safeguarding as "the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm". We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding‑focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.

Palladium International is a Real Living Wage Employer.

Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level. Employment type: Contract. Job function: Human Resources. Industries: Business Consulting and Services.