Employment Specialist in Woolwich

Make a real impact on residents’ lives through employment. The Royal Borough of Greenwich is committed to helping residents achieve independence, stability, and long-term employment. Our award-winning GLLaB service is expanding its supported employment offer, and we are looking for a motivated, person-centred Employment Specialist to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity to deliver high-quality, tailored employment support using the Individual Placement Support (IPS) model and Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF). You will work directly with residents with disabilities, mental health conditions, learning disabilities, physical health conditions, and complex barriers — helping them secure paid, sustainable employment.

If you are passionate about supporting people into work, skilled at building relationships, and confident working both independently and as part of multi-disciplinary teams, we want to hear from you.

Provide frontline, personalised employment advice and guidance to unemployed, economically inactive, in-work at-risk residents, and anyone seeking employment support.

• Complete vocational profiles, identify skills gaps, and co-produce tailored action plans with each participant.
• Deliver rapid job search, CV and application support, interview coaching and in-work development planning.
• Work face‑to‑face with participants to identify support needs, including workplace adjustments, benefits and “Better Off Calculations”, and personalised Information Plans.
• Build strong partnerships and undertake outreach across community hubs, libraries, employment centres, council offices, and with job centres and voluntary groups.
• Spend at least 65% of your time co-located with clinical teams, social workers, and other professionals to provide integrated and trusted employment support.
• Support residents into work through job matching, job carving, employer engagement, workplace advocacy, work trials, and follow-along support.
• Maintain positive employer relationships, negotiate workplace adjustments, and support employers to foster inclusive practice.
• Provide ongoing coaching, mentoring, and retention support for up to 12 months (or 4 months for in-work participants).
• Deliver 1:1 and group employability sessions, maintain accurate records, and contribute to team targets across funded employment programmes.
• Champion employment to clinical and community partners, contributing to meetings and promoting job outcomes as part of holistic health and wellbeing.
• Ensure all work aligns with GLLaB’s Quality Assurance Framework, Customer Service Excellence, Matrix standards, and the requirements of external funders.
• Work flexibly, including occasional evenings/weekends for outreach or follow‑up support.

Ideally we are looking for someone who has the following:

• IPS and/or SEQF supported employment models
• Equality Act 2010, inclusive recruitment, and workplace adjustments
• Vocational profiling, action planning, and rapid job search
• Coaching, mentoring, and person-centred support
• Advocating for participants and problem‑solving barriers to work

• Delivering supported employment to people with disabilities, mental health needs, learning disabilities or complex barriers
• Working to outcomes and performance targets
• Building employer relationships, securing vacancies, and supporting sustained employment
• Working collaboratively with clinicians, social workers, employers, and community organisations

• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage complex caseloads
• Excellent communication and IT skills, including CRM use
• Commitment to equal opportunities, customer care, and the Council’s staff values

We particularly interested in applications from candidates with experience of supporting people facing barriers to employment, including ex-offenders, individuals involved with probation services, refugees, people with long-term health conditions or disabilities including learning disabilities and/or autism, and NEET young people or care leavers.

An NVQ Level 3 in Advice and Guidance (or willingness to work towards it) is desirable. An Enhanced DBS check is required.

• Work within a respected, innovative employment service
• Make a tangible difference in residents’ careers, wellbeing, and long-term independence
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams across health, skills, and community sectors
• Access training, development and progression opportunities, including through the Council’s Apprenticeship Levy
• Be part of a supportive, values-driven team committed to inclusion, empowerment, and continuous improvement

Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

All vacancies close at midnight unless otherwise stated. Early Advert Close: Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any job advert earlier than the advertised closing date where there is reason to do so (for example high volume of applications).

A full employment history is required for this role. Please provide a full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment.

Each application is scored according to how well the supporting statements addresses each point on the Person Specification for the role. Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the extent to which they meet the specific points within the Person Specification. The Person Specification is supplied with the job advert. When completing your application, please use the supporting statements section to tell us how you meet each of the points on the Person Specification. We need to have this information in order to consider your application.

Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator' to help you calculate a pro rata salary.

Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/registration.