Job summary
IPS Employment Specialists B5 - Permanent Posts
An exciting opportunity has arisen for 14 permanent Band 5 Employment Specialists for the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Services in Liverpool, Wirral, and Warrington and Halton. The IPS service supports Mersey Care service users with severe and enduring mental health conditions who are under Community Mental Health and/or Early Intervention Teams and are looking for paid employment as part of their recovery journey. The IPS Teams are situated under the portfolio of The Life Rooms.
Shortlisting date is planned for 31st May 2023
Interview date is planned for 13th June 2023
Main duties of the job
The Employment Specialists will be responsible for:
- Working directly with the clinical teams in which they are co-located to generate referrals into the service
- Managing a caseload of a maximum of 25 service users at any one time to support them into appropriate paid employment
- Working directly with employers to secure employment opportunities for people who have experienced mental health problems
- Providing ongoing support dependent upon employee and employer needs
- Recording their daily activity in line with the IPS requirements
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Employment Specialists will be expected to travel across an identified geographical patch for meetings with clinical teams and the staff who will be co-located there, with service users, and with local employers.
The post holders will benefit from being a part of The Life Rooms services and will have the support of peers within The Life Rooms Teams.
We would expect applicants to have demonstrable experience of supporting individuals into paid employment and to be confident in liaising with employers to gain access to work opportunities in the local area. Some knowledge of the IPS model would be advantageous.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Employment Specialists will be expected to travel across an identified geographical patch for meetings with clinical teams and the staff who will be co-located there, with service users, and with local employers.
The post holders will benefit from being a part of The Life Rooms services and will have the support of peers within The Life Rooms Teams.
We would expect applicants to have demonstrable experience of supporting individuals into paid employment and to be confident in liaising with employers to gain access to work opportunities in the local area. Some knowledge of the IPS model would be advantageous.
Person Specification
Qualificatios
Essential
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
Desirable
- Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector
- Trained in IPS Delivery Model
- Mental Health First Aid qualification
- NVQ level 3 in Care or Learning Disability related
- Knowledge and understanding of teaching principles., Training in: o Training in Systematic Instruction o Counselling o Person Centred Planning o Adult education/training o Sales & marketing
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with people with complex mental health needs or a similar service user group
- Knowledge and experience of recovery and social inclusion principals
- Experience of utilising IT systems
- experience of working within diverse communities
- Ability to engage with employers across all industries using a variety of methods
- understanding and experience of working across a range of recruitment/ employment sectors
- Understanding of employment and challenges/barriers for people with complex mental health needs
- Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies and legislation in relation to employment
- Knowledge of the labour market and a demonstrated understanding of 'market positioning
- Understanding of financial implications between benefits/pay structure and advising service user's accordingly
Desirable
- Experience of working in supported employment services
- Understanding of principals and practices of the Individual Placement and Support model (IPS)
- Experience of caring for someone experiencing mental ill health
- Personal experience of using mental health services
- An understanding of self employment or business start up
Values
Essential
- ontinuous Improvement o Accountability o Respectfulness o Enthusiasm o Support o Responsive to service users o Engaging leadership style o Strong customer service belief o Transparency and honesty o Discreet o Promotes respect and dignity at all times o A demonstrable commitment and clear motivation to work closely with people sho find themselves severely marginalised and excluded from mainstream community
Skills
Essential
- Naturally interested in and energised by working with and talking to people
- Non -judgemental and trustworthy
- Passion and drive to make a positive difference to people's lives
- Belief that people with mental illness can gain and sustain meaningful work
- Responds positively to failure and is able to translate it into a valuable learning experience
- Patient and empathetic to others' situations without imposing own experiences or beliefs onto others
- Ability to work unsupervised
- Ability to listen and make grounded judgements
- Ability to use tact and diplomacy and negotiation skills when dealing with and seeking to new employers
- Reaching shared agreement, effective group/meeting skills
- Ability to learn and assimilate quickly into a variety of situations
- Ability to keep effective records both verbal and written in a timely and accurate fashion
- Ability to translate employer need into job seeker opportunity
Person Specification
Qualificatios
Essential
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
Desirable
- Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector
- Trained in IPS Delivery Model
- Mental Health First Aid qualification
- NVQ level 3 in Care or Learning Disability related
- Knowledge and understanding of teaching principles., Training in: o Training in Systematic Instruction o Counselling o Person Centred Planning o Adult education/training o Sales & marketing
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with people with complex mental health needs or a similar service user group
- Knowledge and experience of recovery and social inclusion principals
- Experience of utilising IT systems
- experience of working within diverse communities
- Ability to engage with employers across all industries using a variety of methods
- understanding and experience of working across a range of recruitment/ employment sectors
- Understanding of employment and challenges/barriers for people with complex mental health needs
- Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies and legislation in relation to employment
- Knowledge of the labour market and a demonstrated understanding of 'market positioning
- Understanding of financial implications between benefits/pay structure and advising service user's accordingly
Desirable
- Experience of working in supported employment services
- Understanding of principals and practices of the Individual Placement and Support model (IPS)
- Experience of caring for someone experiencing mental ill health
- Personal experience of using mental health services
- An understanding of self employment or business start up
Values
Essential
- ontinuous Improvement o Accountability o Respectfulness o Enthusiasm o Support o Responsive to service users o Engaging leadership style o Strong customer service belief o Transparency and honesty o Discreet o Promotes respect and dignity at all times o A demonstrable commitment and clear motivation to work closely with people sho find themselves severely marginalised and excluded from mainstream community
Skills
Essential
- Naturally interested in and energised by working with and talking to people
- Non -judgemental and trustworthy
- Passion and drive to make a positive difference to people's lives
- Belief that people with mental illness can gain and sustain meaningful work
- Responds positively to failure and is able to translate it into a valuable learning experience
- Patient and empathetic to others' situations without imposing own experiences or beliefs onto others
- Ability to work unsupervised
- Ability to listen and make grounded judgements
- Ability to use tact and diplomacy and negotiation skills when dealing with and seeking to new employers
- Reaching shared agreement, effective group/meeting skills
- Ability to learn and assimilate quickly into a variety of situations
- Ability to keep effective records both verbal and written in a timely and accurate fashion
- Ability to translate employer need into job seeker opportunity
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
