Functional Specialist PIP - Northern Ireland

Capita; Belfast; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 42,000

Job description

Functional Specialist PIP - Northern Ireland

Discover a new kind of career in healthcare as a functional specialist.

Working in healthcare, and looking for a change? If you’re a nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist or paramedic, you could use your skills in a different way as a functional specialist. At Capita Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS), we provide unbiased, comprehensive assessments for claimants of the Government’s disability allowance (Personal Independence Payment), over the phone, on a video call or in-person, either at one of our assessment centres or in claimants’ homes.

Our functional specialists write reports which help the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) make important decisions about a person’s health and care. This role offers you the chance to improve your assessment skills and make important clinical recommendations. We’re looking for people with compassion and experience to understand our claimants’ health conditions/disabilities and how they impact their lives, balanced with great computer skills, impartiality and strong time management.

It’s a challenging role, which is why we take your training and development seriously. You’ll begin with a 5-week training programme (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) with time set aside for self-development learning.

The first six months can be the most difficult, so we’ll support you with close mentorship as you work on your ongoing development. Everyone starts at £38,500 per annum (pro rata for part-time) plus a 5% training bonus. On achievement of remote approved status, your salary will increase to £39,900 plus up to 10% bonus. On achievement of face-to-face delivery, your salary will increase to £41,500 plus up to 10% bonus.

Overall, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your healthcare knowledge and gain skills and experience which could open new doors for you. Many of our functional specialists go on to become team managers, clinical trainers, clinical coaches and quality auditors.

If you’re looking for a change, including more regular working hours, a competitive salary and a host of other benefits, and are ready to expand your skills and experience, this could be the role for you.

Job Description

What you’ll be doing:

1. Conducting initial reviews, paper-based, face-to-face, video or telephone assessments to evaluate how a claimant’s health condition or disability affects their day-to-day life.
2. Working from home and assigned to your nearest assessment centre on a rota basis to deliver face-to-face assessments.
3. Observing and reporting on an individual’s ability to carry out activities.
4. Analysing and interpreting clinical information and supporting evidence.
5. Creating one comprehensive 3,000-4,000-word report of the evidence gathered for each claimant, up to a maximum of 3 per day.
6. Ensuring enough detail, evidence and justification are given to support the DWP in making decisions.
7. Developing your clinical knowledge and learning about the health conditions which are less familiar to you.

What we’re looking for:

1. One year's post-registration experience as a nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist or paramedic.
2. Fully registered with a relevant UK regulatory body (NMC, HCPC or other), without restriction or conditions and with a valid PIN.
3. Excellent observational and communication skills, giving you the ability to listen, empathise and dig deeper.
4. The ability to work quickly, producing reports in a timely manner and hitting targets.
5. Solid experience with using IT and Microsoft Office, as well as remotely accessing systems.
6. A current valid driving licence or access to a form of transport to attend your nearest assessment centre.

While you’ll be contracted to work 7.5 hours per day, 37.5 hours per week (full time), you’ll be able to agree your actual working hours with your line manager after training. Working patterns can be between the hours of 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday, and include an hour for lunch, unpaid. We’ll also try to give you a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice of any changes to your rota if they are needed.

Successful candidates will be required to successfully complete government baseline personnel security standard vetting.

About Capita HAAS

Capita was awarded contracts to deliver the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) assessments in the Midlands, Wales, and Northern Ireland for the Department for Communities (DfC). HAAS is a new service that will bring together existing assessment services for disabled people and people with health conditions under a single provider. This will make accessing support simpler and easier for some of society’s most vulnerable people.

What’s in it for you?

1. A competitive basic salary of £38,500 plus up to 5% training bonus, rising to £39,900 on achievement of remote approved status plus up to 10% bonus. On achievement of face-to-face delivery, your salary will increase to £41,500 plus up to 10% bonus.
2. 25 days’ holiday (rising to 27 after 5 years) with the opportunity to buy extra leave.
3. Annual professional registration fee reimbursed and supported revalidation.
4. The opportunity to take a paid day out of the office, volunteering for our charity partners or a cause of your choice.
5. Company matched pension, life assurance, a cycle2work scheme, 15 weeks’ fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, paternity pay of two weeks, and plenty more.
6. Opportunity to purchase discounted benefits designed to suit your lifestyle.
7. Refer a friend reward scheme.
8. Access to the Headspace app for you and up to 5 family or friends.
9. Access to our Employee Network Groups, which represent every strand of diversity and allow colleagues to connect and learn from each other.

You’ll get the chance to follow your chosen career path anywhere in Capita. You’ll be joining a network of 41,000 experienced, innovative and dedicated individuals across multiple disciplines and sectors. There are countless opportunities to learn new skills and develop in your career, and we’ll provide the support you need to do just that.

What we hope you’ll do next:

Choose ‘I'm Interested’ to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you.

We’re an equal opportunity employer, which means we’ll consider all suitably qualified applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, age, sexual orientation, disability status or any other protected characteristic.

As a Disability Confident Leader, 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.