Senior Employment Specialist

Salary: £37310

Core Locations: Darlington & Middlesbrough

Hours and Contract: 35 Hrs FT. Contract currently funded till March 26 with the possibility of extending for another 2 years.

The role:

The Senior Employment Specialist will provide employment professional supervision to a team of Employment Specialists and will lead the ongoing development of the Individual Placement and Support Model within the service(s). The Senior Employment Specialist will also hold a reduced caseload of his or her own, managing a limited caseload of people in drug and alcohol treatment services who wish to return to or start paid employment. The people you work with will be supported for up to 9 months, plus up to 4 months of in-work support.

The Employment Specialist will be required to build effective working relationships with local employers, training providers, and colleges to secure employment and education opportunities for people in community treatment for substance misuse, including ensuring the service is focused on accessing the ‘hidden’ labour market. There is a requirement to provide job development and job search activities directed toward positions that are individualized to the interests and uniqueness of the people supported, whilst following the evidence-based principles and procedures of IPS supported employment.

Ongoing support will be required according to both the employee’s and employer’s needs to enable people who have experienced dependency on drugs and/or alcohol to retain employment once secured. Work experience placements and those seeking jobs will require help and advice to apply for posts in open employment.

The Employment Specialist will be required to develop the day-to-day operational practices of the Employment Specialist Team and the provision of IPS supervision to Employment Specialists based in your locality, ensuring that services achieve and maintain good fidelity to the evidence-based IPS model.

Main Duties

1. To provide leadership and employment professional supervision to Employment Specialists within the team.
2. To provide field mentoring to employment staff to enable them to further develop their practice and increase outcomes.
3. To liaise with Public Health England, senior practitioners and managers within the service, and the local authority commissioner, around the ongoing implementation of the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support Model.
4. To work with client key workers and clinical staff, including through case conferencing, to ensure that clients receive appropriate support from everyone involved in their care during the return to work process.
5. To lead a local employer engagement strategy to involve employers (including the local authority and partner services), and open up and secure work experience and paid employment opportunities for people in treatment for drug and/or alcohol dependency.
6. To provide advice and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments and ongoing contact with supervisors to ensure job retention.
7. To assess individual support needs related to work which might typically include help with benefits, travel to work, managing health and work, etc.
8. To work flexibly on occasion as required by clients and employers, which may require some working out of normal office hours.
9. To promote the profile of employment and working embedded within the team to raise expectations around the ability of clients to attain paid work.

Professional Development

1. To participate in your own IPS and management supervision, objective setting/appraisal, and professional development plan.
2. To provide regular IPS supervision to Employment Specialists, including group supervision to the team, and overseeing their professional development plans.

Policy and/or Service Development

1. To work with the Employment Specialists, service management, and commissioner(s) to ensure that vocational support services offered continue to develop effectively.
2. To ensure that effective referral procedures to IPS provision from the clinical team are in place.
3. To ensure participation in monitoring and evaluation systems.

Research and Development

1. To keep abreast of changing practice within vocational rehabilitation, and to disseminate within the team and, where relevant, service(s).

Management of Resources

1. To work with internal and external stakeholders and partners to maximize the effective and efficient use of resources in the delivery of vocational support services.

Other

This is an outline of the post holder’s duties and responsibilities. It is not intended as an exhaustive list and may change from time to time in order to meet the reasonable needs of your employer. The post holder may be required to undertake various other duties appropriate to the salary grade and nature of the job.