The Growth Company’s (GC) IPS Employment team have an exciting new opportunity for an Employment Specialist to actively engage with individual participants in structured treatment for drug and/ or alcohol, ensuring that through the delivery of a multi-channel, multi-agency, and multi-place service delivery model, the participant is enabled and empowered to successfully complete their personal journey into, and progression within the working environment.

We help to make a lasting difference to the lives of people throughout the North of England and beyond, by supporting individuals to gain meaningful employment.

Our highly skilled advisers and keyworkers work with a range of individuals; from people who have found themselves recently out of work, to those with complex barriers such as physical disabilities, mental ill-health and debt.

This role requires the successful candidate to have a valid full driving licence and access to a vehicle.

The role will be working across Liverpool City region, these areas will also include Wirral, Sefton, Southport, St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Warrington and Cheshire East.

This role:

• To manage a caseload of around 24 clients who are motivated to start/return to work. Working with participants to progress them on their journey towards employment by delivering the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach and overcoming their work, skills health, and personal circumstances barriers to ultimately support participants into sustainable work.
• Meet and support clients to understand their key skills, aspirations, and goals by completing a Vocational Profile and producing an Action Plan to help them obtain and sustain competitive employment. This includes support with their job search, CV production, application forms, interview techniques, and career development.
• Build relationships with colleagues in clinical teams to engage and generate referrals and create collaborative working partnerships with clinical staff (promoting employment as a positive intervention). Able to support participants with appropriate prioritisation of solutions for personal circumstances, skills, health as well as employability.
• Attend weekly team meetings as an embedded IPS practitioner. Once employment has been secured continue to provide quality service through conducting regular visits, effective monitoring, and in-work support to clients and employers to help sustain employment to ensure that all required entry to the recording systems (CRiiS) is accurate and compliant and documentation relating to the participant is completed and maintained in an accurate, compliant, timely and respectful manner.
• Assess client support needs relating to work which may include benefits/welfare advice, disclosure of mental health symptoms, etc., and provide support & guidance.
• Source job opportunities for clients through tailored job searches and regular contact with local employers to explore hidden as well as advertised employment opportunities.
• Provide education and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments, return to work strategy, and ongoing contact with the employer to ensure job retention.

About you:

• A warm, approachable style to delivery is required in order to build relationships and rapport.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and negotiating skills.
• Ability to work in a target-driven environment, with a focus on the successful achievement of job outcomes and sustained outcomes.
• Developing knowledge of a broad range of occupations and jobs.

Skills Required:

• High-level guidance skills, with the ability to deliver one-to-one and group sessions to at least Grade 2 standard.
• Knowledge in relation to the issues affecting individuals with multiple barriers to progressing to employment and sustained employment.
• Expertise in relation to the support agencies that can assist individuals with complex needs (e.g., debt, substance misuse, housing, etc).
• Working with and placing individual customers into suitable and sustained employment.
• Understanding in guidance, advice & counselling environments.
• Experience/understanding of working with disabled people, or a similar client group within substance use treatment, health, social services, or the voluntary sector is desirable.
• High-level guidance skills, with the ability to deliver one-to-one and group sessions to at least Grade 2 standard.
• Experience of working with people with multiple and complex needs, including health conditions and disabilities.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of everyone including vulnerable adults and young people, we expect all staff to share this commitment. All appointments will be subject to Safer Recruitment Procedures which include a DBS check. This will be conducted by Due Diligence Limited (DDC Ltd) on behalf of GC. Please note that the successful candidate will not be required to pay for this.

If you are on the Barred List, it is against the law to apply and to be hired for a role that includes regulated activity with the concerned group.

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce, we provide a guaranteed interview to applicants who meet the essential requirements for a role. This commitment applies to candidates who have a disability or are from a diverse ethnic community.

As part of our application process, you can ask to be considered under this scheme if you are from an ethnic community or have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. Providing that you meet the essential criteria for the role, you will then be invited for an interview. Your guaranteed interview application will only be shared with the Hiring Manager and our Internal Recruitment Team.

We are a member of the national campaign Ban the Box; this campaign aims to open opportunities for people with convictions to compete for jobs. We’re supporting the campaign by removing conviction questions at the applications stage.

GC aims to promote a culture of flexibility and agile working. Going forward we will be transitioning to a culture where full agile working will be a feature of many of our roles. We also recognise that there may be a need for more permanent flexibility in your working arrangements and in such cases, we encourage you to have these discussions at the interview stage, to enable your flexible working request to be considered as early as possible.

All GC colleagues will work inline with the Health & Safety at work act and the GC Health & Safety Policy.