Job overview

Rethink Mental Illness is a major English charity founded over 50 years ago, dedicated to supporting people severely affected by mental illness, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They provide over 200 services—such as supported housing, crisis care, and carer support—and campaign to reduce stigma and improve care.

Rethink Mental Illness provides specialized employment support for individuals with mental health conditions, focusing on personalized, “person-centered” approaches to help them find and retain employment. Their services include Individual Placement and Support (IPS), which emphasizes rapid job search, skill building, and ongoing support for both employee and employer.

Role

The Employment Specialist will be part of an exciting new team being set up to deliver the Connect to Work programme, supporting those with health conditions (including mental health issues), disabilities and complex barriers to employment, to gain, retain, or return to employment, following IPS principles and will be overseen by a local Team Leader and wider management structure.

You will be required to manage a caseload of up to 25 people at any time who have health conditions (including mental health issues), disabilities and complex barriers to employment, and who are unemployed, as well as a small number struggling to retain their current employment. You will also engage with local employers to enable work to be sustainable and by bridging workforce needs with local people. You will support the service to make links with potential referrers and to promote the service to stakeholders. The Employment Specialist is expected to deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach – for which training will be given.  Working directly with all relevant stakeholders: the service user, Health Care providers, partnership organisations, partner agencies and employers – you will support the service users on your caseload to gain and retain paid employment.

The roles will involve travelling around your allocated area to meet individuals in need of support offering a person centred approach and engaging with local employers who have workforce vacancies. You will work closely with and within healthcare settings and as part of a wider partnership of organisations to deliver the programme across the region.

Connect to Work is part of the National Get Britain Working strategy which is a new government funded programme. Within County Durham the initial programme is based upon the IPS model which looks to support people who would like to gain employment by delivering tailored support to move into the right job quickly and support to maintain employment.

The available role is a Full Time post of 32.5 hours per week with days and times to be worked open to discussion and agreement with the successful candidate. This post is for a fixed term until 31st March 2028, with the possibility of an additional 2 year extension once funding is confirmed. A Driving licence and car are essential to carry out this role.

Responsibilities

To have the individual’s needs at the fore at all times, working to the IPS fidelity model and using communication, motivation and coaching skills to support individuals to achieve their goals and aspirations. Encouraging individuals to recognise, understand and manage factors that affect their mental wellbeing and physical health.

The person

Essential – Please see full Job Description and Person Specification:

  • Full and current driving licence and access to a car
  • Experience of working in supported employment services – some knowledge of the
  • IPS approach is desirable, however full training will be provided
  • Experience of providing support to people with a disability, long term health condition or mental illness (or lived experience); or experience of providing care and/or support services within another social care setting in either a paid or voluntary capacity.
  • Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies and legislation in relation to employment · Good understanding of the principles and practice of supported employment
  • Able to use IT and tools such as MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel, Outlook, and Databases.
  • Flexibility to travel within the region.
  • Flexibility to working out of ‘normal office’ hours.
  • Outstanding interpersonal skills and ability to build rapport and a close, trusting, and productive relationship with people.
  • Team orientated and works collaboratively within a mixed-disciplinary team.
  • Compelling written and verbal communication skills, tailored to a variety of audiences.
  • Excellent coaching and active listening skills, ability to ask perceptive questions that tease out important information through mentoring and coaching.
  • Abilities to persuade and negotiate in a constructive and appropriate manner.
  • Able to work independently and use initiative to think quickly on the spot in different, and often challenging, situations.
  • Creative problem solving to tackle obstacles that arise and fulfil requirements of the role in innovative ways to deliver greater impact.
  • Can effectively manage time to meet deadlines while maintaining high standards.
  • Maintain effective and organised administration systems.
  • Non-judgemental and trustworthy
  • Capability to be warm and empathetic whilst respecting professional boundaries.
  • Passion and drive to make a positive difference to people’s lives.
  • Belief that people with Disabilities, Long Term Health Conditions and mental illness can gain and sustain meaningful work
  • Able to model a strengths-based recovery model.
  • Positive mindset and motivational to others · Instil hope and empower others to own their experience and choices.
  • Responds positively to failure and can translate it into a valuable learning experience.
  • Ability to self-reflect and understand own reactions and flex accordingly to any situation.
  • Patient and empathetic to others’ situations without imposing own experiences or beliefs onto others.
  • Reliably deliver excellent results and go the extra mile for individuals and employers.
  • Self-aware of personal strengths and weaknesses and actively invest in personal and professional development.