Job overview

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust is a leading provider of inpatient and community mental health, learning disability, substance misuse, and primary care services across Stoke‑on‑Trent and North Staffordshire.

The Trust operates from around 30 sites, serving approximately 464,000 people across the region, with Harplands Hospital acting as its main inpatient base.
NSCHT holds an overall CQC rating of “Outstanding” (published 28 March 2019), reflecting excellence in care quality, particularly in the “Caring” and “Responsive” domains.

The Trust’s vision is “to be outstanding – in all we do and how we do it,” underpinned by its values: Proud to CARE.
Its Step On IPS service delivers employment support to adults accessing secondary mental health services, helping individuals secure and sustain meaningful paid work through the IPS evidence‑based model

Role

The IPS Team Supervisor plays a vital leadership role within the Trust’s well‑established Step On service, providing supervision, coaching, training, and role‑modelling to IPS Employment Specialists. The role ensures the highest standards of IPS fidelity are met, maintaining a high‑quality, evidence‑based employment support offer aligned to the IPS principles.
You will also manage a small caseload of people with lived experience of mental health conditions, supporting them into paid employment while working closely with clinicians, employers, social prescribers, partner agencies, and wider mental health teams.
This role is central to improving recovery outcomes, social inclusion, and wellbeing for service users across the region.

Responsibilities

  • Lead a high‑quality IPS service, ensuring practice aligns with evidence‑based IPS principles and fidelity.
  • Work closely with the Service Manager to agree priorities and deputise as required.
  • Supervise, mentor, and performance‑manage IPS Employment Specialists, supporting achievement of individual and team job outcome targets.
  • Foster a culture of continuous improvement and co‑production with service users.
  • Identify staff training needs and arrange/coordinate appropriate development opportunities.
  • Design and deliver in‑house training, coaching, field mentoring, and observations to support ongoing service improvement.
  • Support recruitment of Employment Specialists in collaboration with clinical partners.
  • Coordinate employer‑facing work, ensuring effective engagement with local employers and access to the hidden labour market.
  • Manage a small caseload, supporting individuals with mental health needs to gain and retain paid employment.
  • Build strong relationships with clinicians, GPs, social prescribers, psychiatrists, employers, and partner agencies as part of holistic recovery‑focused support.

Please see full Job Description and Person Specification.

The person

Qualifications Essential:

  • Educated to degree level or equivalent, or equivalent industry experience (e.g., Occupational Therapy).
  • Postgraduate experience working with organisations delivering vocational services.

    • Experience – Essential:

  • Significant experience working with people with mental health problems or a similar client group within health, social care, or the voluntary sector.
  • Experience supporting individuals to obtain or sustain paid employment.

    • Knowledge – Essential

  • In‑depth understanding of the principles and practice of the IPS model.
  • Strong marketing and promotional skills to effectively communicate the service to employers, staff, and service users.

Please see full Job Description and Person Specification.

Additional Requirements
This role requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check due to the nature of work with vulnerable adults.