Inclusion

IPS Employment Specialist

The closing date is 20 June 2025

Job summary

A new and exciting opportunity has arisen for an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Employment Specialist to cover the following area - Stafford & Cannock!

IPS (Individual Placement and Support) is an evidence-based approach to helping people within recovery find and keep a paid job.

The IPS worker will be working with people who have are within the STaRS service and support them into competitive employment and then enabling them to retain that employment.

As an IPS worker you will be looking for paid employment opportunities for clients who are currently involved with drug and/or alcohol recovery. This will involve developing opportunities with local employers and supporting them as well as the client, to ensure the right person is in the right job.

Main duties of the job

You will support service users within the service as part of their team to gain, return to or retain employment.

The role will involve working directly with Recovery Coordinators, care coordinators, JobCentre Plus, employers, trade unions, world of work and employment agencies to keep people in employment and secure employment opportunities.

You will work closely with practitioners in Staffordshire.You will work in partnership with specialist services and other primary and secondary care services serving Staffordshire. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference to the vocational outcomes of people accessing our services.

About us

Inclusion, created in 2002 is part of the Specialist Services Care Group of Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT). We provide caring and effective services across England, including, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands, West Mercia, Thames Valley, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Thurrock, Essex. We support individuals, families and communities who are affected by addiction, crime, mental health or need treatment for their sexual health.We believe that the individuals and families who use our services should receive high quality, committed and inclusive care, realising all the benefits a modern NHS organisation can provide. We work with patients and our staff teams to achieve the best outcomes we can. We invest heavily in training and development, and the wellbeing of our people, both staff and service users is central to who we are.Here at MPFT, we are proud of the comprehensive wellbeing and lifestyle support offer available, in addition to in-house training and coaching support. Our services are robustly governed, evidence-based, inclusive, and designed and provided in conjunction with service users. We are committed to providing the best service we can, and if you share our values, we want you on our team!

Details

Date posted

06 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

301-IT-25-7251357

Job locations

STaRS

10 Browning Street

Stafford

ST16 3AT


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see the Job Description and Person Specification for further details, a summary is below:

  • To manage a caseload of people who have experienced drug and alcohol health problems using STaRS and who wish to retain, return to or regain meaningful employment.
  • The ES workload will be led by and focused on the aspirations of the service user as part of a package of care.
  • Conduct an assessment of employment needs and consider their strengths, difficulties and employment assets in order to offer the most effective support, which must include the persons job goals and any concerns regarding their capacity for work and previous work experience, making accurate recommendations.
  • Match job tasks and the individuals ability to do the job and any work solutions that may be required to develop the match.
  • Offer the service user support agreeing a written action plan with the person detailing the steps to be taken to either get back into or retain employment and the appropriate support route. Need to include abilities, work solutions, preparation for work, disclosure. The action plan should also be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound).
  • The ES will develop in-depth knowledge of the local labour market, local support and new initiatives, taking into account the needs of the client to broker effective interventions. Including specialist schemes to help with retaining or finding employment.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see the Job Description and Person Specification for further details, a summary is below:

  • To manage a caseload of people who have experienced drug and alcohol health problems using STaRS and who wish to retain, return to or regain meaningful employment.
  • The ES workload will be led by and focused on the aspirations of the service user as part of a package of care.
  • Conduct an assessment of employment needs and consider their strengths, difficulties and employment assets in order to offer the most effective support, which must include the persons job goals and any concerns regarding their capacity for work and previous work experience, making accurate recommendations.
  • Match job tasks and the individuals ability to do the job and any work solutions that may be required to develop the match.
  • Offer the service user support agreeing a written action plan with the person detailing the steps to be taken to either get back into or retain employment and the appropriate support route. Need to include abilities, work solutions, preparation for work, disclosure. The action plan should also be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound).
  • The ES will develop in-depth knowledge of the local labour market, local support and new initiatives, taking into account the needs of the client to broker effective interventions. Including specialist schemes to help with retaining or finding employment.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to a degree level or equivalent experience. Willing and able to undertake the relevant training associated with the role.

Experience

Essential

  • Equivalent experience gained through work in the field.
  • Experience of providing vocational and employment support. This may have been gained in HR, business, management, recruitment or working in sales.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

  • Must have access to a vehicle which can be used for work purposes. Must have a valid driving licence for the UK. Willingness to travel to other locations throughout the organisation as required
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to a degree level or equivalent experience. Willing and able to undertake the relevant training associated with the role.

Experience

Essential

  • Equivalent experience gained through work in the field.
  • Experience of providing vocational and employment support. This may have been gained in HR, business, management, recruitment or working in sales.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

  • Must have access to a vehicle which can be used for work purposes. Must have a valid driving licence for the UK. Willingness to travel to other locations throughout the organisation as required

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Inclusion

Address

STaRS

10 Browning Street

Stafford

ST16 3AT


Employer's website

https://www.mpft.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Inclusion

Address

STaRS

10 Browning Street

Stafford

ST16 3AT


Employer's website

https://www.mpft.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Service Manager

Craig Cartwright

Craig.cartwright@mpft.nhs.uk

07974470031

Details

Date posted

06 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£29,970 to £36,483 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

301-IT-25-7251357

Job locations

STaRS

10 Browning Street

Stafford

ST16 3AT


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

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