Could you be part of the team that’s dedicated to addressing this injustice? Berkshire Healthcare’s Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment service, now in its tenth anniversary year, are looking for an employment specialist to champion our mission and support people with severe mental health issues – your clients – to gain, sustain and retain paid work.
Ours is a diverse team and brings many strengths and skills together. We’ll train you in the IPS approach, giving you the tools you need to provide expert support and advice to clients, while also building positive relationships with employers, opening doors, and changing perceptions around mental health. Previous experience working in supported employment and with people with severe mental health issues is an advantage. But above all you'll need empathy, hope and tenacity when working alongside your clients.
We have 1 full time role available (37.5 hours) within our East Berkshire Mental Health Integrated Community Services (MHICS) team, and you would be expected to travel across East Berkshire, to include Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough and Bracknell.
It’s a highly varied job where you’ll spend most of your week in the community, meeting clients and employers, and making a vital contribution to the team’s activities.
You’ll support a caseload of up to 20 people with severe mental health issues who are unemployed or struggling in the workplace
Working directly with all relevant stakeholders – including clients, clinicians, consultant psychiatrists and employers and Job Centre Plus – you’ll aim to enable your clients to gain, sustain and retain paid employment.
You’ll have the opportunity to transform the lives of your clients, to give them hope, direction and support their recovery journey. It's also challenging, so you’ll need to be able to demonstrate perseverance, whilst being empathic and dedicated to finding clients a role that’s right for them.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.
Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
Caring for and about you is our top priority
Committed to providing good quality, safe services
Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
Flexible working options to support work-life balance
27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
Generous NHS pension scheme
Excellent learning and career development opportunities
‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
Free parking across Trust site
The “must haves” for this role:
1. Degree or equivalent experience
2. Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues (or other disadvantaged groups) into employment
3. Ability to travel across East Berkshire, to include Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough and Bracknell.
4. Able to demonstrate through examples offered at interview - empathy, tenacity and hope when working alongside people with severe mental health issues
5. Able to demonstrate excellent motivational, communication and listening skills
6. A high level of organisation and perseverance
For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call Team lead Gurpreet Athwal on 07815 485139 or email: [email protected] or our Service Lead Khadija Hussain on 07717 507369 or email: [email protected] who will be delighted to help.
Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
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