Senior Employment Specialist; Lead Worker

Fixed term contract until 31/03/2027 /

Hours:

37.5 per week

Whatever your experience of street homelessness and its impact on people’s lives – personal or professional – when you join the Thames Reach team as a Senior Employment Specialist (Lead Worker), we will make the best use of all your understanding, compassion and commitment.

Thames Reach runs projects and services that help to end homelessness in and around London. We work directly with homeless people on the streets and in hostels, prevent vulnerable people from becoming homeless, help formerly homeless people get their lives back on track, and support people in finding work and accessing training and volunteering opportunities. Last year we helped more than 15,000 people.

Thames Reach is listed as one of the top 100 Best Workplaces in the UK.

Due to an increase in funding we are looking for a Senior Employment Specialist (Lead Worker) to join the Lambeth Individual Placement Support Team on a fixed‑term basis. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is the evidence‑based model for helping people with severe mental illness find and keep paid work. In the United Kingdom, IPS is commissioned by NHS England. The goal is to find paid employment in mainstream jobs at or above minimum wage that the person chooses, with the support of Employment Specialists who work inside Community Mental Health Teams as clinical team members, not a separate service.

We will not accept applications where Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used to assist with completing the competency questions.

• Carry a client caseload: conduct direct IPS work – client meetings, rapid job search, employer engagement, and on‑the‑job support. Caseload is usually smaller than standard specialists to free up time for other duties.
• Coach and mentor junior specialists: model job development calls, join them on employer visits, review their client work, give feedback on IPS fidelity and help problem‑solve complex cases.
• Lead employer engagement strategy: build relationships with major local employers, develop job opportunities the whole team can use, track which industries are hiring and share leads in team meetings.
• Monitor fidelity and outcomes: run data reports on job starts, hours worked, and employer contacts, complete fidelity reviews, file audits, and prepare for external IPS fidelity assessments.
• Liaise with clinical and system partners: attend leadership meetings with mental health teams, funders, or DWP/Jobcentre staff, troubleshoot integration issues and promote IPS across services.
• Support the team lead: assist senior managers to compile monthly and quarterly data for reporting submissions.

• IPS delivery: strong job outcomes record, demonstrable fidelity to all eight IPS principles, rapid job search within 30 days.
• Supervision and coaching ability: experience mentoring staff, running one‑to‑one sessions, or delivering training; able to model employer engagement calls, give constructive feedback, and develop support worker employment specialists.
• Advanced employer engagement: build relationships with employers, negotiate job carves, and create repeat referral routes; confident with senior managers and HR.
• Mental health and benefits knowledge: understanding of SMI, medication impacts, NHS pathways like CMHT and EIP, familiarity with Universal Credit, PIP, and work incentives planning.
• Data, fidelity and quality assurance: comfortable with IPS fidelity reviews, outcome reporting to IPS Grow, and case note audits on ePJS; uses data to improve team performance.
• Systems leadership and partnership working: experience working with clinicians, employers, and DWP partners; able to represent IPS in MDT discussions and unblock referral issues; independent, excellent IT and administrative skills.

• Generous holiday allowance – 29 days per year plus 8 public holidays (pro‑rata).
• Pension – we contribute 6.5% to your pension when you contribute 1.5%.
• Career development – career progression, regular supervision and appraisals, and learning programmes to support your career with Thames Reach.
• Wellbeing support – 24/7 employee assistance…