Employment Specialist (Individual Placement and Support

"OverviewIPS Employment Specialist Barking & Dagenham | Permanent | Full Time | 37.5 Hours
Recovery doesn't end with treatment. Sometimes, it begins with a job.

A job can mean so much more than a salary.

It can restore confidence, create independence, rebuild identity and give someone the opportunity to imagine a different future.

At Change Grow Live, we believe employment is one of the most powerful tools in long-term recovery. That's why we're investing in our Individual Placement and Support (IPS) service—an evidence-based approach that's transforming how people move from treatment into meaningful, sustainable employment.

We're looking for an IPS Employment Specialist to join our Barking & Dagenham team and help people take that next step.

If you’re passionate about unlocking potential, building opportunities and changing lives, we’d love to hear from you.

People don’t recover in isolation.

Recovery is built through relationships, confidence, purpose and opportunity.

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you’ll work alongside people receiving structured drug and alcohol treatment, helping them identify their ambitions and supporting them into paid employment that reflects what matters to them—not what others think they should do.

You’ll become part of someone’s journey, helping them overcome barriers, build confidence and realise goals they may never have believed were possible.

This isn’t simply employment support.

It’s helping people rediscover what’s possible.

IPS is transforming employment support across England.

Rather than asking people to complete treatment before thinking about work, IPS recognises that meaningful employment can be a vital part of recovery itself.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you’ll collaborate with Recovery Coordinators, clinicians, employers and community partners to deliver joined-up, person-centred support that helps people find and sustain the right job for them.

As our service continues to grow, you’ll also help strengthen local partnerships, engage employers and shape how employment support is delivered across Barking & Dagenham.

Where
:
Barking and Dagenham

Hours
:
Full time - 37.5 per week

Contract Type
:
Permanent

Every conversation has the potential to change someone’s future.

One day you’ll be helping someone prepare for their first interview in years. The next, you’ll be meeting local employers to create new opportunities or supporting someone already in work to overcome challenges and remain in employment.

You’ll manage your own caseload, building trusted relationships with the people you support while working collaboratively with colleagues across Change Grow Live to ensure employment becomes an integral part of each person’s recovery journey.

No two days will be the same—but every day you’ll help someone move closer to the future they want.

• You believe people are capable of far more than they sometimes believe themselves.
• You’re someone who builds relationships easily, sees potential in others and enjoys helping people achieve goals that once felt out of reach.
• You might already have experience delivering IPS or supported employment, or perhaps you’ve worked within employability, health, social care, substance use or another person-centred service where you’ve helped people overcome barriers and achieve positive outcomes.
• You’re confident managing a caseload, building partnerships with employers and working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Most importantly, you’ll share our belief that employment isn’t simply an outcome—it's a powerful part of recovery.

Everything we do starts with people.

Guided by our values—
Be Open. Be Compassionate. Be Bold.—we’re creating services that are evidence-led, shaped by innovation and designed around the people and communities we support.

Our strategy is focused on improving access, strengthening partnerships and creating opportunities that help people live healthier, more independent lives. Employment is a key part of that ambition, and our IPS teams are helping more people than ever realise…