Employment Specialist

Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone | Shaw Trust

Permanent contract

At Shaw Trust we believe everyone has the right to live a decent and dignified life and an opportunity for rewarding work. We are a social purpose organisation challenging inequality and breaking down barriers to enable social mobility.

Deadline: 14th September 2026

• South East
• Full-time

“Shaw Trust promotes team spirit, inclusiveness and it is an organisation where everybody is somebody. I am proud to be part of this great organisation.”

At Shaw Trust we believe everyone has the right to live a decent and dignified life and an opportunity for rewarding work. We are a social purpose organisation challenging inequality and breaking down barriers to enable social mobility.

For us being part of the solution is about creating the conditions for this to happen, advocating and delivering services that make a real difference. Working in partnership not competition, we are part of an eco-system of purpose-led organisations, striving for a fairer, more equal society centred on opportunity for all.

Working with clients, health professionals, service providers and employers, IPS Employment Specialists are focused on making sure a person’s journey into employment, with associated improved social inclusion and wellbeing is as easy as possible. You will work with clients (managing a caseload) who have mental health support needs, to assist them in securing sustainable paid employment in line with their preferences.

Your role will be to deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach (for which training will be given); providing person centred advice and guidance to clients, whilst building positive relationships with local employers to enable clients to move into suitable employment.

You will work as part of a community mental health team and/or early intervention psychosis team or Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) team, maintaining positive and integrated relationships, fostering a holistic approach to recovery through employment.

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you will need to be an able communicator, passionate about getting it right and focused on transforming individual lives through sustainable solutions. This role is a peripatetic and will work the majority of time in the community or at clinical hubs. There is no/minimal home working as part of this role.

You will work with people on their individual employment journey from vocational profiling to the point where they no longer require face to face in work support. The six key stages on a typical journey are: outreach/referral; vocational profiling; action planning; job search activities (including working on a one to one basis with employers to match people with appropriate employment); job placement and coordinating support whilst in employment;

managing withdrawal of support as the in work support is no longer required.

Location:

You will be based in Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone. This is community based role covering Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Maidstone, Aylesford and the surrounding Areas.

Working with clients, health professionals, service providers and employers, IPS Employment Specialists are focused on making sure a person’s journey into employment,
with associated improved social inclusion and wellbeing is as easy as possible. You will work with clients (managing a caseload) who have mental health support needs, to assist
them in securing sustainable paid employment in line with their preferences.

Your role will be to deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach (for which training will be
given); providing person centred advice and guidance to clients, whilst building positive relationships with local employers to enable clients to move into suitable employment. You
will work as part of a community mental health team and/or early intervention psychosis team or Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) team, maintaining positive and
integrated relationships, fostering a holistic approach to recovery through employment. As an IPS Employment Specialist, you will need to be an able communicator,…