Employment Specialist, IPS Service

People with severe mental health issues face huge barriers when it comes to employment. Over 75 per cent of them would like paid work, but only 6-8 per cent achieve it.

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 employment specialists to champion our mission and support people with severe mental health issues – your clients – to gain, sustain and retain paid work.

Our diverse team brings together a wide range of strengths and skills. We’ll train you in the IPS approach so you can support clients effectively, build relationships with employers, and help change perceptions of mental health. Experience in supported employment or working with severe mental health issues is beneficial, but empathy, hope, and determination are essential.

Based at Prospect House in Reading you would be expected to travel across Berkshire occasionally.

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.

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

• 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