Employment Specialist

Role overview

This role is focused on delivering employment support to people living with severe and enduring mental health conditions who want to move into work. The post holder will help clients plan realistic career goals, access opportunities, and stay in employment through tailored support.

What the service does

The Work Well service sits within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and helps unemployed people work toward their own career ambitions. The service believes people should have choice over the kind of work they do and when they do it, with a wider ambition of a society where everyone can work if they want to.

Main duties

You will work within a multidisciplinary mental health team alongside health and social care professionals to deliver joined-up support. The role also involves building partnerships with employers, local organisations and services so that clients receive the right employment support.

You will represent the service across the Work Well network, sharing expertise with employment specialists across Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. In addition, you will promote the service to mental health professionals, service users and carers to maintain a healthy flow of referrals.

Client support

The role includes helping clients explore options for getting into work and remaining in work, setting personal job goals, and assessing barriers that may affect employment. Based on these assessments, you will create practical action plans and provide one-to-one coaching tailored to each individual.

Support will be delivered through a range of communication channels, including in-person meetings, video appointments, phone calls, emails, text messages and social media, depending on what works best for the client.

Employer engagement and advocacy

You will network with employers to identify vacancies that fit both the client’s needs and the employer’s requirements. The role also requires you to challenge negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination where appropriate, including self-stigma and self-discrimination, among clients, employers and other professionals.

Administration and teamwork

You will be expected to keep clear session notes, update electronic records, and gather written proof of outcomes such as job starts in a timely way. Accuracy and up-to-date case management are important parts of the job. You will also manage your own workload independently, monitor progress against targets, contribute in team meetings, and take part in service development work.

Values

• Person-centred: support is designed to help people make their own informed career choices rather than being told what to do.

• Empowering: the approach is to equip people with tools and confidence so they can take action themselves.

• Inspiring: the service aims to do more than place people into jobs by helping them think about longer-term career goals and the life they want.

Contact for informal enquiries

Name: Shellyanne Selwyn-Graham

Job title: IPS Employment Team Leader

Email: shellyanne.selwyn-graham@slam.nhs.uk

Telephone: 07736497676