Universal Credit Job centre Work Coach

As a Work Coach you hold a vital role in the Department, helping individuals and their families towards financial independence through work and enabling them to claim the support they need as they progress.

Work Coaches are customer-focused, dedicated individuals and able to deliver exceptional service with empathy and compassion to people who need their support.

As a Work Coach, you will use sound judgement to help people through some difficult, challenging times in their lives, and your tailored coaching can make a huge difference to their ability to find, stay in, and progress in a job.

If you're looking for a job that makes a clear difference to people's lives, a Work Coach role in DWP could be just what you are looking for.

Key Accountabilities

The Work Coach role is wide-ranging and diverse. You will be working with customers, employers and colleagues through a combination of face to face, digital and telephone contact on a daily basis. Some of the main activities are set out below:

• Providing support to customers claiming Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance and Income Support.
• Offering quality advice to customers about job search actions, supporting them to job search effectively in a largely digital world, and matching to suitable vacancies.
• Meeting your legal duty to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and making sure your customers get the additional support and advice to help them access our services.
• Building positive relationships with customers that encourages, motivates, and builds trust.
• Developing an in-depth knowledge of local employment opportunities and the support our service partners offer.
• Making timely decisions, based on customer needs, and referring them to appropriate help and support.
• Be accountable for performance and management of your caseload.

Person specification

What we are looking for:

• Effective communication skills both verbally and in writing to a wide range of diverse customers.
• The ability to understand complex information and give clear explanations to the customer.
• You will be able to coach customers to improve their movement in to work.
• You must be able to navigate a range of computer systems to action tasks as well as coach customers to. be confident using digital work search tools.
• Youll also be required to handle telephony queries and have the ability to manage difficult situations where required in a calm and professional manner.

If youre looking for a career that makes a clear and positive difference to peoples lives, then being a Work Coach may be an ideal role for you You can find out more and apply here .

Do you want to be part of a team where you can be yourself, feel supported, empowered, valued, respected, fairly treated and able to achieve your full potential?

If your answer is Yes. Join us

We have exciting, challenging and rewarding roles available across DWP.

We are looking for people who are customer focused, with the right skills, commitment and capability to deliver an exceptional public service.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 29,500, Department for Work and Pensions contributes 8,546 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

With great benefits including:

• Generous annual leave, plus bank holidays.
• Flexible working patterns available.
• Competitive maternity, paternity, and parental leave.
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Alongside your salary of 29,500, DWP contributes 8546.15 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
• Employee Assistance Programme with emphasis on wellbeing.
• Career and Personal Development through Operational Delivery Profession.
• Employee discount schemes.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours and Ability.

Stage 1- Apply

Please complete the application form and write up to 500 words providing examples of how things you have done in the past and your skills and experience help you demonstrate the Civil Service Behaviour Communicating and Influencing (Level 2).

A NOTE ON ANONYMISATION

DWP operates an anonymised recruitment process, you should remove any personal details that could be used to identify you. This relates to name and contact details which might usually appear on your Personal Statement. Failure to do so will result in your application being withdrawn.

Evidence must be your own. Presenting the work of others as your own, copying content from an online/published source, using forms of artificial intelligence is called plagiarism. If identified your application will be withdrawn. This applies to all stages of your application.

More information on Success Profiles and Civil Service Behaviours can be accessed by clicking the links.

Stage 2 - Selection

After submitting your application, you will be sent an invitation with a link to complete an online Situational Judgement Test. This is designed to test your skills for the EO role. You must complete and submit the test by the deadline stated in your invitation. If you do not complete and submit the test before the deadline, your application will not progress.

If you pass the Situational Judgement Test your written application form evidence will be assessed. If you meet the required standard and your application is successful, you will receive an invitation to a pre-recorded interview.

Depending on application numbers we may progress all candidates who have been successful at the online test through to interview without assessing the written application evidence.

You will be assessed against three Civil Service Behaviours (Level 2)

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions

The evidence you provide must relate to your own thoughts and experiences.

Feedback will only be provided following an interview.

More information about the job role and additional guidance on the selection process is available here .

Stage 3 - Offer

Offers will be made in merit order and business continuity.

Candidates should note that if successful in this campaign, you will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before applying for any other lateral moves within DWP.

Reserve List

You may be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot immediately offer you a post, please note:

• If you accept an offer of a post, you will be expected to withdraw from any reserve lists of campaigns you have applied for, with DWP, at this grade.
• If you are offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances*.
• If DWP makes an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.

Note - Exceptional circumstances could be when a candidate has requested a contractual Part Time Working Pattern, and this pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered or in cases of serious ill health.

Further Information

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy

The Great Place to Work for Veterans scheme makes it easier for veterans to join the Civil Service. For further information please go to the Civil Service Making the Civil Service a Great Place to Work for Veterans - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) If you wish to be considered for inclusion in this scheme please tick this box when applying.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. For further information please go to the Civil Service Prison Leaver recruitment page on GOV.UK.

Hours of work

The full time working week in DWP is 37 hours (under certain circumstances 36 hours for existing DWP staff based in London).

All customers must receive a consistently good service no matter how or when they decide to contact DWP as such: You may be required to work at any time between the hours of 7.45 am and 8:00 pm on any day between Monday to Friday, and 8.45 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday.

A working pattern that meets business needs will be discussed and agreed once you have started. You will be given advance notice of your personal schedule.

Working pattern

Part time and job sharing working patterns within working hours are available but must meet business needs. We will do our best to let people with existing part time contracts retain their contracted hours provided they are in line with current business needs. Please note that successful part time and job share candidates may be required to work full time for specific periods to complete and consolidate training.

DWP is a family-friendly employer and part-time and term time working patterns may be available but must meet business needs.

Existing DWP Employees

Before applying for this vacancy, current DWP employees should check on the DWP intranet whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. If you are successful you must be able to be released from your current post within 4 weeks.

Those on protected TUPE/ COSoP terms and conditions applying on promotion or voluntary permanent level move will adopt DWPs Terms and Conditions and this may have a different impact on pay and allowances. Please review this prior to acceptance of a role.

Applying for a lateral transfer or promotion from outside DWP

Civil Servants that transfer into DWP from another government department or organisation, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, including those concerning weekly working hours, working days and times, and mobility. Exceptions may be allowed by DWP for pay, sick pay and annual leave to take account of expressed terms and conditions before the transfer. Previous service will count towards service-related entitlements. A transferee accepting a post will be taken to mean acceptance of revised terms & conditions.

Please contact the vacancy holder if you have questions regarding DWP terms & conditions.

Civil servants applying on promotion will usually be appointed to the salary minimum or within 10% of existing salary.

Location

This is an office based role.

Successful candidates will be appointed to a particular DWP office but may be required to travel regularly to other DWP premises or locations in the community that are within a reasonable daily commute from the home office.

We will discuss this further with you, if you are successful and at the point of agreeing your start date.

Job offers will be made in merit order. If you are successful and your selected location(s) have been filled at the time of offer you will be placed on a reserve list. DWP may then contact you and offer you an alternative role or location included within this advert or the district that is within a reasonable travelling distance of your home.

This vacancy is only for the locations shown above. If you are not within reasonable daily travel distance of these locations, you would need to consider applying for other vacancies within your travel area.

Please note: We are not able to consider requests to move your application to other vacancies advertised elsewhere in the UK.

Candidates should note that if successful in this campaign, you will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before applying for any other lateral moves within DWP.

Training

Please note that successful part time and job share candidates may be required to work full time for a number of weeks to complete and consolidate training.

Apprenticeships

DWP takes development seriously. Our aim is for our colleagues in these roles to be appropriately skilled and qualified as determined by the business. To support this aim you may be required to undertake a work based qualification, which may be in the form of an apprenticeship, which will support you in further developing your professional knowledge and skills for this role and your future career development. The qualification can be undertaken in work time, you agree to take this job on the basis that you may be required to undertake a work based qualification; a candidates failure to participate fully in the professional programme, once appointed, may be a breach of their employment contract.

Complaints

If you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL DWP-customer_Hub@gov.sscl.com mailto: in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission here to visit Civil Service Commission.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .

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