Connect Navigator

**Job Title: Belfast Works Connect Navigator (Job Share)**

**Responsible to**:Connect Coordinator**

**Location: Skainos Centre, 239 Newtownards Road, Belfast. BT4 1AF**

**Hours: 16 hours per week**

**Salary: £12,561 Per Annum. (Full Time Equivalent £29,439 p.a.)**

**Contract Term: Permanent Contract**

**JOB BACKGROUND**:
This post is part of the Belfast Works Connect Project, a Belfast wide employment project implemented by a consortium of organisations led by the Upper Springfield Development
Trust. Other Belfast Works Connect Project Partner organisations are;
- Ashton Community Trust
- East Belfast Mission
- GEMS NI
- Impact Training

The Connect Navigator will be a constant source of support and a point of reference throughout the client’s journey, ensuring success for the client. The Connect Navigator will support the client to undertake a self-assessment of their, personal, social, emotional, financial, health, wellbeing, employability, and skills needs.

**KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES**:
1. To engage, build trust and maintain effective rapport with a caseload of Belfast
Works Connect Economically Inactive participants and deliver within a pace that suits the individual client and their personal context.

2. Build an understanding of the strengths and areas for development that the client has at their point of entry to the Belfast Works Connect Service.

3. Support the client to undertake an initial self-assessment of their current personal, social and emotional, financial (including access to a better off calculation), health, wellbeing and employability and skills and needs.

4. Identify the key connections the client already has and the specialist services that they currently receive and explore additional areas of informal support from family, friends and faith-based etc.

5. Refer clients to Belfast Works Connect internal specialist provision e.g., homelessness, ESOL as required.

6. Provide the client with access and support to self-refer/or supported referral to complementary expertise from across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Including specialist support from trusted providers to effectively address the barriers which can keep them trapped in economic inactivity.

7. Deliver 1-1 mentoring sessions with all clients to remove barriers to health and well
- being etc, providing a safe, relaxed environment, responding to sensitive issues in a confidential manner to help them move closer to employment.

8. Deliver work focused health solutions and interventions support, working in partnership with Condition Management Teams, GP’s etc.

9. Support the client to undertake a career interest inventory to identify employment interests including, those the client may not have originally considered and engage in discussion of potential employment areas.

10. Co-create an Individual Employability & Skills Action Plan with all referred participants to identify; personal and work barriers, job readiness, existing skills and experience, soft/key skills deficiencies, qualifications/training history and work goals.
This will include a focus on numeracy skills for the workplace. The Employability and
Skills Action Plan should be a ‘living document’ and is reviewed and updated regularly.

11. Co-create an individual CV with each referred client.
12. To regularly input and maintain all client data via Belfast Works Connect Client

Management System (CMS).
13. To achieve contractual Key Performance Indicator (KPI), targets including supporting a minimum of 100 clients per year.
14. Ensure ongoing communication with the BW Connect Skills Navigator and Connect

Employment Navigators to ensure a successful outcome for clients.
15. Liaise and form an introduction with the Connect Employment Navigator and remain engaged throughout the remaining client journey for example:
16. Offer to meet the client throughout their connect journey either face to face or offer telephone/video conference support at a time and location that suits the client.
17. If the client is at a crisis stage and at risk of leaving their job, intervene immediately to agree measures that could prevent the drop-out. The client may be struggling to maintain their job due to the recurrence of the issues that led to their becoming economically inactive or a new crisis point that is affecting their confidence, self
- esteem and or motivation including areas such as addictions home family and relationship issues or health condition/illness, bereavement etc.

18. If the client leaves the or loses their job, address the issues and support the client to undertake further training or avail of specialist support.

19. Explore with the client their requirements for back to work support this can be sources of financial support for clothes, public transport, and areas such as lunches.
Childcare may also have to be arranged including any adjustments the client can request when they have a child or children under a certain age.

20. Explor