Employment Advisor

**Senior Employment Advisor (x4) Talking Therapies Service NHS**

**Contract **Fixed term: 18 months (Contract end date March 2025)

**Hours **Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
- **4 Roles Across Black Country Available**_

**Job overview**

This role is part of the employment service, working closely with clinicians working to provide psychological therapies to people with common mental health problems. The post holders will support service users with common mental health problems to gain, return to or retain employment. The role will involve working directly with Jobcentre Plus, employers, trade unions and employment agencies to keep people in employment and secure employment opportunities. The postholder is expected to work with between 100-120 people each year.

**Main duties of the job**

The service will assist targeted participants to progress their journey towards gaining, returning to or retaining employment. The service will consist of a variety of skills-mix to ensure that individuals are offered support and advice that meets their needs. The service will provide advice and training to potential employers on reasonable adjustments and retention of employees where necessary. This service will reduce health inequalities as employment is evidenced as a way of maintaining good health and well-being.

Flexibility and adaptability is required due to the unpredictability of the environment and resource availability under which work will need to be carried out.

Staff will work to the Trust’s lone worker policy and ensure that they have a mobile phone in working order so that communications can be achieved at all times

**Working for our organisation**

This is a new employment support project for eligible adults in the Black Country.

Broad scope of service:

- People with common mental health problems and long term conditions
- People who are engaging with Talking Therapies.
- People who are out of work or in work and at risk of losing their job or on a period of sick leave

**Detailed job description and main responsibilities**

Manage a caseload of clients who have experienced common mental health problems or long term conditions who wish to retain, return to or regain employment.

Carry out a vocational assessments, to identify vocational needs and develop action plans

Maintain detailed and accurate notes and upload these on to the management information system within the allocated timeframe

Provide information, advice guidance & support to individuals about the pathways of opportunities available to them

Provide in work support to those who require it so that they may sustain or retain their job.

Liaise and arrange meetings with health professionals, partner agencies (voluntary and statutory sectors) and/or employers concerning the individual’s needs, including partner organisations that work with diverse groups to develop joint working that will enhance service delivery and increase opportunities for individuals.

Take part in informal training with colleagues from external organisations to help raise awareness and improve their knowledge on the service, as well as supporting them to understand common mental health problems and LTCs.

Ensure that the service eligibility is adhered to, providing information on alternative employment support services for those who are not eligible, and monitoring progress and outcomes of those supported ensuring that stringent monitoring deadlines are adhered to, and any KPI evidence is gained regularly.

Liaise and communicate regularly with the referrer and other relevant healthcare staff to ensure that all parties are kept informed and co-operate in helping the individual achieve, return to and retain employment.

Collect and collate statistics that supports the ongoing monitoring of service delivery/ quality as part of the Talking Therapies minimum data set. To provide information for service reports as required and participate in regular audits and evaluations.

Work with the Senior Employment Advisor and as part of a team, to further develop quality standards to continue to improve service delivery and the implementation of employment in new health pathways

Offer advice and guidance to the Administrator and training and support to new team members

Along with your main duties, you will also be expected to carry out any other duties that are reasonably asked of you

**Person specification**

**Experience**

**Essential criteria**

**Education/Qualifications**

**Essential criteria**
- Degree level or equivalent level of experience

**Desirable criteria**
- L4 Information, Advice and Guidance

**Experience**

**Essential criteria**
- Good interpersonal skills
- Good negotiation skills and persuasive style
- An ability to initiate and develop relationships with partners including local clinicians, employers and JCP staff
- Good report writing and information management skills
- Working with individuals experiencing complex barriers and