IPS Employment Specialist

London Borough of Greenwich South East London Mind

Permanent contract

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you'll help individuals living with mental health conditions to help them secure meaningful employment and thrive in the workplace through tailored guidance and unwavering support.

Deadline: 28th September 2025

• London
• Full-time

Job overview

South East London Mind are a well established and highly regarded mental health and dementia charity in South East London.

We work to be there when it matters for people living with mental health problems and dementia in Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark.

Our IPS Employment Service helps people with mental health needs back into work. We aim to increase the number of people moving into paid employment from Community Mental Health Teams.

We are currently seeking IPS Employment Specialists to work as part of the Community Mental Health Teams. You will deliver the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach (for which training will be given), working in line with the 25-points fidelity scale.

Role

You will assist in securing sustainable paid employment for a caseload of clients with mental health support needs, building positive relationships with local employers to identify job opportunities for clients. You will work in partnership with clinical teams and mental health hubs, maintaining positive relationships with colleagues to enable a holistic approach to recovery through employment.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage a caseload of around 20-25 clients who have mental health support needs, who are motivated to start/return to paid work.
• Deliver the IPS approach, for which training will be given, following the 8 principles.
• Meet and support clients through regular meetings to understand their key skills, aspirations and goals, completing a vocational profile and producing an action plan to help them obtain and sustain competitive employment. This includes support with their job search, CV production, application forms, interview techniques and career development.
• Assess client's support needs related to work, which may include benefits calculation and discussions of mental health symptoms with employers.
• Attend weekly clinical team meetings as an embedded IPS practitioner.
• Source job opportunities for clients through tailored job search and regular contact with local employers to explore hidden as well as advertised employment opportunities.
• Provide education and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments, return to work strategy and ongoing contact with the employer to ensure job retention.
• Once employment has been secured, continue to provide quality service through conducting regular visits, effective monitoring and individual in-work support to clients and employers, helping to sustain employment.
• Support people at risk of losing their job or off sick to retain their employment.
• Meet and exceed job outcome targets for clients.

The person

Experience:

• Experience of liaising/negotiating with employers or businesses
• Experience of proactively making initial contact with organisations
• Proven experience of working to, meeting and exceeding outcomes and targets
• Experience of working with different data collecting tools
• Experience of working with someone on a one-to-one basis to achieve a positive outcome
• Experience of working assertively to influence decision makers Experience of supporting people to obtain or keep work
• Previous experience of delivering a service using the IPS model

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• An understanding of the employment needs, and challenges faced by people who experience mental health difficulties
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to prioritise and efficiently manage admin and a busy schedule
• Ability to work independently and use initiative to develop and promote a service
• Highly motivated with a genuine belief that someone with a mental health condition can find full time paid employment
• Team orientated and able to work collaboratively within a mixed-disciplinary team
• Developing a knowledge of a broad range of occupations and jobs
• Good motivational, communication and organisational skills
• Understanding of and commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Ability to travel quickly and efficiently across the Borough
• Trained in the IPS approach
• Level 3 Diploma in Employability Services Sector Qualification
• QCF in Advice & Guidance (Level 3)
• Full & current driving licence
• Experience of liaising/negotiating with employers or businesses
• Experience of proactively making initial contact with organisations
• Proven experience of working to, meeting and exceeding outcomes and targets
• Experience of working with different data collecting tools
• Experience of working with someone on a one-to-one basis to achieve a positive outcome
• Experience of working assertively to influence decision makers
• Experience of supporting people to obtain or keep work
• Previous experience of delivering a service using the IPS model