Band 4 Talking Therapies Employment Advisor - Swindon

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen within Swindon Talking Therapies to join our team as an Employment Advisor.

This can be to find, return to, or to retain work.

The average worker in the UK will spend over 3,500 full days of their life at work. Being out of work, or having problems in the workplace, can be a significant source of distress and a detriment to our wellbeing. As an Employment Advisor (EA), your role will be to support your clients in improving their work situation and the impact it may be having on their mental health.

Working as part of a team of Employment Advisors alongside the Senior Employment Advisor, this role is an integral part of the Employment Support Pathway at Swindon Talking Therapies.

Main duties of the job

This role is suited to someone who has a background in employment advice, human resources, legal advice or customer support. You will have the ability to communicate with a diverse range of people who may be experiencing difficulty with their employment situation.

With proven customer service experience, you will have empathy with and/or experience of working with people who have experienced mental health issues and ideally have an understanding of the barriers they face in accessing employment.

Excellent administrative and IT skills are a must; including writing reports and managing client data.

This post is subject to an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service check. Applications welcome from all sections of the community.

Working for our organisation

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

AWP is committed to support and create a positive research and evidence-based environment and culture, which can have a beneficial impact on everyone who works for the organisation and the care we provide to those who use our services.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To manage a caseload of people in a high volume service who have experienced mental health problems and who wish to retain, return to or regain employment, using evidence based interventions.
• The EA work will be led by and focused on the aspirations of the service user. Considering their strengths, difficulties and employment assets in order to offer the most effective support.
• Conduct an assessment, discussing the person’s job goals and any concerns regarding their capacity for work. It is important at this point to establish a job goal (they may wish to change roles or find a job), job tasks gathering evidence about the individuals abilities including previous work experience (it could be that a role they did previously may be more suitable). Also important is their confidence to perform tasks and any factors that may be issues for employment and whether the individual has or could develop strategies to address them.
• Match job tasks and in the individual’s ability to do the job and any work solutions that may be required to develop the match.
• Refer the person to other/additional support if they have particularly complex barriers.
• Offer the person support agreeing a written action plan with the person detailing the steps to be taken to either get back into or retain employment and the appropriate support route. Need to include abilities, work solutions, preparation for work, disclosure. The action plan should also be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound).
• The EA will develop in-depth knowledge of the local labour market, local support and new initiatives, taking into account the needs of the client to broker effective interventions. Including specialist schemes to help with retaining or finding employment.
• Where appropriate provide help to find the right job and provide advice and support on training and also how to prepare for employer interviews.
• Work closely with local agencies to identify appropriate job vacancies
• Advocate on behalf of the person with prospective employers if necessary, aiming to identify work solutions that will overcome or minimise difficulties within the workplace. In particular it is important to establish any return to work issues, potential behaviour in the work place, possible work solutions. Employer awareness of the implications under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, health conditions and employment reactions. Interactions with supervisors and colleagues. Development needs and in work support.
• If appropriate signpost the person to other agencies who will be able to provide advice on other benefits/support the person may be entitled too.
• Provide continued personalised support after an individual has returned to work or secured employment to help them to sustain employment.
• To develop and maintain the integration of mental health treatment and employment support by establishing effective liaison of Talking Therapies employment support services and other health and social care services.
• To complete all necessary paperwork including questionnaires, reports and minutes for each interaction.
• Act as advocate with employers or prospective employers to identify work solutions to overcome or minimise potential difficulties within the workplace.
• Deliver teaching and training in collaboration with senior staff.
• Work independently on a day to day basis. Goals to be agreed and reviewed in supervision.
• Maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times when working people who may be distressed or anxious.
• Collect & report data to support service performance and evaluation
• To report any progress, change or adverse event promptly to a SEA.
• The job description is not exhaustive and can be altered in consultation with the post holder.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Customer service NVQ level 3 minimum or equivalent relevant qualification

Experience

• Experience of providing vocational/employment support

• Experience of supporting people with MH conditions into vocational/employment activities
• Evidence of a good customer service or person-centred support, guidance or mentoring background

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Efficient organizational, time management and planning skills

• Knowledge of employment law and the Equality Act 2010.
• Basic counselling

Other Requirements

• Holds driving licence with access to vehicle

• Available for flexible working outside normal office hours

This includes people with a variety of disabilities and neurodivergent conditions (for example autism, ADHD, sensory, physical and learning disabilities).

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service users.

Click here to view our applicant guidance

Please apply to join us, we would love to hear from you. Any personal details you supply to us are kept safe in line with the General Data Protection Regulations.

Adverts normally close for application a few minutes before midnight on the closing date and we will let you know if we are offering you an interview by email via our recruitment system ‘TRAC’. We contact all applicants within 4 weeks after the closing date, so please check your emails regularly once you have submitted your application; you are welcome to contact us, via the TRAC system, if you have any queries about your application.

Please note the use of AI is monitored and if you have used it in your application you are required to declare this.