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Individual Placement and Support Senior Programme Officer

Job details
Posting date: 10 February 2025
Salary: £41,206 to £49,264 per year
Additional salary information: National = £41,206 - £45,497 London = £45,144 - £49,264
Hours: Full time
Closing date: 23 February 2025
Location: SW1H 0EU
Company: Government Recruitment Service
Job type: Permanent
Job reference: 390142/2

Summary

In the Department of Health and Social Care, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) officially launched on 1 October 2021 with the aim of tackling health inequalities across the country. As part of DHSC, OHID brings together expert advice, analysis and evidence with policy development and implementation working with the whole of government, the NHS, local government, industry and wider partners to shape and drive health improvement and equalities priorities for government.

As a member of the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment support team in the Health Improvement directorate, you will work alongside colleagues to complete the national roll-out of IPS in community drug and alcohol treatment and to improve performance and fidelity in areas where IPS is already embedded.

The Health Improvement Directorate within OHID aims to make a significant and sustainable improvement to the public’s health through innovative interventions and engagement. People accessing community drug and alcohol treatment have a significantly lower employment rate than the wider community, although there is evidence that recovery and employment can be mutually reinforcing. Recognising that people are often unable to access the specialist and integrated support they need, OHID, in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, is working with local authorities, and treatment providers and IPS providers around the country to expand the provision of Individual Placement and Support (IPS). IPS is model of employment support with a robust evidence base for effectiveness previously trialled by OHID’s predecessor organization Public Health England in community drug and alcohol treatment as the IPS-AD trial.

This expansion of provision comes with investment totalling approximately £23m in 2025-26. The focus of the IPS Programme Officer role will be to support three main strands of this work:

  • Supporting the continuous improvement of IPS delivery by over 100 IPS teams currently working across almost 150 local authority areas
  • Supporting the expansion of IPS to areas currently without access to IPS
  • Supporting the wider work of the IPS team as requested by the IPS Programme Manager

Communication and key working relationships

Internal

  • Colleagues within A&I involved in the delivery other programmes aimed at improving outcomes for people affected by substance use, including cross-government programmes
  • Colleagues within other OHID national teams, such as those leading on inclusion health and health inequalities
  • OHID centres, including regional drug and alcohol leads

External

  • Key senior stakeholders, research and policy makers in the fields of employment support and IPS.
  • Other government departments/units, including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Cabinet Office, the Joint Work and Health Directorate and the Joint Combatting Drugs Unit.
  • Others including local authority Directors of Public Health and public health commissioners, staff at all levels of treatment providers from the public and voluntary sectors, people accessing community drug and alcohol treatment and providers of IPS technical guidance and training.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder duties and responsibilities will include the following:

  • Provide programme support and coordination to the IPS programme, in particular, supporting the Programme Manager to ensure that effective project management processes are in place.
  • Be a point of contact for designated areas (i.e. local authorities and commissioned providers) throughout the roll-out of the IPS expansion programme, with a particular emphasis on promoting understanding of the IPS approach and problem solving.
  • Advocate for engagement with IPS with wider treatment and recovery partnerships in the areas participating
  • Liaise with local authorities and treatment/employment support providers receiving funding for IPS and support the progress monitoring of the funded projects.
  • Liaise with OHID regional teams when required on all aspects relating to IPS programme.
  • Support the Programme Manager in the coordination and delivery of training, presentations, webinars, away days and briefings
  • Work closely with key government departments on IPS-related priorities, in particular the Department for Work and Pensions.
  • Manage and respond to external and internal queries related to the IPS expansion programme, as required by the Programme Manager.
  • Deputising for the Programme Manager as required
  • Actively participate in the performance management of the programme, including completing project monitoring forms and attending delivery team monitoring meetings.
  • Draft guidance and reports relating to the programme and contribute to national guidance documents when required.
  • Read and summarise key research documents which impact on the IPS programme and provide briefings to senior managers as required.
  • Draft, agree and regularly update official responses to range of frequently asked questions and queries posed by parliamentary questions, stakeholders and members of the public.
  • Represent OHID with other government departments and key external stakeholders at a senior level and deliver presentations as required.
  • Work closely and effectively with the teams within OHID on programme development and the communication of programme work.
  • Build relationships and work collaboratively with a range of key stakeholders (both internally and externally) in the relevant fields.
  • Ensure opportunities for service user involvement in programme development where appropriate.
  • Provide project support to the wider IPS team as required

Other:

  • The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required.
  • The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation.

Professional development:

  • You should pursue a programme of continuous professional development in accordance with any relevant professional registration or statutory requirements, while maintaining appropriate awareness of service provider requirements.

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Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.