Employment Specialist, IPS Employment Service | Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	29 August 2025
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£32,602 - £39,686 per annum (Incl. of HCAS)
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	28 September 2025
Location:	Bracknell, RG12 7FR
Company:	Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	7449834/371-TAPMHS725-C

Summary

Help us close the gap:80% of people with severe mental health issues want paid work, but only 8% achieve it.

Join Berkshire Healthcare’s Individual Placement and Support (IPS) team, now in its 10th year, and make a real difference. We’re looking for an Employment Specialistto support clients with severe mental health issues to find and keep meaningful work, while building relationships with employers to break stigma and create opportunities.

We’ll train you in the IPS approach, so experience in supported employment or mental health is helpful but both are not essential. What matters most is your passion, empathy, and drive to help people succeed.

There will be a two-stage interview process:
1. By telephone–informal discussion
1. Face to Face (please note we do not offer interviews online)

At interview, you’ll need to show examples of:
• Empathy, tenacity, and hope when working with people facing severe mental health challenges
• Excellent motivational, communication, and listening skills
• Strong organisation and perseverance (also shown in your application)

Applications for this role will be reviewed in the order they are received. The role may close early if the right applicant is found. If you’re ready to fight inequality and champion opportunity, apply now and help us change lives.

We have1 full time role available (37.5 hours)withinourEast Berkshire Mental Health Integrated Community Services (MHICS) team,and you would be expected to travel acrossEast Berkshire, to includeWindsor & Maidenhead,Sloughand Bracknell.


It’sa highly varied job whereyou’llspend most of your week in the community, meeting clients and employers, and making a vital contribution to the team’s activities.

• You’ll support a caseload of up to 20 people with severe mental health issues who are unemployed or struggling in the workplace
• Working directly with all relevant stakeholders – including clients, clinicians, consultant psychiatrists and employers and Job Centre Plus – you’ll aim to enable your clients to gain, sustain and retain paid employment.
• You’ll have the opportunity to transform the lives of your clients, to give them hope, direction and support their recovery journey. It's also challenging, so you’ll need to be able to demonstrate perseverance, whilst being empathic and dedicated to finding clients a role that’s right for them.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust site

The “must haves” for this role:
1. Degree or evidence of equivalent relevant experience.
2. Experience of working with and supporting people who have mental health issues, (or other disadvantaged groups) into employment .
3. A Car Driver with access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

Please note: We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

While we are a licensed sponsor, we must follow the criteria set by UK Visas and Immigration for sponsoring overseas nationals under the Skilled Worker route. After reviewing this position, we believe it does not meet the requirements for sponsorship.

For more information on Skilled Worker visa eligibility, please visit the GOV.UK website:https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.



This advert closes on Sunday 28 Sep 2025

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