Employment AdviserNHS

Job summary

• To provide an effective Employment Advice service for people with mental health conditions
• To support people with mental health conditions to obtain and sustain paid employment.
• To develop partnerships with local providers and services to ensure that the employment support needs of clients are met.

Main duties of the job

The Lewisham NHS Talking Therapies Employment team takes clients on to a caseload and supports them in their employment goals, networking with local providers and employers to source suitable opportunities or to maintain and resolve issues within the workplace. Being able to build rapport with clients in a professional and approachable way to build confidence, skills and empower for the future.

Building and working closely with the clinicians in the team that offer a variety of therapies and encouraging referrals to meet expectations set by the DWP who funds the post.

Job description

• Helping clients to identify and consider options for returning to work and set their own personal career goals.
• Using coaching techniques to help clients overcome practical and psychological barriers to employment.
• Supporting clients to undertake training, volunteering, and paid employment opportunities, and supporting employers where necessary.
• Identifying a range of support needs (e.g. housing, benefits, health, etc) and signposting clients to access support from internal and external agencies.
• Teaching employability skills to clients on a one-to-one basis and in group workshops (e.g., CVs, interview skills, etc).
• Communicating with clients and clinicians regularly in-person or by Teams, telephone, email, text.
• Writing clear and concise session notes, entering data onto a range of databases.
• Keeping up to date with local and national labour market trends, education/training opportunities, welfare benefit changes, and employment law in relation to people with mental health conditions.
• Promoting the service to clinical team in order to generate referrals and maintain service integration.
• Working independently to manage own workload and keep track of own progress towards targets, continually reflecting on own performance to improve and develop in the role.
• Working as part of a team, sharing knowledge and expertise, and contributing to team meetings and service development activities.
• Following service policies, procedures, and manuals to ensure that quality standards are met.

About us

The Lewisham NHS Talking Therapies Employment Team is a very busy team working with clients who have mild to moderate Mental Health concerns to find work, remain in work or start moving towards work. We are here to support clients towards their chosen goals as a signposting and advice service whilst building confidence and skills for the world of work.

The role will be based across the Lewisham Borough currently Hybrid but this could be subject to change in the future.