East London NHS Foundation Trust
IPS Employment Specialist (Mental Health) Primary Care Pathways

The closing date is 26 July 2026

Job summary
Vacancies covering the following areas: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton (Primary Care Pathways opportunities)

Job Title: IPS Employment Specialist (Mental Health) - Primary Care Pathways

We are looking for motivated, passionate self-starters who want to build a career in the mental health sector. These roles offer a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference by supporting people with mental health needs into meaningful employment across Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton.

As part of our expanding IPS Employment Service, vacancies are available covering Primary Care settings across Bedfordshire and Luton, supporting individuals at different stages of their mental health recovery journey.

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you will play a vital role in helping people with mental health needs find and sustain fulfilling, competitive employment. You will receive comprehensive training, ongoing supervision, and access to a wide range of development opportunities within the Bedfordshire and Luton IPS Employment Service.

We welcome applications from people of all experience levels and backgrounds.

What matters most is that you:

• Can motivate and build positive relationships with service users
• Have strong organisational and time management skills
• Are confident communicating and engaging with a range of employers
• Believe that anyone with a mental health condition can work with the right support

Main duties of the job
What is an IPS Employment Specialist?

This is an exciting and dynamic role where no two days are the same, and you will be making a genuine difference to people's lives.

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you will use the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model -- an evidence-based approach that helps people with mental health needs move into and sustain paid employment.

In this role you will:

• Support and motivate individuals with mental health needs to access and sustain competitive paid employment.
• Meet regularly with clients to understand their goals, identify the right job match based on their strengths, skills and aspirations, and provide practical support such as CV development and interview preparation.
• Provide ongoing in-work support, helping clients manage workplace challenges, develop return-to-work plans where needed, and maintain employment through continued contact.
• Advocate for clients by engaging with employers, raising awareness of the IPS service, and promoting inclusive recruitment practices.
• Proactively source job opportunities through regular contact with local employers and community organisations.
• Work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team, promoting the belief that people with mental health needs can and do succeed in paid employment, and helping to break down barriers to work.

About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve.

Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Details
Date posted: 13 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year Per Annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 363-BED8088850
Job locations: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton, IPS Main office: Charter House, Alma Street, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton, LU1 2PJ, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities
Who are we looking for?

We are looking for someone who is passionate about supporting people and wants to help develop our service while transforming lives.

This role requires empathy, resilience, and the ability to build positive relationships with a wide range of people. You will be confident engaging both service users and employers, using different approaches such as telephone contact, virtual meetings, and face-to-face engagement in the community.

You will also bring:

• Strong and persuasive communication skills
• Excellent time management and the ability to manage a varied workload
• High levels of organisation and administrative accuracy
• A proactive, solution-focused approach
• A genuine belief that people with mental health needs can achieve paid employment

If you are looking for a career where you can make a meaningful difference to the lives of people who are unemployed and need support to find paid work, and want to contribute to creating a fairer, more inclusive society in a role where no two days are the same - we would love to hear from you.

As this is a new and developing service, the successful candidate will need to be flexible and able to travel independently across Bedfordshire and Luton. Posts may be allocated across any locality within Bedfordshire and Luton Primary Care settings, depending on service needs. The role may involve supporting individuals across a wide geographical area and working flexibly to meet local demand.

Person Specification
Education/Qualification/Training
Essential

• oEducated to degree level Or equivalent experience in the field of supported employment - to degree level

Desirable

• oOccupational Therapy, Social Work, Psychology or Employment qualifications
• oIPS training

Experience
Essential

• oExperience of initiating, liaising and collaborating with a wide range of individuals and organisations promoting and developing employment, education and training opportunities on behalf of service users.
• oExperience of working with a range of mental health service users (in health, social care and/or voluntary sectors) implementing individual programmes and interventions.
• oExperience of working towards recovery goal attainment at pace.
• oExperience of actively and regularly engaging with employers and employment providers to seek out employment opportunities on behalf of service users
• oKnowledge of good practice in employment legislation protecting disability equality
• oExperience of constructing and reviewing individually tailored programmes using a person centred approach.
• oKnowledge of vocational assessment & profiling of service users' vocational needs

Desirable

• oRecent experience of working with service users to help them meet their employment-related goals
• oExperience & knowledge of the benefits agency and all disability employment related benefits
• oExperience of collecting caseload and outcome data
• oPersonal experience of using Mental Health services

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• oEnthusiasm and commitment towards supporting people with mental health problems find paid employment.
• oAn understanding of the benefits of work as part of the recovery process and a positive attitude to enabling service users overcome barriers to finding employment, are essential.
• oExcellent marketing and promotional skills with an excellent negotiation skills & persuasive style
• oAble to analyse situations / information to identify and support service users to address their individual needs in relation to employment, education and training
• oGood time management skills to balance the co-ordination of own diary making best use of time, efficiently and effectively.
• oExcellent verbal and written communication skills
• oAbility to work independently and collectively as part of a team
• oExcellent interpersonal skills.
• oAbility to embrace and adapt to new challenges
• oKnowledge of local employment issues, relevant Government policy and Trust priorities
• oExcellent IT skills
• oAbility to work autonomously and use own initiative

Desirable

• oKnowledge of relevant welfare benefits and benefits rules
• oExperience of delivering presentations to a wide variety of colleagues and agencies internal and external to the Trust

Other
Essential

• oAn inclusive approach to employment and a 'can do' attitude
• oFlexible/adaptable.
• oAbility to travel independently to other bases.
• oCover for team members working in other areas in exceptional circumstances.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details
Employer name: East London NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton, IPS Main office: Charter House, Alma Street, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton, LU1 2PJ, United Kingdom
Employer's website: East London NHS Foundation Trust website

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
IPS Service Manager
Chantelle Dillon
chantelle.dillon@nhs.net
07803887362