IPS Employment Specialist (Mental Health)

IPS Grow; England; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health charity in Islington is looking for an IPS Employment Specialist to support individuals with mental health challenges in finding and retaining employment. In this role, you will manage a caseload of clients, engage with employers, and work within a clinical team to develop supportive relationships. The ideal candidate will have experience in a person-centred approach and possess strong communication and networking skills. This is a full-time position offering a hybrid work model.

Qualifications

• Experience of supporting people into competitive employment.
• Experience of working with people with mental health issues.
• Experience of working collaboratively with partner agencies.

Responsibilities

• Support people with mental health issues in their recovery journey.
• Manage a caseload of clients to find job opportunities.
• Collaborate with clinical teams to assist clients seeking work.

Skills

Empathy and rapport building

Strong communications skills

Administrative capabilities

Networking and negotiation skills

Person-centred approach

Job description

IPS Employment Specialist (Mental Health)

Hybrid across Islington/community working | Hillside Clubhouse

Permanent contract

Hillside Clubhouse are looking to recruit an Employment Specialist full time. You would be part of their friendly committed, professional IPS employment team.

Deadline: 17th January 2026

• London
• Full-time

Job overview

Hillside Clubhouse is recruiting an IPS Employment Specialist to join our dynamic Islington team, supporting people with mental health conditions to gain and retain employment. The IPS Employment Specialists within the Islington IPS Service work within the nationally recognised IPS (Individual Placement and Support) model within NHS secondary and primary care mental health teams, based in the heart of Islington.

Hillside Clubhouse is a co-produced mental health employment support charity working across Islington. We support people with mental health conditions into training, volunteering, and employment opportunities. People can access our services via our Clubhouse, where they can share their skills and expertise with others and support the running of the charity. Alternatively, they can receive support out in the community from one of our Employment Specialists based within NHS mental health teams.

Role

We are recruiting for one IPS Employment Specialist role within our Islington IPS Service. This position will be based within the North London NHS Foundation Trust mental health services in the borough of Islington.

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you’ll play an important role in supporting people with lived mental health experience on their recovery journey by supporting them back into paid employment. This is an opportunity to offer ongoing support, to motivate and provide people with hope, while developing the tools and skills required to recover – ultimately transforming their lives.

A variety of skills are needed in this post including but not limited to: a strong ability to develop empathy and rapport with clients; a determined approach to seeking out job opportunities; a person centric-approach to working with people; strong communications skills to motivate clients; strong administrative capabilities and an attention to detail engage with prospective employers via business development and face-to-face meetings, as well as to be able to challenge some perceptions around mental health.

The postholder will be directly employed by Hillside Clubhouse but work under an Honorary Contract from the North London NHS Foundation Trust. They will be managed directly by the IPS Operations Manager but work as team member within the clinical team. The role is dynamic and involves being integrated in a clinical team, working within the community, and we operate a flexible working policy where working from home is also permitted up to two days per week.

Responsibilities

Overall Aim:
To enable people with mental health issues to gain and sustain competitive employment by working within the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model.

Primary Duties:

• Manage a caseload of up to twenty clients and work within and apply the 8 principles of IPS in all aspects of role.
• To work with and enable clients to find work using a mix of conventional approaches and employer engagement.
• To generate ongoing referrals from the clinical team and to manage those effectively.
• To engage directly and collaboratively with the clinical team while maintaining the existing multi-disciplinary approach to assisting clients seeking work.
• To report and meet regularly with clinical team service managers and the IPS Operations manager, and to participate in both casework and clinical supervision from IPS Operations and clinical team services managers.
• To be an active member of both the clinical and Hillside teams.
• To be responsible for own management of administrative duties tied to both Hillside Clubhouse and clinical team and adhering to existing Hillside and NHS protocols.
• Source job opportunities specific to client needs from a range of sources including those advertised via current and conventional means, as well as through contact with local and Pan London employers.
• To build up a network of employers to secure available and future vacancies.
• To maintain existing, and seek out new, relationships with a range of external agencies of use to the post.
• To provide ongoing support to both client and employers (where appropriate) when starting work and until such time as the client makes the decision to end the support provided.
• To work with clients to collaboratively manage job searching activities and engagement with the service.
• To manage and meet all KPIs, statistics and documentation as required, including but not limited to: referrals, first meetings, job outcomes, job sustainments of 6, 13 and 26 weeks, and work retention.
• To provide guidance on the impact and/or the potential change to benefits when clients start work.
• To work and manage time effectively in both community/external settings, and at clinical team.

Secondary Duties:

• To work out of hours occasionally, for example if you were providing In-Work Support to a client who was working full time hours, in line with Hillside Clubhouse risk management procedures.
• Undertake training when required and participate in ongoing learning and development.
• To maintain professional boundaries with all internal and external stake holders including clients, and staff members of both Hillside and the clinical team.
• To engage and participate in external IPS support services, training, and events.
• To undertake additional tasks and duties as and when required.

The person

• Experience of supporting people in to competitive / mainstream employment.
• Experience of working with employers to enquire about or chase vacancies.
• Experience of working with people with mental health issues, other disabilities, or vulnerable people.
• Experience of working collaboratively with partner agencies, and of developing and maintaining those partnerships.
• Ability to manage a peripatetic role within Camden or Islington balancing time effectively between office and the community.
• Being able to manage the KPI / target needs of the project whilst managing continuity of care towards clients.
• Experience of accurate data entry and the ability to retrieve and collate data to evidence performance against KPIs.
• Experience and a passion for working in a person-centred approach.
• Self-directed and able to manage and prioritise own workload.
• Able and confident working independently
• Networking and negotiation skills.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships, both at Hillside and with clinical colleagues, employers and those with hiring responsibilities.
• Knowledge and/or awareness of the Individual Placement and Support model.
• Understanding of current benefit issues and how employment might impact.
• Advice, coaching, and guidance experience
• Working within an Equal Opportunities framework.