Community Manager – Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Services: Sponsorship Available

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Job summary

Are you looking for a career where you can make a positive difference to the lives of people with mental health difficulties?

Do you believe you have the leadership skills to manage a team of Lead Employment Specialists and Employment Specialists, to support people to retain, find and sustain employment?

If so, this role may be just what you’re looking for!

We are seeking a motivated and experienced individual to manage the IPS Service, which supports people experiencing severe mental health challenges and other barriers to employment, to retain existing employment, return to work, or secure competitive paid employment.

The role combines leadership, service development, partnership working and ensuring high-quality, person-centred interventions that improve employment outcomes.

90% of people with Severe mental illness want to work, but currently only 8% are in work. Getting into employment can be a critical part of a recovery journey, so as a Community Manager, you will be supporting a team of Lead Employment Specialists and Employment Specialists, providing supervision, training and role modelling of the IPS approach. This is a dynamic and diverse role, where you will also work as part of mental health teams to promote employment and raise expectations around the ability of service users to retain and access paid employment. The ability to network in the local community and build strong relationships is essential.

Main duties of the job

You will be required to:

-Provide effective management, leadership and clinical guidance for the IPS Service

-Lead on service development and continued expansion to meet ambitious referral/access targets set by NHS England.

-Be responsible for managing the budget and take accountability for service KPIs

-Lead the team during IPS Fidelity Reviews and Guided Self Assessments and help build adherence to the IPS model

-Promote and nurture a positive team environment with open communication, collaboration and a shared goal

-Work within the principles of the IPS model; to monitor the team’s performance and collated and submitted data monthly (this will be shared with NHS England, IPS Grow and other stake holders).

-Liaise closely with key internal/external stakeholders

-Have experience both in the field of employment support and with clients experiencing mental ill health

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Relevant professional Qualification; Nursing, Social Work, Occupational Therapy
  • Accredited post registration training/qualification (equivalent to Masters level) relevant to people with mental health difficulties

Desirable

  • Management Qualification
  • Masters Degree
  • Coaching and Mentoring qualification at level 5 or above

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with service users with complex care needs requiring higher levels of expertise
  • Leadership/management experience in a health or social care setting
  • Significant experience of working with individuals with severe and enduring mental health difficulties
  • Experience of service development, change management and service expansion
  • Experience of audit, research and the application of evidence-based practice
  • Experience of budget management and meeting service targets and KPIs

Desirable

  • Significant experience of recruitment/employment/retention and supporting individuals with mental health difficulties to find/sustain work
  • Trained in IPS model and IPS Supervisors Course

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of relevant legislation and best practice in relation to employment and mental health
  • Knowledge of HR processes, equality and diversity and performance management
  • Understanding of commissioning/contract management

Desirable

  • Broad understanding of national vocational policies and local implementation.
  • A good understanding of the principles and practice of supported employment including vocational assessment and profiling skills

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Closing Date: 27 September 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.