Portsmouth City Council’s Employment, Learning and Skills service delivers programmes that help local residents overcome barriers to work, including long-term unemployment, disability and health conditions. We support people of all ages, including young people and other excluded or vulnerable groups, to access sustainable employment and help create a more inclusive local workforce

Your new role

As an Employment Specialist within the Connect to Work programme, you will manage a caseload of participants, providing person-centred advice and guidance to help them secure sustainable paid employment that reflects their strengths, needs and preferences. You will also provide support to help participants retain their employment, using a high-fidelity approach for which training will be provided.

You will build positive relationships with local employers, identify suitable employment opportunities and engage with the local community to generate referrals to the programme. This is a varied and rewarding role where you will have the opportunity to make a real difference to people who may face barriers to finding or maintaining employment.

Who is the person summary:

You will be motivated, organised and confident in building positive relationships with participants and employers. You will have:

• Strong employer engagement skills and the ability to identify and negotiate suitable employment opportunities.
• The ability to manage a caseload, undertake vocational assessments and develop action plans with participants.
• The skills to monitor and review progress both before and after participants move into employment.
• The ability to provide job retention support to people who may be at risk of losing their employment.
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise your workload, meet deadlines and work towards targets.
• Strong IT skills, including experience using customer databases, Microsoft Word, Excel and Teams.
• The ability to work effectively on your own initiative and as part of a team.
• A commitment to equality, diversity and providing an inclusive service.
• Experience within an employment, recruitment or training environment would be desirable. Relevant Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG), employment support, coaching or mentoring qualifications would also be beneficial, although we welcome applicants willing to work towards relevant qualifications.

For full details, please review 'who is the person' on the job profile attached below.

Special Conditions

A driving licence and access to a vehicle for business travel are desirable, as you will regularly visit employers, provide in-work support and may occasionally accompany participants to interviews.

Due to the diversity of our customer base, the need for regular one to one meetings and the flexibility required in delivering our contracts, a basic DBS Check will be required.

About Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.

Additional Information

This role is based 5 days per week in the Civic Offices/other office, please ensure you can fulfil this prior to submitting your application

We are not able to offer sponsorship for this position.

Our recruitment process

Full information about our recruitment process can be found on our support for applicants' page: Support for applicants - Careers portal

You must demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person'points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.If you apply without a detailed personal statement, it is unlikely that you will be shortlisted.

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found atEquality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage:Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Basic level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Please read the relevant DBSprivacy noticebefore submitting any information.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contactrecruit@portsmouthcc.gov.ukor call the recruitment team on 023 92 616 800.