The Opportunity

The Workforce Leads will play a crucial role in the recruitment, onboarding, and training of IPS Employment Specialists within their designated regions. They will support the scale up of the IPS workforce by ensuring high-quality recruitment processes, comprehensive training programs, and effective onboarding practices. The Workforce Leads will work closely with IPS Grow Regional Managers, local and national stakeholders, including NHS services, to recruit the IPS workforce needed to achieve high levels of employment outcomes for IPS clients.

We are recruiting three Workforce Leads (across the seven NHS regions; Northeast, Northwest, London, East, Midlands, Southeast, Southwest) to support hands-on recruitment, attraction and the onboarding and training of IPS Employment Specialists and Team Leaders across the country. These will be dedicated, regional roles where you will support the scale up of the IPS workforce in your designated region. The Workforce Lead will provide specialist support to services embarking on recruitment campaigns, monitor their effectiveness and share learning. They will also provide hands-on support for recruitment efforts and training. This will vary according to the service need, but could include headhunting, sifting CVs, preparing for interviews, shortlisting and training.

The Team

IPS Grow is a national programme designed to support the expansion of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services in mental health, primary care, and drug and alcohol teams across England. The programme is led by Social Finance in partnership with the Centre for Mental Health. It is funded by NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).

Responsibilities

The key requirements of the role are:

1. Recruitment and Onboarding:

• Lead the recruitment process for IPS Employment Specialists in assigned regions.

• Collaborate with local services to identify staffing needs and develop tailored recruitment strategies.

• Support services by conducting interviews, shortlisting, and making hiring recommendations.

• Identify where IPS services can coordinate, combine recruitment efforts and facilitate links to ensure a joined-up approach.

  Coordinate and facilitate onboarding activities for new hires, ensuring they are well-prepared to deliver high-fidelity IPS services.

2. Training and Development:

• Deliver comprehensive training programs for new IPS Employment Specialists.

• Provide ongoing support and mentorship to new hires during their first year.

• Identify and address training needs, offering additional resources and workshops as necessary.

• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs and make improvements based on feedback.

• Enrol IPS workforce members in e-learning training programmes and the accredited qualification.

3. Relationship Management:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with local and national stakeholders, including IPS services, ICBs leads, and NHS Regional Leads.

• Support with workforce planning with services.

• Attend and contribute to regional meetings, sharing insights and updates on workforce development initiatives.

4. Quality Assurance and Reporting:

• Ensure that recruitment, onboarding, and training processes align with IPS Grow's quality assurance standards.

• Collect and analyse data related to workforce development activities, providing regular reports to the Workforce Manager.

• Identify challenges and propose solutions to improve recruitment and training outcomes.

5. Communication and Collaboration:

• Work closely with the Regional Managers and Regional Leads to ensure joined up and timely support for services in the region.

• Work closely with the Workforce Manager and other Workforce Leads to share best practices and coordinate efforts across regions.

• Contribute to internal and external communications, including newsletters, reports, and presentations.

About You

• Recruitment Expertise. Proven experience of recruitment within the healthcare system or substantial involvement in healthcare-related recruitment is essential. This includes interviewing, evaluating candidates and making hiring recommendations.

• Training and Development Expertise. Experience in delivering training programs and workshops, with a focus on adult learning principles and effective onboarding practices.

• Ability to influence others. You will work directly with IPS services to support their recruitment of IPS workers, therefore strong interpersonal, communication and influencing skills are essential. You will need the ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.

• Organisational Skills. Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, create project plans, and meet deadlines.

• Problem-Solving Abilities. Creative thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to quickly understand challenges and develop effective solutions.

• Adaptability and Flexibility. Ability to adapt to changing project needs and work effectively in a dynamic environment.

• Shared values. We have a passionate belief that helping people to achieve appropriate employment can transform their lives. We hope you will share this, as well as our other core values.

• A thirst for learning and self-development and sharing that learning with services and stakeholders. This will include capturing and sharing learning – in written form, developing tools/guides and training.

• Teamwork. You will be able to work effectively in a remote large, cross-functional team.

• Strategic planning and organisational skills. You will be able to manage your own workload, and able to deal with multiple and competing priorities using analytical skills to prioritise and meet deadlines (internal and external).

• Creativity and the ability to self-manage. You will be able to demonstrate an ability to deliver results working with limited supervision, ideally in a remote working / virtual team environment. You will have strong communication skills and an ability to use a range of standard tools (such as Microsoft SharePoint, Zoom) to support virtual team working.

• Motivated to have impact / self-starter.  You will be able to demonstrate high levels of initiative and personal leadership. You will be committed to your own development, including getting up to speed with and leadership practice. You will be continually curious and open to learning.

• Evidencing your work. You can provide timely reports and case studies to evidence your work and impact.

• Commitment to travel. The role will likely involve significant travel to build relationships and provide hands-on support as well as meeting with IPS Grow team members from across England.

About Social Finance

We are an ambitious not for profit organisation that partners with governments, service providers, the voluntary sector and the financial community. Together, we find better ways of tackling social problems in the UK and globally.

Since we started in 2007, Social Finance has helped to pioneer a series of programmes to improve outcomes for individuals with complex needs. Our innovations, including the social impact bond model, have mobilised more than £500 million globally. We have sister organisations in the US, Israel, the Netherlands and India and a network of partners across the world.

What we do

Our unique method combines financial analysis, data science, service design, and social issues research.

We focus this expertise on understanding the needs of service users and working with communities to create new responses to challenging social problems.

We develop models, products and services that are pragmatic and have the scope to drive systemic change to improve people’s lives. In the UK, we focus on issues such as homelessness, domestic abuse, mental health, learning difficulties, loneliness and vulnerable children on the edge of the care system. We also look to improve equity for marginalised communities in social services. Internationally, we design outcomes-based models for issues such as maternal and neonatal health, education and employment. 

Our Values

Everyone at Social Finance believes that change for communities is possible. To help us achieve it, we have three core values that guide everything we do. We are curious, empathetic and pioneering.

Working at Social Finance

The fixed salary for this position is £30,000 - £36,000 per annum. Depending on skills and experience - new starters generally join at the beginning of the band. Working for a mission driven organisation is more than just what we pay though, it’s about our culture, our approach and what else we offer. Read more about working at Social Finance.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We actively encourage applications from under-represented and minoritised groups, including those with lived experience of the social issues we are working to address. We are an equal opportunities employer and support a range of flexible working options.

How to Apply

Social Finance are using Applied, a platform developed by the Behavioural Insights Team, to record your application. Applied uses behavioural and data science to improve hiring decisions and minimise unconscious bias in the recruitment process.

You will be asked to respond to situational based questions which will allow you to express your ability. Your answer to each question will be viewed in isolation. Please therefore ensure there is enough detail in that single response, without any references to your other responses. NB: The selection panel will not have access to your CV, so it is therefore essential that you respond to each question fully.

Closing date for applications: Wednesday 11 December 2024 at 12:00pm.

If you would like more information about the role, please email support@ipsgrow.co.uk