The Opportunity

We are recruiting a Workforce Lead to support the growth and development of the IPS workforce across the North of England. This is a hands-on regional role focused on helping IPS services attract, recruit and retain Employment Specialists and Team Leaders. 

Working closely with IPS Grow regional teams, IPS services and wider stakeholders, the Workforce Lead will provide practical recruitment and workforce planning support. This may include supporting recruitment campaigns, shortlisting and interviews, coordinating assessment activity, identifying training needs, and helping providers overcome barriers where expansion plans, funding or timescales are still being confirmed. 

The role would suit someone with experience in recruitment, stakeholder engagement and workforce development, ideally with employment support or healthcare experience. They should be confident working independently, building relationships and supporting services to find practical solutions to workforce challenges. 

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, 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 workforce planning

• Support recruitment for IPS Employment Specialists and Team Leaders.

• Work with providers to understand staffing needs and develop tailored recruitment approaches.

• Support with shortlisting, interviews, assessment activity and hiring recommendations where needed.

• Help providers plan recruitment where expansion plans, funding, approvals or timescales are still being confirmed.

• Identify opportunities for services to coordinate recruitment activity and share learning.

 2. Stakeholder engagement and regional support

• Build and maintain strong relationships with IPS services, ICB and NHSE Regional Leads and other key stakeholders.

• Work with the Workforce Manager, regional teams and colleagues to identify barriers and coordinate practical support.

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

 3. Quality, reporting and learning

• Ensure recruitment, onboarding and training activity aligns with IPS Grow quality standards.

• Collect and analyse accurate and timely workforce development data, providing regular updates to the Workforce Manager.

• Identify recruitment and retention challenges, propose solutions and share good practice across regions.

• Identify training needs and signpost providers to relevant workforce support, tools and resources.

 4. Communication and collaboration

• Work closely with regional teams, the Workforce Manager and wider IPS Grow colleagues to provide joined-up support for services.

• Share learning, updates and good practice across regions to support consistent workforce development.

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

About You

• Recruitment expertise: Proven experience of recruitment, ideally within health, employment support or a related setting, including shortlisting, interviewing, assessment and hiring recommendations.

• IPS knowledge: A good understanding of Individual Placement and Support, including the IPS workforce and the skills needed to deliver high-quality services.

• Stakeholder engagement: Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships with providers, regional teams, NHS colleagues and other stakeholders.

• Organisation and self-management: Able to manage competing priorities, work independently and deliver results in a remote or geographically dispersed team.

• Problem solving and adaptability: A practical, solution-focused approach, with the ability to understand workforce challenges quickly and support services to identify realistic next steps.

• Learning and improvement: Curious and committed to learning, with the ability to capture insights, share good practice and contribute to tools, guidance or training.

• Reporting and impact: Confidence using data, reports or case studies to evidence activity, progress and impact.

• Shared values and travel: A strong commitment to the value of employment in transforming lives, with willingness to travel across the region and occasionally more widely.

Working at Social Finance

The fixed salary for this position is £36,000 per annum. 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. 

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.

Equity, Diversity & 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. 

 We support a range of flexible working options and we can also accommodate secondments and part-time working. 

 We work on some projects where our clients may require different levels of DBS checking for our employees. Candidates deemed suitable for a role after interview will be asked to declare any unspent convictions to ensure that we are able to resource them to projects appropriately. 

 Read more about working for Social Finance on our website. 

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:

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