Employment Specialist

Job summary

Join our team as an IPS Employment Specialist in Wigan.

Are you a compassionate and motivated individual who wants to change peoples lives? Our team in Wigan is looking for an individual who is passionate about supporting people into work, to join them in providing high-quality recovery support to a diverse client group. If you are enthusiastic, creative and have a genuine desire to help others, wed love to hear from you.

This role is full time working 37.5 hours per week and permanent. As an IPS Employment Specialist, we offer a starting salary of £28,325 rising each year in line with our pay progression salary bands to £32,960 per year. For further details please reach out to a member of the recruitment team.

Main duties of the job

Our vibrant services in Wigan and Leigh provide support to people concerned about their own or someone else's alcohol or drug use. We have services in both Wigan and Leigh but much of our work is carried out in the local communities we serve. Visit our website to find out more about WithYous Individual Placement Support service.

Please use the linked job description to support your application.

Closing date: Sunday 6th September 2026. Please note this role may close earlier than the stated deadline if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. All applicants must submit a CV along with a cover letter explaining why they should be considered for this role.

About us

As a leading charity supporting people with drug, alcohol, and mental health challenges, we operate over 80 services across England and Scotland, providing free and confidential support to more than 100,000 people each year. Find out more about us on our website.

Job responsibilities

As an IPS Employment Specialist, you will support the IPS model as a specialism within a community substance misuse service and deliver support to people who are in treatment or recovery into employment. You will work directly with employers to secure employment opportunities and subsequently to provide ongoing support to meet both the employees and employers needs. Your work will help to tackle stigma by promoting the IPS model and its benefits to partner agencies and the wider community.

Key duties of this role will include:

• Supporting the ongoing development of the Individual Placement and Support model within Wigan
• Ensuring that clients receive appropriate care and support from everyone involved in their return to work process
• Supporting clients to improve their employability using a range of employment interventions, including CV writing, vocational profiling, interview preparation and job matching
• Promoting the service offer and ensure continued employee engagement
• Delivering training and skill sharing sessions with the wider team on aspects of employment practice and IPS, tackling stigma and identifying clients who want to enter employment

Person specification

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of helping people facing severe labour market disadvantage to obtain or keep work
• Ability to develop relationships with multiple stakeholders including employers, partner agencies, clients and their family/carers
• Experience of multi agency partnership working
• An understanding of the principles and practices of the Integrated Support and Placement (IPS) model of supported employment
• An ability to communicate highly complex and specialist information effectively both verbally and in writing, including the production of formal reports