Job Description

Employment and Recovery Coach|Restore

Department:  Coaching

Reports to:  Head of Coaching

Employment term: Part Time (3 days)/Perm – to start at 21 hours a week with a view to fulfil 22.5 hours a week at a later stage.

Starting salary: £20,658 to £23,396 per annum, pro rata
(4 weeks notice period)
 

Position based in:County wide in Oxfordshire, UK

Benefits: Employee Assistance Programme, Pensions, 33 days holiday (pro rata) inclusive of bank holidays, 4 weeks optional unpaid sabbatical after five year’s service and more.

Responsibilities

As a coach you will deliver an employment focused service both in Recovery Groups and to clients referred to you by other mental health services.  Your time will be split between Restore Recovery Group sites and working with Adult Mental Health Teams (AMHTs) in Oxfordshire.

Within the Recovery Groups, Employment Coaches provide employment and training support. The role focuses on the challenges and opportunities that people attending services face in taking up mainstream employment and work directly to address these. You will provide support and information to staff regarding vocational and learning support that they offer members in the course of their work.

Working also in AMHTs in Oxfordshire, your focus will be to engage and support clients with mental health problems into employment using the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model. You will be directly supporting people with mental health problems to engage in employment and acting as a specialist employment resource across the AMHTs. 

Coaches provide information, advice and guidance (IAG) which covers a range of activities and interventions that help service users to become more self-reliant and better able to manage their personal and career development, including learning. This is done using recognised coaching models and techniques.

IAG includes:

• The provision of accurate, up-to-date and objective information about personal and lifestyle issues, learning and career opportunities, progression routes, choices, where to find help and advice, and how to access it.
• The provision of advice through activities that help people to gather, understand and interpret information and apply it to their own situation.
• The provision of impartial guidance and specialist support to help people understand themselves and their needs, confront barriers, resolve conflicts, develop new perspectives and make progress.

The post holder will be expected to work across all allocated AMHT’s and Recovery Groups in Oxfordshire, also linking to the IPS team base at Restore in Oxford City.

As part of your duties, you would be expected to provide leadership and supervision to Restore Volunteer Coaches based in your locality with support and guidance from the Coaching Team Lead.  You would also participate in delivering training to volunteers.

Specific Responsibilities

• To work in a flexible way, recruiting and working with clients to encourage them to consider their options and to assess their abilities and requirements related to employment and other mainstream opportunities.
• To develop and maintain the delivery of coaching to promote meaningful activity and employment alongside Recovery Group Workers
• To develop and maintain contacts with AMHTs to facilitate recruitment of clients or provision from these services.
• To assess clients’ employment needs and develop action plans with them.
• To support clients to access a wide range of services and activities, which will enable them to build the skills and confidence they need to gain employment.
• To support clients applying for jobs, including helping with the preparation of CV’s and job applications, job search and interview skills coaching.
• To provide on-going evaluation and support for clients in employment.
• To offer clients information and advice about their benefits in relation to employment opportunities, and/or supporting them in gaining further expert support from appropriate advisors.
• Employer engagement: To develop contacts with JobCentre Plus, Oxfordshire Employment Service and local employers with a view to supporting employment or work placements for people with mental health problems.
• To ensure that work placements are appropriate, covered by insurance and meet health and safety requirements.
• To facilitate employment support groups looking at employment options and mental health issues.
• To deliver training to groups in line with the remit of the role.
• To offer practical supervision for Volunteer Coaches and to contribute towards their training programme.
• To participate in the research element of the project by maintaining the appropriate records and adhering to research guidelines in practice.
• To maintain records and time sheets, gather case studies and produce reports.
• To work with other Coaching staff as part of a team and participate in, and make use of staff meetings.
• To participate in, and make use of supervision.
• To proactively establish networks with employers and community groups in order to foster partnership working and encourage referrals.
• To proactively work under supervision with the media and others in order to promote Restore’s services, challenge stigma and promote social inclusion.
• To address issues of race, culture, gender, class, disability, sexual orientation, age and other discrimination in relation to mental health issues
• To enable clients to access a wide range of mainstream services and activities.
• To undertake any other duties as may be required by Restore, as an Oxfordshire Employment Specialist

Person Specification

The post holder will have:

Essential criteria

• A positive attitude towards the employment capabilities of people with mental health problems.
• Experience of working in the field of advice and guidance
• Mental Health awareness and/or experience of supporting people with mental health problems.
• Excellent understanding of the process of change and a positive, enabling approach to working with individuals to achieve their potential.
• An informed and practical view of the role of an employment coach with excellent one to one skills and the ability to inspire and motivate people with low self-esteem and mental health issues.
• Awareness of the IPS approach to vocational rehabilitation and current thinking around recovery from mental illness. Willingness to undertake specialist training (IPS in particular).
• Knowledge of equal opportunities legislation including the Disability Discrimination Act.
• Confidence in facilitating the delivery of training and making information available to a range of clients, carers and professionals.
• Awareness of and commitment to all aspects of anti-discriminatory practice.
• Ability to work on own initiative and be flexible and adaptive.
• Public relations skills to promote and develop the service.
• Ability to form effective working relationships and work as part of a team.
• Ability to forge working links, engage and communicate with employers and community groups.
• Ability to write reports and keep records.
• Appropriate self-presentation for contact with different groups of people.
• Ability to travel to, and between, several Oxfordshire AMHT offices and Restore Recovery Groups, across a wide geographical patch and reach areas where public transport links may be tenuous.
• Computer literacy. 
• Clean driving licence and access to own transport.

Desirable criteria
 

1. Knowledge of mental health and the current mental health agenda.
2. Knowledge of a range of interventions used in IPS.
3. Experience of working as part of a dedicated service for people with mental health problems.
4. Careers Guidance or Mental Health qualification.
5. Knowledge of the Benefits system, particularly in relation to employment.

Other work related criteria

Willing to undertake regular travel within the county and occasionally elsewhere in the UK.
 

Any offer of employment is subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service.

There is a probation period of six months for new employees, during which time your employment will be monitored. Your employment will be subject to you completing your probationary period to the satisfaction of RESTORE.

This job description is likely to change over time, subject to discussion with the post holder, and in line with the expectation of funders and the strategy for the organisation agreed by the Chief Executive and Trustees.

About Restore

Restore is part of the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership. A partnership that formally brings together six local mental health organisations: Oxford Health Foundation NHS Trust, Connections Floating Support, Elmore Community Services, Oxfordshire MIND, Response and Restore. The partnership is committed to better integrate services across the county in order to make it easier for people in need to get the best support, possible.

Restore receives statutory funding: a contract held with Oxford Health. In addition it raises a substantial amount of its income from grant making bodies and fund raising activities.

It is a medium sized charity, employing just over 80 staff, assisted by over 100 volunteers, and delivering services to over 1,100 people each year. It has six sites in Oxfordshire (four in Oxford, one in Didcot, and one in Banbury), plus two sub-contracted sites (in West Oxfordshire) and staff who work across a range of other sites in the county.

Restore provides a Coaching Service and Recovery Groups.

• Coaching provides one to one support enabling members (service users) to achieve their aims. Restore's coaching support focuses on supporting people who have experienced challenges to their mental health to achieve paid work, start volunteering or  undertake training/educational courses.
• Recovery Groups provide members with the opportunity to work on their journey of recovery together. Members have access to coaching as part of this process.

Restore also act as the lead partner, for the Partnership, managing  The Oxfordshire Recovery College, an innovative shared learning environment for people with mental illnesses, their families and carers and professionals working in the field.

Restore offers Mental Health First Aid training and Working With Mental Health, the former aimed at both individuals and organisations, the latter aimed specifically at large corporates.