Rethink Mental Illness
Employment Specialist
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Job Type: Permanent, Part Time 21 Hours
Location: Field Based, covering Thanet, Folkestone, Hythe & Romney Marsh, Canterbury, Dover, Deal and Ashford
Salary: £14,726.95
Make a real difference every day
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that everyone severely affected by mental illness deserves the opportunity to live a fulfilling life — and having meaningful employment can be a crucial part of that journey.
We’re looking for an IPS Employment Specialist to join our East Kent IPS Service covering Thanet, Folkestone, Hythe & Romney Marsh, Canterbury, Dover, Deal and Ashford. You’ll work one-to-one with people who want to find or return to paid employment, helping them identify their goals, build confidence, and secure roles that align with their skills and aspirations.
This is a Part Time (21 Hours) role with a salary of £14,726.95 pro rata.
This is a rewarding, dynamic role where no two days are the same. You’ll work in the community, meet people where they are, and build strong relationships with employers and local partners to open real opportunities within the hidden labour market.
What you’ll do
As an Employment Specialist, you will:
- Work alongside individuals to understand their employment goals and create personalised vocational plans.
- Support people to find and keep paid work that reflects their strengths, interests and ambitions.
- Build and maintain relationships with employers, identifying opportunities and advocating for reasonable adjustments where needed.
- Provide in-work support to help individuals thrive in their roles.
- Collaborate with colleagues across the IPS team and local services to ensure consistent, recovery-focused support.
- Promote the value of employment in mental health recovery across your allocated East Kent area.
- Maintain effective records, manage referrals, and contribute to the smooth running of the service.
What you’ll bring
We’re looking for someone who:
- Has experience supporting people into employment or helping others overcome barriers to work.
- Understands mental health challenges and has experience in social care, support services or community-based roles.
- Can build positive relationships with a wide range of people, including employers, colleagues and service users.
- Is empathetic, proactive and comfortable working independently across a dispersed geography.
- Is organised, flexible and able to respond calmly to unexpected challenges.
- Has strong awareness of risk management, safeguarding and confidentiality.
- Holds — or is working towards — a Level 3 qualification relevant to care, community mental health or social support (or equivalent experience).
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Experience delivering community projects, facilitating training, or developing workshops is desirable but not essential.
Why join us?
Joining Rethink Mental Illness means becoming part of a charity that believes in people’s potential. You’ll receive:
- Regular supervision and access to learning and development
- Supportive, values-driven colleagues
- Opportunities to shape services and empower individuals
- The chance to make a direct, life-changing impact
Ready to make a difference?
If you’re passionate about supporting people with mental health challenges to achieve their employment goals, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply today and help create a better future for people living with mental illness in East Kent.
IND1
Why Work With Rethink Mental Illness?
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that when you feel supported, you can make the biggest difference. That’s why we offer a range of benefits to help you thrive:
Inclusive Culture
- Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
Wellbeing Support
- Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
Recognition & Rewards
- Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
Flexible Working & Generous Leave
- Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
Learning & Development
- Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
Financial & Family Support
- Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle-to-work schemes.
Referral Bonus
- Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.
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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation
We have an ambition of becoming a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement. We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.
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