Job overview
Do you have lived experience of the criminal justice system?
Do you have experience of supporting others?
Are you motivated to use your skills and experience to lead and influence others?
If you answer yes to the above questions, then GM Community Health and Justice pathway would love to hear from you and read your application for our Leader Peer Supporter role.
While we value indirect lived experience gained through personal and professional relationships, direct lived experience of the criminal justice system is an essential requirement for this role.
Successful candidate will work as part of a multidisciplinary team serving the GM area. Leading the Peer Support workforce with expertise derived from lived experience to support and steer effective, trauma-informed, recovery-focused services.
This will include working with people who have used our services into involvement, volunteering and employment opportunities.
We expect that the successful candidate will have experience of peer mentoring to support, build credible and mutual relationship with the peer workforce and wider clinical teams.
We are proud to have achieved the GOLD standard award from Career Matters in recognition of our efforts to promote open and inclusive recruitment and retention of individuals with lived experience of the criminal justice system. This means we will consider any convictions individually.
Main duties of the job
To proactively engage with a range of internal services, including Engagement and Recovery Academy Leads, Human Resources and Occupational Health.
To ensure that individuals applying for posts are provided with the support they need during the recruitment process.
To challenge inequalities experienced by health and justice service users and carers and to address existing discrimination whilst ensuring a process of learning for the organisation.
To effectively co produce and co-deliver training, including team preparation sessions in readiness for peer support workers taking up post within the team, peer support training and training courses.
Support with the ongoing development of lived experience roles.
To effectively co-deliver training, including team preparation sessions in readiness for peer support workers taking up post within the team, peer support training and training courses.
To provide advice and support to managers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments and on-going contact with the employer to resolve any difficulties that arise
Working for our organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 7000 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 122 locations.
We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.
Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.
Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.
Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will facilitate and support the expansion of peer support worker roles within the Trust. The role will include providing high quality supervision, training and employment support advice to peer support workers. The postholder will work alongside Trust Engagement and Operational Leads to identify peer support placements to promote experiential learning and skill development for those interested in seeking formal peer support roles in the Trust. The post holder will work with clinical teams to prepare them for the introduction of peer support workers and run information sessions to increase understanding of the role.
The individual will also provide specialist peer support worker input into clinical service planning, development and evaluation.
Person specification
Shortlisting Criteria
Essential criteria
1. •Educated to degree level or equivalent industry experience.
2. •Having completed, or willingness to undertake, Peer Support training
3. •Personal and direct lived experience of the criminal justice system and vulnerability
4. •Minimum 2 years experience of working with people with mental health issues or a similar client group within health, social services or the voluntary sector.
5. •Supporting individuals to gain and/or maintain employment
6. •Willing to positively share own lived experience to challenge stigma and discrimination and to inspire others.
7. •Show commitment to one’s own professional development
8. •Be able to handle challenging situations and behave in a professional manner
9. •Able and willing to share own experiences appropriately in order to work in a trauma informed way, validating others experiences, listening and empathising, whilst promoting and empowering hope
10. •Good verbal and written communication skills. Good marketing and presentation skills. Good word processing/computing and literacy skills.
Desirable criteria
11. •Completed group facilitation skills training
12. •Basic psychosocial intervention skills Motivational Interviewing, Behavioural Activation, Node Link Mapping, Solution Focussed Approaches
13. •Group work skills
14. •An understanding of the principals and practices of supported employment.
15.. •An understanding of the Equalities Act 2010
16. An ability to provide vocational assessments and profiling.
17. Coaching skills
18. •Ability to confidently facilitate staff training sessions.
Longlisting Criteria
Essential criteria
19. •Educated to degree level or equivalent industry experience. •Having completed, or willingness to undertake, Peer Support training
20. Criminal justice lived experience
21. Having completed, or willingness to undertake, Peer Support training
Desirable criteria
22. Coaching skills
23. Leadership
The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.
The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications
A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application. The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.
We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.
Sponsorship
We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – click .
If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.
The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it.
Do you have experience outside the NHS?
We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.
We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment.