The Growth Company’s Employment team have a new vacancy for an IAG Advisor who will deliver effective, labour market-focused, careers information, advice and guidance to customers across prison estates and transition to the service in the community.
We help to make a lasting difference to the lives of people throughout the North of England and beyond, by supporting individuals to gain meaningful employment. Our highly skilled advisers and keyworkers work with a range of individuals; from people who have found themselves recently out of work, to those with complex barriers such as physical disabilities, mental ill-health and debt.
This is a fixed Term Contract role until 31/03/2026
Key Responsibilities
Ensure customers receive a personalized IAG offer that meets individual needs, to develop career management skills, encourage independence and lead to sustained learning and job outcomes.
Manage a wide range of customers, by caseload, to achieve targets, specifically sustained employment or sustained learning.
Utilise labour market information and employer links in order to support customers to achieve required outcomes for sustained employment.
Develop and maintain effective relationships with key partners, particularly prison managers/governors, uniformed officers and agencies, in order to generate a flow of eligible and appropriate new customers.
Deliver personalised support to customers via appropriate channels, including the Virtual Campus, group workshops and face-to-face sessions.
Produce a high-quality action plan for each customer and ensure levels of service in initial interactions achieve customer satisfaction standards.
Work proactively with colleagues delivering other mainstream services (including the National Careers Service) to maximise the tracking of customer outcomes and ease the evidence generation process.
Carry out associated administration work, including report-writing, use of the Nomis system for collecting and analysis of management information, evaluating service delivery and the audit and review of own records.
Ensure compliance with the requirements of the Prison Service DPS contract and ensure that delivery exceeds minimum Skills Funding Agency, Ofsted and Matrix standards.
Work across multiple sites in the Northwest, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside, as required.
About you
Recent experience of delivering job or learning outcomes in the custodial setting, preferably in a target-driven environment.
Experience of managing a caseload of customers, with a view to supporting them with their ETE / resettlement requirements.
Excellent knowledge of the local labour market – routes into the labour market and knowledge of progression routes, including knowledge of local education, training and specialist service provision.
Knowledge of Matrix and Ofsted standards and the application of these in a Careers IAG environment.
A warm, approachable style to delivery is required in order to build relationships and rapport.
Skills Required
Hold NVQ level 3 or 4 in Advice & Guidance, DipCG, or equivalent, and be willing to work towards the CDI License to Practise requirements.
Ability to work in a target-driven environment, with a focus on the successful achievement of outcomes for Prison Service customers.
High-level guidance skills, with the ability to deliver one-to-one and group sessions to at least Grade 2 standard.
Ability to use digital channels and platforms in the delivery of information or advice and guidance. This includes the usage of specific online tools and websites within the Virtual Campus.
At GC, safeguarding the welfare of all individuals including vulnerable adults and young people is a top priority, and we expect all staff to uphold this standard. All appointments follow Safer Recruitment Procedures, including a DBS check carried out by Due Diligence Limited (DDC Ltd), at no cost to the successful candidate.
Please note: It is a legal offence to apply for a role involving regulated activity if you are on the Barred List.
We are committed to increasing workforce diversity and offer a guaranteed interview to applicants who meet the essential criteria and either have a disability or are from a diverse ethnic community.
If this applies to you, you can request consideration under this scheme during the application process. Your request will be shared only with the Hiring Manager and Internal Recruitment Team.
We also aim to make our recruitment process inclusive and accessible. If you need reasonable adjustments or have any general enquiries at any stage or the recruitment process, please contact careers@growthco.uk or call us on 0161 237 4447.
Examples include:
Meeting the hiring manager or touring the venue in advance
Extra time for tasks
Interview questions shared beforehand
Accessibility software or equipment for assessments
We’re proud to support the Ban the Box campaign, which helps people with convictions access job opportunities. As part of this, we’ve removed questions about convictions from the initial application stage.
GC is committed to fostering a culture of flexibility and agile working. Many roles will increasingly support full agile arrangements. If you require more permanent flexibility, we encourage you to discuss this during your interview so your request can be considered early in the process.
All GC colleagues will work inline with the Health & Safety at work act and the GC Health & Safety Policy.