Job description
Post title: iWork resident engagement and caseload officer
Service area: Inclusive Economies and Jobs Directorate
Our ambition
We’re determined to make Islington more equal. To create a place where everyone, whatever their background, has the opportunity to reach their potential and enjoy a good quality of life.
We also have an ambitious goal – to be the best council in the country – with every employee clear about the part they play and inspired, focused and supported to give their very best.
We want to build an organisation where employees feel valued, inspired and empowered to help us achieve our goals and provide the best services possible to our residents.
Our values and behaviours
‘Be Islington’ is about setting a clear challenge about what it means to be an Islington employee and sets the standard for every new recruit.
We ask our employees to ‘Be Islington’ – playing their part in working together for a more equal borough and to always be collaborative, be ambitious, be resourceful, and be empowering (‘CARE’).
Our commitment to challenging inequality
We are committed to tackling inequality, racism and injustice and creating a more equal borough for all. In order to do this, we need to set the example by being a fair employer and creating a workplace environment which is free from discrimination, racism and inequality. Our approach needs to be proactive, consistently learning to create a more equal workplace and foster a culture which empowers all staff to challenge inequality.
Equality is at the heart of what we do. We want to celebrate and embrace our differences by:
• Ensuring our workforce is representative of the people we work on behalf of, our residents
• Creating equitable working environments and diverse teams
• Understanding our residents in order to design and deliver services that help tackle inequality and improve life chances for our residents
• Getting to know people and their differences
• Interpreting issues and concerns from a cultural perspective and address situations or problems from the points-of-view of multiple cultures
The iWork service
Key responsibilities
Thse posts are responsible for supporting Islington residents to secure good and sustained paid employment through providing advice, information, employer engagement and practical medium term support.
The post holders will usually be attached to a specific sectoral team within the iWork service, supporting officers to source candidates from the widest possible talent pool within the Islington community by engaging and informing our residents about the opportunities offered by the specific sectors, and assessing residents fit with the requirements of the employers.
There will also be a duty officer function, offering advice and guidance to all enquiries coming into the service and on occasion caseloading Islington residents who are unable to find the support they need from other local agencies.
The post holders will work in line with the iWork procedure manual. This sets out quality standards for a person centred approach, seeing paid employment as the primary goal for the engagement with the client, and other issues that need to be addressed as ancillary priorities.
Key Tasks include
• Build and maintain an effective working relationship with residents who meet the criteria for casework support by engaging in outreach and promotional activities :
• Adults living in Islington over the age of 18 who could be suitable for or are already interested in the sector you are promoting .
• Adults living in Islington over the age of 18 who are unable to access the employment support they need from any other Islington Working Partners .
• All residents you caseload must be interested in gaining some paid employment.
• Contribute to and support the ongoing development and delivery of the ambition of the Inclusive Economy and Jobs Directorate, and the iWork service:
• Demonstrating and ensuring wider commitment to the principles of an Inclusive Local Economy and a council employment service -partnership working, strength-based practice, and working
collaboratively with Islington Working providers and other partners.
• Supporting the leadership and wider team to promote the vision and principles of Inclusive Economy and Good Work – to staff, partners and communities – adopting a creative, solution focused approach to overcoming obstacles and challenges and ensuring that the work of the team contributes to building a more inclusive local economy where all residents are supported to contribute to the labour market.
• Support the job brokers to make more opportunities accessible to a wider talent pool by helping reframe job specifications and market the benefits of employment in our key sectors.
• Support and enable residents to clarify their goals, strengths and needs to implement an action plan to support them to secure sustainable employment – usually in your specialist sector – based on the principles set out in the iWork procedure manual :
• Taking a strength based, relational approach, explore their current position in relation to the jobs available, identify their strengths and development needs, and plan their action plan for securing employment, built around what a good quality of life looks like to the person, and how best to market their skills and talents to prospective employers.
• Where required carry out a full pre-screening against current live vacancies and provide a clear outline of the clients fit to the relevant employment broker, advocating for adjustments needed as appropriate .
• Follow the processes set out in the iWork procedure manual to ensure a quality service is offered to all clients.
• Maintain a caseload of an agreed number of job seeking service users at any one time, ( currently set at 50 FTE) whilst maintaining contact with clients who have already been placed in work.
• Contribute to and maintain iWork’s effective partnerships and working relationships with a wide range of colleagues and partners to:
• Improve community understanding of the full range of roles in the sectors offered by IWork and the benefits of working within these sectors
• Secure a ‘Team Around the Person Approach’ to collaborate and provide support for good outcomes in a community context for clients who have multiple or complex barriers to the labour market .
• Build, maintain and develop effective working partnerships and relationships with statutory services regarding early identification of effective responses to any risk factors including homelessness, childcare, debt, safety and safeguarding concerns.
Person specification
Experience
1 Experience of work with people who face multiple barriers to engaging in the Labour market
2 Experience of working with a diverse range of people including those who require specialist support or advocacy
3 Experience of working with employers and identifying the skills required for vacancies promoted
Skills
4 Ability to work positively with multi-agency partners
5 Ability to work effectively both independently and as a team member, use initiative and be self-motivated within agreed time constraints.
6 Ability to think creatively and in a solution focused, analysing issues and reaching creative solutions.
7 Ability to take a person centred and trauma informed approach to supporting residents seeking employment
8 Ability to hold boundaries around the job scope, and to know when to refer issues across to other services and teams
9 Strong communication skills including ability to adjust communication and service offer to meet clients individual needs
10. Experience of Microsoft office applications, especially Word and Excel
11 Willingness to work with flexibility to travel to areas and venues and support clients at flexible hours including some evenings and weekends to meet the needs of residents.
If you are interested in this role please do reach out to me via email or telephone!
amberrayment@carringtonblakerecruitment.com
020 753 766 07
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